yeah Retroman, your right,.... anyway, I didn't buy my grey to sell,... it's what I've badly wanted for a long time, I couldn't afford even a grey one here, AND I tried, it took me months and months to find mine,....and I trust the greedy pricks trying to make the big bucks on them here get burned.

The thread is about weather the sellers should tell the prospective buyers, and the answer has to be Big yes, as the trust built up between parties WILL bring the client back when and if they consider upgrading or their friends who may be thinking of doing similar....ahhh..good service these days is fucked anyway.....

The question is'nt or should'nt be is the import worth more or less 2 years down the track , it should be, is the fact there bringing them in, and selling them for our local domestic prices , hurting your resale value regardless ,

The aswer is YES. I know I know a lot can say they don't buy there harley to sell it , and worry what they will get in 10 years ,, but still there are a lot who are still under the false impresion ,, given by dealers that there bike will actually go up in value , well i'vve got news for you will it fuck ,Theres also a lot like me, who like to upgrade there bikes, and keep reasonably new with warranty , but just try and trade your bike ,, I've been told one of mine was worth peanuts , because its high mileage 37,000 klm and the salesman said ,, theres so many low mileage bikes around we cannot sell one with k's on it like yours ,

A mate wants to upgrade his 2008 rk to a new one , he was'nt given a shit trade in price , they just told him they don't want it , reason too many klm 62000,,, and when i look at my local Harley store today it was 9 ,out of 11 are imports ,, Alls i can say is when the guy who buys a rk now for say 30 grand , then spends on pipes and a few bits and peices , rides it for 2 years and is then told its worthless because he's rode the fucking thing well he will probably do what i just done .

Say fuck it i'll keep what i've got .... Bringing in the imports is good SHORT TERM buisness sence , cos they will make more ,, but Harley have just lost my buisness has a new bike buyer , because i'm not willing to drop the price of my trade in to match the bankrucpy sales in the states.. I don't think its going to be long either before people start relizing how much money they will lose when there trade in is the same has the jap bike that was 7-10 grand cheaper. .... Harley dealers, there shooting themselves in the foot

"and I trust the greedy pricks trying to make the big bucks on them here get burned."

Jacks mate, there are 5 different CVO Springers here in Perth for sale right now , all grey imports , and oodles of the bastards for sale in the east as well. 2007 / 2008 / 2009

NONE were bought to ride by owner importers, all brought for sale. Some are not even WA Aussie registered yet, they have to be ,Quote

"Licensed in your name " unquote

They're all asking 34 to 36K, for bikes bought most likely for 18 to 20K US !!

NONE are selling here, must tell you something. Maybe the local HD dealer refusal to serve, maybe flooded market for that kinda bike.

Some have been on bikesales and gumtree etc since LAST NOVEMBER !! Long time for an unlicensed bike to sit in an "entrepreneurs" garage !!

Fuck a brand spankers 5HDI Heritage 2012 is under $30K ride away with a 2 year warranty , Fatboy Lo  $27995...

I really really want a 2009 CVO Springer, and I shoulda pulled the trigger on one when I was in Florida last March 2011 at Daytona Bikeweek .

But I aint giving no wideboy $5K to 10K+ profit on one brought here for sale. I'll buy my own in Nevada / Arizona / California and ship it.

Chopaweeza seems to be the "go to guy" so that's what I'll be doing in the very near future.

Retroman +1

Choppaweezer has been around for a while and lets you pick up the "bargain" although he obviously makes a few bucks on the importation it seems a fair price for what he does.

No not a mate of Choppaweezer although I have met him once before whilst looking at a Yammy 650 he had built for someone, I just was doing a lot of research before I bought my bike and it seemed that buying one in the States and importing it via someone like this was the most economical.

I was looking for a $8500 Street Bob in the states for a while and just missed out on a couple when the low rider I bought here come up. High Klm's but I want to do a bit of engine work anyway so it was a pretty good deal.

