May be paranoid,  or is every second dealer advertising imports for top $$$$$$$$ with exceptionally low K's for the age of bike.

Sure there are some great buys out there as far as imports go, and no reason not to go that way if thats your choice. 

However prices surely need to reflect if the bike is not  Australian delivered. 

 

Any thoughts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 Yeah can get expensive if you pay for one prior delivery then get ripped off like some have from an importer and end up with nuttin lol 

The topic of whether the dealers should pass on their lower acquisition costs of US imports has been discussed before and boy, does it raise some passions!

Well, if the dealer had two identical bikes (say, same model & year) on their used lot with one costing $25k while the other is $20k, the buyer would naturally ask ”What’s the difference between the two?”
If the dealer explained that both were made on the same production line using the same components by the same people and under the same process controls ( i.e. the real difference is zilch), but that the $25k one was locally delivered while the $20k one is a US import, how many of the locally delivered bikes do you think they will be able to sell?

The dealer is first & foremost a business whose aim is to maximise their profit and they are not going to discount a bike by 20% just because their acquisition cost was less. They will always try to sell for the maximum price.

The main argument for a premium for a locally delivered bike is its known history. It is logical to pay some premium for a locally delivered bike with its first owner and with a full dealer service history, but once it is 2+ years old, that argument becomes less relevant - the vast majority of Harleys are serviced by privateers or their owners themselves, leaving a lot of variation in the maintenance. Again, you could have a 6 month old local bike that has been repaired after a major crash. The bottom line is that when you buy second hand, you just don’t know. You can do all the checks & tests, but unless you personally know the owner, buying a used bike is a bit of a punt.

So, the dealers will continue to sell bikes at the same (high) price irrespective of its origin. If someone does not like it, they have the option of directly sourcing & importing it from the US (like many of us - including me - have done so). Yes, the risks are huge, but can be mitigated with proper research & checking and utilising the skills of a reliable, honest importer like Chopaweeza. To me, it is no different to buying a used local bike. If individuals on this forum are saving 20-25% doing so, the dealers must be taking a profit of 40-50% as they buy at HD auctions and have the volumes to demand cheap compliancing & transport. That money is always better in my pocket than theirs!!

well said.
it comes down to the value to you as to if it is expensive or not.
what value do you place against the risks. they will be different for each of us.
there will always be buys that some will consider over priced but to the individual involved it will be acceptable.
just like the bike it self the purchase can also be an individual thing

 Don't forget some Stealers refuse to service or even look at an imported Bike.

Hi Chopa, You know me! I am one of your happy customers - does a two-tone dark blue / silver Fatboy from Philadelphia ring a bell? Yep, the one that got caught out by the Easter holidays and juuuust made it to the container with 10 minutes to customs document close-off!

I don’t know if the forum gods will frown at me for plugging a business, but as this is an unpaid, unsolicited testimonial I am going ahead:

As a satisfied & happy customer of Chopaweeza, I am very happy to recommend him to anyone considering importing Harleys from the US. The guy’s knowledge & passion for HD is phenomenal and is of great help throughout the process. It was a pleasure to deal with him and also, his compliancer Andy at Foytts.

I don't have a problem with dealers selling grey import bikes for the same price as non grey import bikes as long as they are honest and up front about it, when they 'forget to mention it' and the buyer doesn't know then it's being dishonest IMO. A dealer should be required to give a vehicle history (from Vic Roads or similar other state bodies) with the sale of any vehicle if you ask me. That history should show if the vehicle was ever a repaired write off, if it was ever a grey import or if it was ever a private import so the buyer can make an informed choice.

I think as long as your told if it is a import . If i buy another it would be the best deal i can find

 Well thats what a forum is all about, good info & opinions from all. Rains & Chopaweeza have provided pretty convincing facts here and have certainly changed the way I look at this subject...  Simple if in your mind if said bike is to expensive dont buy it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Options are there for us all.  Cheers!!!!!!

 

 

I've said it before in other posts over the months, and I'll say it again.

Most ( NOT ALL) of the "Grey Import" bikes I've seen here in Perth have been fucking hounds , at least 7 out of 10 !!

One 2008 CVO Springer had aftermarket upside down tele-forks FFsake !! How dodgy is that ??

Edgy/stone chippy/ dull washed out things for the most part , and I'm more than cluey folks.

AND EVERY FUCKING ONE OF THEM 4,900 K'S I KID YOU NOT !!

Finance repos without a doubt, no two ways about it. All brought to Australia by "entrepreneurs" ex-Repo auction.

If you want a Yank bike, then buy and bring it yourself in the US FROM THE FIRST OWNER and get the history....

To the OP. If you think the imports are expensive then don't buy. If you don't like the idea of a purple sticker then don't buy.

However if you can not negotiate a significantly lower price from a dealer on a purple sticker bike (that is usually two or three years old with low kms) then walk away with your money to an independant. Enough people now do this so dealers will play ball with imports.

Just as a side note five years ago it was rare to see an imported bike, hell I had never seen a CVO Springer. Now I quietly smile that four of the bikes are FXSTSSE/2/3 despite only a handful only ever been officially imported.

