Road King Purchase Experience
#1
08-01-2011, 09:57 PM
Road King Purchase Experience (a pic)
Just returned last week from vacation. I typed up a nice log story about the most amazing super groovy trip, but the website ate it when I tried to post because I took too long writing. Oh well, just imagine you read the most entertaining story about a road trip EVER (well except that the bike was in the bed of the truck for most of it). Including a stop in Sturgis to enjoy the pre-rally rally. I'll post some snippets with photos sometime if I get a chance to download the camera.
The best part of the whole story was this. NEW BIKE!
Here's how it went down.
Part of the vacation included a poker run at Buffalo Run Casino in Oklahoma. It was originally supposed to be myself on the Superglide, my sister on her Shovelhead FLH and her husband on his RK, with my wife and son bouncing between bikes as passengers. Well my brother-in-law's RK was down for repairs and my sister really really hates riding in back so plan B was then me on the Superglide, brother-in-law on the FLH. With sister, wife and son following in our truck and taking turns riding. Then on the morning of the ride my sister had a medical emergency that sent her to the ER and put her out for the day. We had already told everyone else in the family about the run so we had no babysitter for our son. So the run became me and the boy on the Superglide and brother-in-law on the FLH with wife driving the truck behind us (incase our son needed a break from riding). Oh yeah, it was also 105 and the truck's A/C was on the blink. Needless to say the boys had a lot more fun than my wife.
After leaving Oklahoma and continuing on the vacation (we eventually got the A/C fixed in Kansas while visiting her family) I began discussing with the wife the idea of a sidecar so we wouldn't have to depend on another rider for us all 3 to go somewhere. This became more of a discussion when we got into South Dakota and she saw all the happy bikers riding around while we trudged along in the truck with the Superglide strapped in the bed.
After getting back to Vegas on Sunday the 24th we began researching sidecars in earnest. I pointed out that it would probably be easier to find a sidecar for a touring bike, and maybe we should start by looking at...oh....maybe...umm... Road Kings. To my delight her head didn't spin off her neck she just nodded and said sure. So for rest of Sunday and Monday I used the Harley dealer map on Apehangers to scour the country for RK's, looking mostly for 05's.
I was surprised to find that based on the dealership ads Las Vegas dealers were very competitive on price for Road Kings. There were a couple of police models in Salt Lake City that were a little cheaper, but not enough of a price difference to make it worth a two day trip.
Late Monday afternoon we had settled on a bike we wanted to look at. An 06 at LV HD advertised at 12.5k. Just to be safe on our way there we stopped by Henderson to make sure we didn't miss something not posted on the website. Henderson HD usually has very limited numbers of RK's and it was no different on Monday, they had two. A pewter 09 classic and a sierra red 06 with the most ***** G skulls I have ever seen on a single bike. After poo-poo'ing Henderson's offerings we drove up to LV HD.
Unfortunately our detour cost us. We walked into the dealership met up with one of the salesmen who told us someone had put a deposit down on the 06. I wasn't overly bummed, I was figuring this was going to be several months worth of shopping/haggling before we finally settled on a bike. We looked it over anyway, then the salesman showed us some of the rental fleet RK's that were being sold off. There were about 10, all the same, which neither me nor the wife actually felt drawn in by. We thanked the salesman for his time and headed home. We made our plan of attack for shopping. Since we had decided to stay local we would just pop into LV, Red Rock or Henderson stores a couple times a week hoping to stumble on something before it was posted online.
Once home I checked the Henderson website again after getting ready for bed. They had just put up a new flyer with their "Top 10" for the week. Included in it was an 06 for 13.5k. I was intrigued and pointed it out to the wife. We decided on Tuesday I would take the Superglide to Henderson to get it's trade-in value and check out this 06.
