The
has a world wide following. It is sort of cult like
similar to H-D crowd I think. People have been forking over the big money for H-Ds and then even thousands over MSRP not too long ago.
But it is a whole new ball game now. In fall 06, you could get a bike at dealer cost when the 96 in motor came out for MY 07. Everyone wanted to be the guy on the block with the new toy. You know some 09
owners are like that too. It will interesting to see how this pans out.
H-D dealers should be offering big discounts on 08's. My understanding is that there are extremely high inventory levels out there for this time of year. The 09's are just starting to show up at dealers.
Yes, I find it difficult to believe the Runes are still available at that discount. There must be more to the story like they ride like crap or something? If they are not moving they will have to cut them loose for less money. Just for sh.ts and grins I went to NADA to see what an 04 is worth. $11700 - $15400 non chrome and 12,900 -16,900 chrome.
Yamaha has complete control of the products they engineer, build, and sell. I have a lot of confidence the 09
will be a premium product.
What bothers me is I don't want to be the guy that spent top dollar for a bike that may sell new in a year, two or three years later for less than what I payed for it.
Yamaha controls the bike building aspect very well, but how will they react to a volatile market and economy over the next few years.
Keep in mind many of the folks in their loyal
customer base can not buy one at this time.
If the price of the customers cost of the bike remains the same or goes up with inflation, I will be a happy camper because this is a substantial personal expense for me. If bikes are discounted in the future, I'll be one pissed off customer.
I'm not looking to make any money on this bike, I'm just considering the flip side of the coin, an ass screwing.
Hangarnc wrote:The first run of the Rune was successful . It was supposed to be limited to 1200 units. But Honda got greedy and kept building them and finally had to cut the price when the suckers stopped buying, Hardly keeping their promise of "absloute exclusive 1200 Bikes only ever"
What was the total RUNE production figures for 2004 and 2005?
I have never ridden on but my research tells me it is a VERY nice bike. I would not mind having one.
I could not find the figures anywhere on the net! Thanks!
Kev wrote: I'm not looking to make any money on this bike, I'm just considering the flip side of the coin, an ass screwing.
I hear ya Kev. I know guys that bought early VMAXes, rode the sh.t out of them and got back just about all their money when they sold them. H-D's resale value was crazy too. I actually traded in a 3 year old Fatboy for a new Heritage Special and the dealer gave me more than a grand than I paid for it new. Stock bike!
My point is that we can only speculate what will happen but I would not get your hopes up that the 09 will be an investment. Like most machines, it will depreciate eventually.
Spider wrote: Kev wrote: I'm not looking to make any money on this bike, I'm just considering the flip side of the coin, an ass screwing.
I hear ya Kev. I know guys that bought early VMAXes, rode the sh.t out of them and got back just about all their money when they sold them. H-D's resale value was crazy too. I actually traded in a 3 year old Fatboy for a new Heritage Special and the dealer gave me more than a grand than I paid for it new. Stock bike!
My point is that we can only speculate what will happen but I would not get your hopes up that the 09 will be an investment. Like most machines, it will depreciate eventually.
I hear ya dude and agree with you.
Normal depreciation I can handle.
Actually on my 1985
which I bought for 3600.00 in '89; I sold in '90 for 3900.00. It did NOT depreciate. As a matter of fact the collector I sold it to didn't even start it. Of course it looked like a jewel.
Of course, the New
is pricey and the market for the larger bikes is falling.
I understand this is an 'American' thread and Europe buyers are different from US buyers, but maybe you can include this info into your arguments/reasoning.
Dutch dealers are designated only 60 units for 2009.
More than 30 have been sold between July 4th and yesterday, July 31st. That's in less than a MONTH! Keep in mind: we pay almost double the price than US customers, namely 23.000 euros...!
Reviews of motormagazines will come out in September; some'll love the comments, some will walk away from their intention of buying. I suspect in Holland the 2009 bike will be sold out before the enddate of ordering (31-10).
Based on the US bikes registered on this web site, the following looks to be in the ballpark for sales rate:
1000 sold in June
700 sold in July
800 still available
I would expect that the # of bikes sold will be fewer than 700 in August, since there will probably be little new information to generate more buzz, and most of the people who have decided to buy one sight unseen are already in the game. Plus, the early summer motorcycle buying fever has passed.
Once a few bikes are made available to the journalists to ride I have to believe the positive press (can't imagine anything less than very positive overall, with possibly a few nits here and there, such as the weight) will spur on those who can't quite get themselves to buy a bike that has not yet had a riding review, and sales will pick up significantly. This may be September or October before the rides happen, the articles are written, and the mags are published.
Assuming the above analysis is in the ballpark, I would expect bikes to be available throughout August (maybe 400-500), then when the mags get published the remaining few will be gone in a heartbeat (and probably for full retail, if not more).
Forum 