To clubbie

You are correct mate, more Springer CVO's have been brought here as "used grey imports" than were EVER sold here new

I have it on good authority that Frasers Perth only ever sold 2 2008 FXSTSSE2 CVO Springers , and that's in "Boomtime WA " !!

That's because back then they were $28K US over there and close to $60K over here

60 to 70 US cents to our dollar led to that price disparity

The fall in used bike prices over there and the rise in our dollar to $1.10 US fairly recently has MORE than reversed that situation

With actual shipping costs being the same as a "cooking" model Harley, and compliancing a fraction more , it made sense to bring only CVO bikes !

Especially when you can buy a 2007/2008/2009 CVO Springer over there for $18/20K USD all day long

I've seen 2007 and 2008 CVO Dynas sell for $14 K USD !! They were $54 K Aussie dollars here when new !!

Trouble is, every "entrepreneur" and his brother did the same maths, now there are loads of CVO's for sale in Australia from $33 to $36 K

Last night there were over 35 CVO Springers for sale across Australia, Bikesales / ebay / Gumtree etc etc

Some have been "on the market" for 6 months and more. They're STILL trying to make $10K plus on them..GOOD LUCK WITH THAT !!!

It has also HUGELY depressed the price of original Aussie supplied CVO's of all types, it had to !!

A Fatboy CVO was for sale in Sydney just recently for $21K Aussie, all registered and complied . Good buying probably if it was a clean bike...

"The rest are are dinged and scratched but typically rock bottom bargains"

These must be the puppies for sale here then. There are 2 different indy outlets FULL of them !

My argument is, DON'T GIVE THESE GUYS PROFIT ON THEM , they're hounds !

And they're asking very close to "Aussie " money for them. They ain't passing on no bargains mate

The "private sale" price of locally delivered Harleys has suffered hugely as a result of these hounds

Such is the economics of the bike market at the moment in Perth WA at least !

Makes it way harder for a private buyer to get any interest in his one off Aussie bike that's up for sale.

EVEN THO' THE "GENUINE" HD DEALERS IN WA WON'T HAVE A BAR OF THE GREY IMPORTS

HD's in this country have been way over priced for too long . If the price of a new HD was fair then there would not be a Parallel Import Industry for them .

Man i dont think i have ever read a more truthful statement , ChopaWeeza has hit the nail right on the head ... i sure hope that some of the Dealers around Australia read this forum every now and again and start to understand that there are only so many " WANNA BE COOL BRO`S " out there willing to pay the over inflated prices they have on offer .

I dont pretend to have any where near the knowlage that a lot of the guys on this forum have which is why i enjoy the threads posted here ... my bad taste in my mouth situation stems from being a first time Harley owner back in the late 80`s but a long time bike rider even at that point taking my then pride and joy 1976 Shovel Head to Morgan and Wankers for a trade - in , foolishly thinking that being the longest running dealership outside of the old U.S. of A. they would stear me in the right direction upgrade wise , but no all i got was ... sorry mate we dont deal in old shit any more ... you can imangine my disgust and i have zero sad feelings about seeing them go belly up of late , allthough i do have some sympathy for some of the genuine workers and their familys who may not have kept their jobs in the major revamp .

Sorry for the rant , the point as Chopa so rightly made is Harley dealers here in Aussie Land only have themselfs to blame for the import situation we now have .

Sorry for the rant , the point as Chopa so rightly made is Harley dealers here in Aussie Land only have themselfs to blame for the import situation we now have .

Blame themselves for what ,, If there in trouble its nothing to do with imports , its because they just cannot sell because the economy is fucked ,,

But regards Harleys dealers, they have never been in a better position , they are mass importing , so when you go and want 20 grand trade in , they tell you its only worth 14 and it is to them, because they got a shit load on the floor and another container full on the way that they picked up at there yankee repoccessed auctions ,

So ok you don't buy a new one, it don't matter cos they still sell there import at local prices , because they don't have any local bikes ,

I offered my one owner Aussie from new 2006 35th Anniversary Dyna to the "new" local HD dealer.

12,000 K's , a complete beauty . This is november 2011 

FIRST thing he does is Google prices of grey imports in the eastern states.

Right in front of me in his office off the showroom. it's Wednesday arvo.

Says to me, "it's worth $16K to me due to the price of the Peter Stevens bikes..." that's a direct quote !

I say "Aye, right mate..." ( well not really but you get the drift !)

Sold it on the Sunday privately for $21K..... 4 DAYS LATER FFSAKE !!

THE IMPORTS HAVE FUCKED THE TRADE IN PRICE FOR ALL US POOR FUCKERS THAT BOUGHT HARLEYS NEW FROM 2006 TO 2011 ! WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT ? FUCK ALL ! BUT I FOR ONE WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER NEW HARLEY FROM AN AUSSIE HARLEY DEALER . NO WAY JOSE . WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU ??

I'd be half depressed if I bought my bike with the view to trade it...

Private sales are the way to go.