I made it to Henderson late morning on Tuesday and met up with a salesman (John), I told him about the ad and he pointed me to the 06. It was the skullmachine. Oh well, I figured as long as I was there I might as well see what the trade-in on the Superglide would be and if we could come close on a price that would make the skulls bearable. John offered me the keys to skullmachine and told me to take it out for a while, he was going to have lunch and it would be a while before someone got to look at the Superglide so I could have it for a few hours. I took the keys and started the bike up. Dear lord it had to be the loudest bike I ever heard, it wasn't even cool it was so loud. I didn’t make it out of the parking lot before a bike cop pulled off the street to and up next to me. He checked the dealer tag and I gave a apologetic shrug. He shook his head and waved at me and headed back onto the road. I followed him out, being gentle on the throttle so I wouldn't shatter any windows.
I got home and had the wife give her opinion on the bike. She liked the skulls about as much as I did, but she agreed if we could get a decent deal she could live with it, but the pipes would have to go.
We returned to the dealership, me on the skullmachine, her in the truck with our 8 year old in tow. It was getting close to 5 by the time we sat down to look at the numbers. The wife and I had discussed what we wanted for trade-in on the Superglide and what we were comfortable taking out of savings to cover the rest, so to make a no-finance deal we needed to have the final price including all taxes and fees and after trade-in be around 8,000. With the skullmachine listed at 1000 more than the bike at LV HD I was figuring this would be tight. It turned out to not even be close.
We were separated by enough on price that I didn't even bother haggling. As we were chatting about the price John said he had a customer looking for a Dyna and he might be interested in mine at the price I hand mentioned what I thought it was worth. If so then the dealership would give me my price on trade-in and add a document fee and send it off with the new owner.
The 3rd party was willing to give me what I was originally looking at as trade-in value on the Superglide, but it still didn't get us close enough on the final price. While John was working the side deal with the 3rd party, I was sitting with the finance lady explaining to her that the skullmachine was just not a bike I was feeling any particular love for. It was an okay bike, but I'd be willing to sit back for a few months and wait for another okay bike that's a better deal to come along. At this point she asked me how I would feel about a new Road King. I explained wasn't a "new bike" kind of guy. Then she brought up the 09. Again I told her I felt it was too new for me and that the price was pretty steep.
John had come back in at this point and he said he was going to speak to the sales manager to see what they could do on prices. I'm thinking he means getting closer on the skullmachine, which at this point I'm already walking away from in my mind. I figure I would smile an nod, thank them both for their time and ask them to give me a call if something comes into the dealership that is a bit more used.
We got to chatting with the finance lady about living on the East Coast (she's originally from NJ and my wife teaches college in CT) and before we knew it John was back with a price, on the 09. The price he gave us had my wife’s head whipping around faster than mine, just a couple thousand more than the skullmachine. He asked if I would be interested in testing it, I gave my wife the 'excited' look, she all but patted me on the head and we all made our way to the service area. I just noticed it was 6:30 and all the bikes were tucked away for the night. We snaked our way to the bike, it was wedged in the middle of the pack. We looked around it for a bit and John offered to pull it out so I could take it out. I agreed and after moving 5 other bikes the 09 was in the parking lot.
The newest Road King I have ridden up till now was the 06 skullmachine. I was surprised by the difference. The 09 felt taller with a more upright riding position. The handling was markedly different. The 09 tracked much better in corners and no rear tire skittering when powering out of a turn. I had read about all this in reviews, but actually feeling the difference in handling was very impressive. I took it up I-515 through Henderson and went through the gears. It wasn't going to outperform the Superglide but acceleration in fifth and sixth was better than I expected. I was also giddy noticing all the sweet extras. Cruise control! Remaining distance in fuel! Clock in the odometer! Cup holder! Okay I really wasn't that excited about it having a cup holder, but at this point every discovery was a bit thrilling.
When I rolled back into the dealership my son was standing outside jumping up and down. After I climbed off he ran over asking "are we getting it, are we getting it?" Now if gave my honest gut response it would have been, "oh heck yeah", but trying to set a good example of a serious decision being made I said, "I don't know yet, buddy, we have to talk some more." My wife asked me, "is it a good bike?" I told her, "It's a great bike, it would be the last bike I ever buy." I gave the keys back to John and we went back inside to talk with finance. My wife asked if I was serious about "the last bike". I told her there would be nothing left to upgrade to after this.