I just cant see the benefit of buying a grey or RAWS import unless you are going to save a few bucks in the process. Having had a few cars in the past I agree that when you try and sell an older Porsche one of the first things you get asked is "was it Aussie delivered". I know most of us don't buy a Harley (or any other bike) to make a buck selling it, but reality is resale value is a factor. Who knows what the financial situation will be a couple of years down the track and if I had to get rid of a higher cost item (like a car or bike) I would like to think that it would have held some value.

That said I reckon the grin would be just as wide no matter where the Harley ya bum is on came from.

Ride Safe All.

 

So what about the value of bikes that Harley Australia never sold here?

IF IT IS TRUE that some dealers wont service grey imports then i think its waaaaaay more than just a moral obligation to inform a buyer.  The dealer you refer to would know that he is selling a bike that may not be serviced in other states .... how fucked would your mate be if he moves to WA  ? . 

I think it stinks regardless of how happy your mate is.... Simply posting this up ( and keeping the dealers name anonymous) hardly helps the next guy who is unfamiliar with HD brand and market in Oz.

FFS whats wrong with naming the dealer who doesnt distinguish .. unless this is just a fairytale

The reality is they are all HD's and me personally would not give a shit what prefix it had on it.
A buddy is now selling his CVO 110 Roadking for 30k after he bought it local for 54k a few years ago and he spent big coin on the go fast gear.
That price is the same costings as for a grey import.

HD have been restricted by the amount of models and colours that "they get allocated" and some new buyers have to settle for something they
didn't want in order to spend their coin.How many times have we heard that they can't get a bike in that colour or with that trim etc ??
Bringing in new greys to meet that market makes good business sence.

The second hand price for your new overpriced Harley will be a shock and it will not matter if it is a grey or not.

Hi all,

I looked into this while I was looking for my bike and found out:

The "1" models are designed to meet US road and EPA requirements only.

The "5" we get is made to meet OUR requirements.

If you bring a "1" model into Australia then they have to have a bunch of bits changed to meet our ADR. These vary depending on the year of the bike.

The mechanicals are identical, so are the materials, made in the same factory and worked on by the same people. The only design variation I could find was the bikes that go to some asian countries have differnent gearing via the pulley (not GB) to compensate for the congested nature of their roads.

I know from experience that if someone like Peter Stevens brings in a bike, whatever the speedo says in miles is coverted into KM's and that is what you see on the bike at purchase. The issue may arrise where a not so honest dealer may simply not tell you it had 30000 miles on the clock and they jam a reading 2000kms. You could of course ask to see the import miles documentation. Remember, they are ALL imports from the same place.

Should they tell you? Probably yes, but if you ar going to spend a heap of money and you have not done all the research then all I can say is "Caveat Emptor" or "let the buyer beware".

See your point scouser but some do worry about resale ,, now you have posted before about cutomizing bikes , kombies ect so any problems you can do the work yourself ,,, myself i don't know one end of a bike from another ,, put air in the tyres is my limit ,, so what i do is buy the bike ,, ride it and trade it when the mileage gets high or the warranty runs out ... If you found your dream bike and want to keep it well good on ya ,, BUT if like me you will change it well before you have to start paying $120 a hour for them to do repairs well your gonna get your arse spanked ..

Why ,, because they can simply buy repossed and bankrupt stock from the states , that they have absolutly NO NEED FOR YOUR BIKE , or more to the point no need to give you a decent trade in price.

Everyone has , different ideas and views and reacts differently , me I am just taking the attitude , they can get fucked ,, theres no way am i going to buy a new rk for 31 grand spend 4 grand on it , only to be told that in 3 years when its got 30000 klm on it that its only worth 10-14 grand because they can get low mileage ones for the same price ,,, when what they really mean is fuckoff we don't need yours we got a crate full of repossed bikes from the states out the back .

