Motorcycle Forum / General / Sportbikes / June 2005

The fine print will read...$3000 cash refund applied to
purchase of new motorcycle.   In 3 years the USD will have
devalued another 45%   Bikes will be selling 20 to 30% higher
than today in terms of dollars.... so the 3k will take you
back to the normal dealer pricing.. but still a good
deal...unless there is other fine print...say that your bike
has to receive regular dealer service etc.  Then its close to
a push.

No way can a dealer afford to pay say 5,000 dollars or so to
Suzuki, then sell it to you for a 2,000 net loss.   There is
fine print...trust me.

It could also be tied and probably is tied to dealer financing
at some very high rate...so the money is made on the financing
of the 5900 plus set up etc...

say 15% a year on the first year, 6k is 900 dollars...more of
course with higher interest rates...or they get tricky with
the rate and say its a low 10%...but the contract has a rider
that says if you are late one payment (standard in the credit
card industry) the rate goes to 25% or so.

Most people will be late occasionally, especially if the bank
set up is for posting payments recieved the following day and
after weekends, when stamped recieved.... Wells Fargo had a
nasty habit of stamping deposits late, while charging 30
dollars for 5 dollar check over drafts..they would hold a
batch of small checks until one big one came in...they cash
that...emptying the account then with an over draft on one
small check the rest go into over draft at 30 bucks a copy
(now 35 dollars a copy).

This strategy has been exposed in the press and TV news shows
occasionally.

So in that freebie bike deal, there will be this spin...that
is unless the bike shop is planning to out of business
tomorrow.      The banks will also have to bless the deal and
the other creditors, the bike mfgrs.   So its a net profitable
situation for the shop

Phil Scott