I had almost forgotten about the 3rd party waiting for my decision on the Superglide. It was past 7 (closing time) and he was still walking about the dark showroom. I asked my wife if she was comfortable with the price, since it would mean we would take a few months to pay it off instead of writing single check. She said if I thought it was worth the price, then we should go ahead rather than waiting around to catch something on the cheap. I told John to tell the other buyer that we had a deal on the Superglide and then we went to finance.
When I bought the Superglide I decided I would do all my own maintenance, and I had. Even repaired wreck damage with the help of a mechanic friend. But having put almost 20,000 miles on it in the span of 9 months I had spent a lot of money on upkeep, so when the finance lady ran down the cost of the extended warranty, the unlimited service over five years, etc... My wife pointed out that even buying every drop of coverage we could get our hands on, the price would be less than what she figured I would spend in maintenance on it in two years. So she talked me into officially becoming one of "those guys", for the next five years all I do is put gas in the bike. Before committing us to the service plan she asked me "Is there some guy-thing that makes you need to change your own oil and all that?" I told her "No, there's a 'no way in hell I'm going to pay someone 100 bucks to change my oil'-thing".
So we finished the paperwork I got the keys to my Road King at 7:45 on Tuesday 26 July. In the past week I've put just about 1500 miles on it, just riding the same to/from work, around town errands that I was doing on the Superglide. No rides to Grand Canyon or anything yet. But they are coming.
Before I left on a 400 mile out and back job-site visit today she asked me "Is having it as exciting as wanting it was?” "Even more," I told her. ...Cruise control is a thing of beauty.
Here's how it looked on Sunday (windshield removed, of course). It's a bit more bug splattered at the moment, hmmm have to check the service plan to see if that includes invertebrate removal.
The best part of the whole story was this. NEW BIKE!
Here's how it went down.
Part of the vacation included a poker run at Buffalo Run Casino in Oklahoma. It was originally supposed to be myself on the Superglide, my sister on her Shovelhead FLH and her husband on his RK, with my wife and son bouncing between bikes as passengers. Well my brother-in-law's RK was down for repairs and my sister really really hates riding in back so plan B was then me on the Superglide, brother-in-law on the FLH. With sister, wife and son following in our truck and taking turns riding. Then on the morning of the ride my sister had a medical emergency that sent her to the ER and put her out for the day. We had already told everyone else in the family about the run so we had no babysitter for our son. So the run became me and the boy on the Superglide and brother-in-law on the FLH with wife driving the truck behind us (incase our son needed a break from riding). Oh yeah, it was also 105 and the truck's A/C was on the blink. Needless to say the boys had a lot more fun than my wife.
After leaving Oklahoma and continuing on the vacation (we eventually got the A/C fixed in Kansas while visiting her family) I began discussing with the wife the idea of a sidecar so we wouldn't have to depend on another rider for us all 3 to go somewhere. This became more of a discussion when we got into South Dakota and she saw all the happy bikers riding around while we trudged along in the truck with the Superglide strapped in the bed.
After getting back to Vegas on Sunday the 24th we began researching sidecars in earnest. I pointed out that it would probably be easier to find a sidecar for a touring bike, and maybe we should start by looking at...oh....maybe...umm... Road Kings. To my delight her head didn't spin off her neck she just nodded and said sure. So for rest of Sunday and Monday I used the Harley dealer map on Apehangers to scour the country for RK's, looking mostly for 05's.
I was surprised to find that based on the dealership ads Las Vegas dealers were very competitive on price for Road Kings. There were a couple of police models in Salt Lake City that were a little cheaper, but not enough of a price difference to make it worth a two day trip.
Late Monday afternoon we had settled on a bike we wanted to look at. An 06 at LV HD advertised at 12.5k. Just to be safe on our way there we stopped by Henderson to make sure we didn't miss something not posted on the website. Henderson HD usually has very limited numbers of RK's and it was no different on Monday, they had two. A pewter 09 classic and a sierra red 06 with the most ***** G skulls I have ever seen on a single bike. After poo-poo'ing Henderson's offerings we drove up to LV HD.