Like i said everyone is different , you got the bike you wanted, and if you intend to keep it for a long time well your on a winner ,, but heh if you intend to get rid, any time in the next couple of years,be prepared to accept LESS than what they bought it for in the states , cos they will simply tell you they don't need yours its been used , we have a crateful out the back .

Regards the ignots ,, err not so sure there either ,, personally i reckon get 6.5 - 7% and stick it in a 2 year long term deposit , ,, buy a house ,, but for fuck sake don't buy a harley a nd expect it to only lose a little in value , the eighties have gone ,,

Killer ,,, read my lips what did i just say the eighties have gone , Course bikes go down in price everything does , and if you got yours cheaper going overseas well good on ya , I can't blame you for that , BUt what i'm saying is the dealers who are bringing them in by the crateful are killing there own market ,, they bring them in cheap , but do not pass the savings on ,, now i know ther in buisness to make money , buy its a short term gain ..,, Its common sence they will not give me a good price for mine when they can get them from the states cheaper .
You said it yourself , you would'nt pay the ridiculous price for a seconhand bike ,, and neither will I ,, my local store now has 9 out of 11 secondhand harleys that are imports ,, so that ensures i will not get a FAIR trade in value ,, so fuck em i won't buy new anymore at least not a harley ,, and funny enough I won't buy a seconhand one of them either ,, cos i'm fucked if there gonna tell me my 3 year old 30 grand bike is only worth 10-12 grand while we are stood next to bikes that were 23 grand new and 3 years later that they want 20 grand for them .. ESPECIELLY when they buy them for fuck all in the states..

Anyway my rantis over , i agree most seconhand harleys are way over priced , but thats the dealers selling point its a harley they don't devalue, its a crock of shit but they use it to sell bikes ,

Me i'll just keep what i've got , they can find another mug to sell the new bike too , or maybee i'll join you and import my own. Thre point i'm making is'nt that harleys don't or should'nt lose value its all about HOW MUCH and what % they devalue ,, The dealers are still charging premium prices , but there bringing in cheaper stock and not passing it on ,, Fuck if they brought in a secondhand low mileage 11 model and passed the savings on , i would be more than willing to take a big hit on mine ,, but they don't.

RANT OVER i've got a day off and i'm going for a ride ,

boxa i am agreeing with you. my question/statement was a rhetorical one and not aimed at yourself, hence the 2nd paragraph.

the solution is easy. potential buyers should not buy imports from stealers. let them over fill their showrooms with imported bikes that have unrealistic inflated prices. in the end they will be forced to lower the prices to move the stock which will cut into their profits. they deserve nothing better. no one should "feel" for them. they certainly dont "feel" for you. that should result in people buying imported bikes at a lot more "fair" value. it will also stop stealers from ordering the next container load as they know the struggle in selling them at bs prices. dog act bringing in bikes at the price they are and then putting local prices on them. further to this is the greatest hypocrisy of selling these bikes but not being prepared to service them. talk about wanting your cake.

the other alternative is private sellers accept the loss in value that their bike has incurred and put a more realistic value as their sale price. why know what is going on in the market and still put a figure on your bike that you just wont get. be realistic, put on a price that it is worth - not what you feel it owes you - make the thing sell purely through aggressive pricing. if this was happening private sold bikes would be moving like hot cakes whilst stealers showrooms would become stagnate & only sales they would be making would be new bikes. cause now you are walking in with 18k in your hand as down payment & not listening to their crap of only being able to give you 12k.

my 2c.

Lol!

I think he means it was time for him to move on - not everyone else. Personally I like it here, if you drink enough beers you can barley smell the piss and vomit in the corner.

i thought you had gone .......

