MotorcycleHound.com : Sales : What Can I Expect To Pay?
There are a number of different factors that go into the price of a motorcycle. We've broken down some of the things you need to know before sitting down with a salesperson:
Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP): This is the price the manufacturer wants the dealer to sell the unit for.
Dealer Suggested Retail Price (DSRP): This is the price that the dealer wants to sell the unit for.
What affects the DSRP:
- Market conditions: What are other dealers selling them for? How many are for sale in that dealership and in the market as a whole.
- Demand… Is it a hot seller?
Discounts: As in every business, every good dealership has done their break even analysis, and knows on average how much profit they need to make in order to keep the doors open. Make sure you check out our rebates section, updated regularly with the latest rebates, dealer discounts, and other marketing incentives.
Freight: The fee charged to the dealership to get the motorcycle there. This is sometimes averaged across an entire shipment, depending on the circumstances.
Prep or Set-up: What it costs to put the unit together, inital gas, and clean for sale.
Documentation fee: What it costs for the paperwork to flow through the dealership to the lender to the bank.
Are these fluff or are they real? Most of these are fixed expenses that the manufacturer’s don’t include in MSRP, so they are legitimate . Just watch out for fees that seem excessive. Most dealers try to keep these to their minimum in order to keep the prices of the bikes down. These will probably range from $300 to $800 per unit depending on the size and type of the unit.
Is there a "better" time to buy?
A sale is a sale. A lot depends on the particular dealership and the type and quality of salespeople that they have. At a good dealership with good salespeople, anytime is a good time to buy. If the salespeople are lazy or inept, the end of the month may be a better time to buy because they are trying to "make their check".
Market Conditions: Some dealerships may have more of a specific kind of bike, so they may discount it. If they and most of the other dealerships are only getting one, there probably won’t be much of a discount.