Unfortunately our detour cost us. We walked into the dealership met up with one of the salesmen who told us someone had put a deposit down on the 06. I wasn't overly bummed, I was figuring this was going to be several months worth of shopping/haggling before we finally settled on a bike. We looked it over anyway, then the salesman showed us some of the rental fleet RK's that were being sold off. There were about 10, all the same, which neither me nor the wife actually felt drawn in by. We thanked the salesman for his time and headed home. We made our plan of attack for shopping. Since we had decided to stay local we would just pop into LV, Red Rock or Henderson stores a couple times a week hoping to stumble on something before it was posted online.
Once home I checked the Henderson website again after getting ready for bed. They had just put up a new flyer with their "Top 10" for the week. Included in it was an 06 for 13.5k. I was intrigued and pointed it out to the wife. We decided on Tuesday I would take the Superglide to Henderson to get it's trade-in value and check out this 06.
I made it to Henderson late morning on Tuesday and met up with a salesman (John), I told him about the ad and he pointed me to the 06. It was the skullmachine. Oh well, I figured as long as I was there I might as well see what the trade-in on the Superglide would be and if we could come close on a price that would make the skulls bearable. John offered me the keys to skullmachine and told me to take it out for a while, he was going to have lunch and it would be a while before someone got to look at the Superglide so I could have it for a few hours. I took the keys and started the bike up. Dear lord it had to be the loudest bike I ever heard, it wasn't even cool it was so loud. I didn’t make it out of the parking lot before a bike cop pulled off the street to and up next to me. He checked the dealer tag and I gave a apologetic shrug. He shook his head and waved at me and headed back onto the road. I followed him out, being gentle on the throttle so I wouldn't shatter any windows.
I got home and had the wife give her opinion on the bike. She liked the skulls about as much as I did, but she agreed if we could get a decent deal she could live with it, but the pipes would have to go.
We returned to the dealership, me on the skullmachine, her in the truck with our 8 year old in tow. It was getting close to 5 by the time we sat down to look at the numbers. The wife and I had discussed what we wanted for trade-in on the Superglide and what we were comfortable taking out of savings to cover the rest, so to make a no-finance deal we needed to have the final price including all taxes and fees and after trade-in be around 8,000. With the skullmachine listed at 1000 more than the bike at LV HD I was figuring this would be tight. It turned out to not even be close.
We were separated by enough on price that I didn't even bother haggling. As we were chatting about the price John said he had a customer looking for a Dyna and he might be interested in mine at the price I hand mentioned what I thought it was worth. If so then the dealership would give me my price on trade-in and add a document fee and send it off with the new owner.
The 3rd party was willing to give me what I was originally looking at as trade-in value on the Superglide, but it still didn't get us close enough on the final price. While John was working the side deal with the 3rd party, I was sitting with the finance lady explaining to her that the skullmachine was just not a bike I was feeling any particular love for. It was an okay bike, but I'd be willing to sit back for a few months and wait for another okay bike that's a better deal to come along. At this point she asked me how I would feel about a new Road King. I explained wasn't a "new bike" kind of guy. Then she brought up the 09. Again I told her I felt it was too new for me and that the price was pretty steep.
John had come back in at this point and he said he was going to speak to the sales manager to see what they could do on prices. I'm thinking he means getting closer on the skullmachine, which at this point I'm already walking away from in my mind. I figure I would smile an nod, thank them both for their time and ask them to give me a call if something comes into the dealership that is a bit more used.
We got to chatting with the finance lady about living on the East Coast (she's originally from NJ and my wife teaches college in CT) and before we knew it John was back with a price, on the 09. The price he gave us had my wife’s head whipping around faster than mine, just a couple thousand more than the skullmachine. He asked if I would be interested in testing it, I gave my wife the 'excited' look, she all but patted me on the head and we all made our way to the service area. I just noticed it was 6:30 and all the bikes were tucked away for the night. We snaked our way to the bike, it was wedged in the middle of the pack. We looked around it for a bit and John offered to pull it out so I could take it out. I agreed and after moving 5 other bikes the 09 was in the parking lot.