*insert confused smilie here*

WELL MEN, I have done 3 deals with 3 different PS stores over the past 3 years.
The first one that is not located in melbourne, did NOT tell me that the Wide Glide I had just sourced for my father was an import... It was a 5HD from Japan, we found out when we pulled the seat off when it arrived in Tas.....
The second Wide Glide which was for myself came from Dandenong and I WAS told that it too was a 5HD from japan.
The third was for my mate from HH A'beckett, I WAS also informed that the Wide Glide WAS an 5HD from japan.
So except for the first one which came from adelaide without us looking at the bike, the other PS stores have been upfront.

Anyway We didn't buy our bikes to worry about selling them again, we bought them to ride.....

And guess What???? Just like the "AUSTRALIAN" bikes, Ours are also made in KANSAS CITY, KANSAS.

If frasers dont want to service them in the west, I am sure the "little" man down the road would be more than happy to change your oil and replace your tyres......

As a point of interest, Frasers prolly would offer service on an ex-Japan bike. ( Inadvertently !!)

They're just looking at the 1HD v 5HD thing and a Jap import would prolly "squeeze thru the gaps"..

Unless they picked up on the Mauve/pink sticker !

The problem is here if you have any ECM troubles at all, then " the little guy down the road" can't help you !

So Retroman, do you think that with all the clever people and bike mechanics in the west, with the assistance of HD Australia if needed, you dont think you could get an ECM problem fixed??????

Come on mate, authorised dealers are not the be all and end all brother, other ways around it mate.

Rans

So Retroman, do you think that with all the clever people and bike mechanics in the west, with the assistance of HD Australia if needed, you dont think you could get an ECM problem fixed??????

If you have any kind of ECM problem, the WA dealers WILL NOT HELP YOU with a 1HD Vin No bike. Period !

Now I am quite a clever tuner/mechanic here in the west and know you'd be fucked severely with problems of that nature.

HD Australia would be of no assistance either on a 3/4 year old bike,  ( which most imports are by the way ).

Not saying that " that's right " just that that's the way it is in the west at the mo'.

No independent shop in the west can or will access the stock ECM to provide any "fix" that may be required

The dealer Digitech computer is a must to do that.

It's unfortunate this 'Greys' subject is causing disputes and anger and many Harley Riders are 'taking sides' etc, etc but that's how us humans roll. Haters gotta Hate  !! And there's several other 'Greys / importing' topics on here if anyone's missed 'em...

But back to the OP; yep, I reckon the Salespeople should definitely tell the Customer if the bike is an import. At some point sooner or later the Buyer will become aware. This info may or may not rock his world, but pretty much everyone would be a tad miffed if this info had not been put forward prior to purchase, yeah? It's information worthy of note - surely?

I now find many 'Grey' Harleys sitting for sale at non HD Bike Shops - 'Team Moto' Dealers being typical. I'll rock up to look at bikes in ma 'City office worker' clothes. This amuses me no end coz most Salespeople immediately assume I'm a bike virgin - someone totally new to bikes! I guess I don't have a rough head like some of you fellas!

In my experience NOT ONE Salesperson has ever pointed out or mentioned the bikes being 'imports' until I've pointed to the purple sticker: "So this one's an import yeah? In fact it appears pretty much every Harley here is an import, yeah?". It's funny as f*ck coz the salescreature noticably changes gear in the conversation.

But anyway, I imported a '98 Heritage Springer some time back - back before the 'Greys' thing became an issue, back before every Dealer started bringing 'em in by the Container load. It cost me (I think) $10,700 OZ $$$ from a Dealer in Texas USA plus $5K or $6K to get it here and complianced in OZ. I think it cost $17K all done & dusted. It was cheaper than comparable bikes in OZ by several thousand dollar$$$ and I did this coz it's a keeper - not JUST to save $$$ and trade up at some time.

It doesn't matter to me personally if the bike's an import or not - it's a f*ckin' HARLEY - but yep, the Buyer should most definitely be made aware both verbally and pointed out on the paperwork prior to coin changing hands. My two cents...  

 

And yay verily the congregation concurred with the pastor, here endeth the lesson...............maybe...........