The newest Road King I have ridden up till now was the 06 skullmachine. I was surprised by the difference. The 09 felt taller with a more upright riding position. The handling was markedly different. The 09 tracked much better in corners and no rear tire skittering when powering out of a turn. I had read about all this in reviews, but actually feeling the difference in handling was very impressive. I took it up I-515 through Henderson and went through the gears. It wasn't going to outperform the Superglide but acceleration in fifth and sixth was better than I expected. I was also giddy noticing all the sweet extras. Cruise control! Remaining distance in fuel! Clock in the odometer! Cup holder! Okay I really wasn't that excited about it having a cup holder, but at this point every discovery was a bit thrilling.
When I rolled back into the dealership my son was standing outside jumping up and down. After I climbed off he ran over asking "are we getting it, are we getting it?" Now if gave my honest gut response it would have been, "oh heck yeah", but trying to set a good example of a serious decision being made I said, "I don't know yet, buddy, we have to talk some more." My wife asked me, "is it a good bike?" I told her, "It's a great bike, it would be the last bike I ever buy." I gave the keys back to John and we went back inside to talk with finance. My wife asked if I was serious about "the last bike". I told her there would be nothing left to upgrade to after this.
I had almost forgotten about the 3rd party waiting for my decision on the Superglide. It was past 7 (closing time) and he was still walking about the dark showroom. I asked my wife if she was comfortable with the price, since it would mean we would take a few months to pay it off instead of writing single check. She said if I thought it was worth the price, then we should go ahead rather than waiting around to catch something on the cheap. I told John to tell the other buyer that we had a deal on the Superglide and then we went to finance.
When I bought the Superglide I decided I would do all my own maintenance, and I had. Even repaired wreck damage with the help of a mechanic friend. But having put almost 20,000 miles on it in the span of 9 months I had spent a lot of money on upkeep, so when the finance lady ran down the cost of the extended warranty, the unlimited service over five years, etc... My wife pointed out that even buying every drop of coverage we could get our hands on, the price would be less than what she figured I would spend in maintenance on it in two years. So she talked me into officially becoming one of "those guys", for the next five years all I do is put gas in the bike. Before committing us to the service plan she asked me "Is there some guy-thing that makes you need to change your own oil and all that?" I told her "No, there's a 'no way in hell I'm going to pay someone 100 bucks to change my oil'-thing".
So we finished the paperwork I got the keys to my Road King at 7:45 on Tuesday 26 July. In the past week I've put just about 1500 miles on it, just riding the same to/from work, around town errands that I was doing on the Superglide. No rides to Grand Canyon or anything yet. But they are coming.
Before I left on a 400 mile out and back job-site visit today she asked me "Is having it as exciting as wanting it was?” "Even more," I told her. ...Cruise control is a thing of beauty.
Here's how it looked on Sunday (windshield removed, of course). It's a bit more bug splattered at the moment, hmmm have to check the service plan to see if that includes invertebrate removal.
Last edited by Gazzalodi; 08-01-2011 at 10:17 PM. Reason: sooo many typos
#5
08-02-2011, 12:57 AM
Looks great in that color-- and the added bonus of the nostalgia bag racks and the QD luggage rack is cool too. I've always had a soft spot for the RK Classic.
#6
08-02-2011, 01:51 AM
Congrats! That's the bike that got away from me. I traded my RKC for my street glide, but I miss the RKC so much! That's such a gorgeous ride!
#7
08-02-2011, 04:25 AM
Nice looking bike. Glade you got a deal you liked.
You had me nervous when you were talking about getting an '06. I have read to many posts here with '06's having stator and inner primary bearing problems.
You had me nervous when you were talking about getting an '06. I have read to many posts here with '06's having stator and inner primary bearing problems.
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#9
08-02-2011, 07:03 AM
Supporter
....................................... .............................
AND LOVING IT !!
