New FJR1300a - NOT! PO'd in ATL!

[kboehringer]

XS Friends,

Yesterday, I ATTEMPTED, for the first time in more than 30 years, to purchase a brand new Yamaha Motorcycle. Specifically, I want(ed) to buy an FJR1300A.

I had been speaking to a sales guy from a relatively local dealer for a few weeks. Unlike my local/close dealers he had one on the floor (assembled and ready to buy). I’d been milling it over and decided it was time to buy! So, I finalized the details for the half I needed to finance with my bank, tossed my helmet, jacket, and riding gear in the trunk of the car and headed off with Nancy! Excited as hell quite honestly!

On my 50 mile +/- trip to the dealer, through the worst traffic areas in ATL, I was already planning my trip today (Sunday) with Nancy on the back to my favorite spots and then onward to wherever?

When I arrive at the dealer I scour the showroom for MY FJR…. NONE. I’m getting a little concerned so one of the over anxious Sales KIDS ask if he can help? Sure, where is the FJR that is supposed to be here. They’ve got one of everything else it’s gotta be here? We don’t have one of those on the floor! We have one in a box but it’s not assembled. But, for a $200 deposit we can put it together for you this afternoon. Wait a freakin’ minute…… I am not giving you $200 to put it together and therefore not committing to buy it without even sitting on the freakin’ thing first….. That’s just stupid!

Well Sir if “Andy” said we had one it must be at the OTHER STORE. That’s only eight miles up the street (Mind you in the ATL area eight miles up Cobb Parkway is like 2000 traffic lights and 100,000 butt holes to deal with on a Saturday morning). BUT, I take off in that direction. Getting a little excited again hopeful to find my FJR at the Kennesaw location….

Arrive at Kennesaw and NO FJR…… WTF? Now I am TOTALLY pissed.

Another sales KID tells me they don’t have one either. NOW, I lose control!! Dude, “Andy” said you had one I’ve been to the other store drove 50+ miles, wasted half my freakin’ day and you butts don’t even have one? He’s gonna have a talk with “Andy”.

Well buddy let me tell you something: #1 – I have a check in my hand, #2 – I’ve got my helmet and riding gear in the car, #3- You will NEVER see me in one your stores again…. Go ahead, have a talk with “Andy” you just lost a $18,000 dollar sale! SEE YA!

Now, I have a friend at Yamaha, the S.E. REGIONAL SALES MANAGER that provided many of the gifts we distributed at XSSE 16. He’s getting a NASTY GRAM tomorrow!

• They say the FJR is a “Slow Mover” sure it is….. If no one can sit on one how the hell can they buy it? There are dealers all over the place with, 2014, 2015, 2016, models in BOXES! How the heck long are they gonna’ leave them in the boxes? Until some fool walks in and hands them $200 to put them together? My bank considers anything older than 2016 to be USED even if it is BRAND new and the rate will jump through the roof on a USED bike. Holy Christmas…. Do these guys have a clue?
  
• Buying a new motorcycle is nothing like buying a car! Heck, If I look at a Honda Accord and kick the tires take a test drive, etc., I can then say, I want you to find me a blue one, or one with this accessory or that accessory. But you can’t sit on some other motorcycle and say that. You’ve got to sit on it, play with it, take IT for the test drive….. How the heck are they ever going to sell one of these?

I was so mad at YAMAHA yesterday I almost bought a Kaw Concourse at the LOCAL dealer….. But, that is not MY dream-bike….

PO’d in Atlanta….. Gonna go fix another XS11

[BA80]

Sorry to hear about your issues with buying an FJR Kurt. Ivan just bought a new/used 2014 FJR from a seller in Dallas and Tod, Cody, and I met him in Oklahoma City yesterday for a drink and to check it out.

A couple pics of the bike.....

[dpotter58]

[QUOTE=BA80;495504]Sorry to hear about your issues with buying an FJR Kurt. Ivan just bought a new/used 2014 FJR from a seller in Dallas and Tod, Cody, and I met him in Oklahoma City yesterday for a drink and to check it out.

Who is the skinny kid by the FJR?

[XJOK2PLAY]

Kurt,
Sorry to hear that. Sounds kinda like 3Phase's nightmare all over again.

If an FJR has now risen to 18 grand, a C14 for 10 grand is an even sweeter deal, imho! It's like a twofer!

The C14's a great bike, but Kawi needs to upgrade/revamp it.
However... there's a far larger aftermarket for it than the FJR.
Once I got mine outfitted to fit me, I wouldn't trade it for any other bike out there. Best thing has been how C14 prices have come down recently. Makes it a tremendous bang for the buck.

I, of course, do realize that Yamaha has been improving and revamping the FJR the past couple years. But I would have thought that with an 18 grand price tag, it would have been a 2017 ES version, w/ cruise?

Maybe a better deal's around the next bend, and the next deal will work out for ya.
Hope so, Kurt.
Bob

[XJOK2PLAY]

Congrats to Ivan! Cool!
Dig the color, too.

Glad you scored another one, bro.
Bob

[3Phase]

Bummer, Kurt, I kind of know how you feel but at least the one I was going to buy was out of the box!


Ivan's got a nice FJR but it needs a whitewall....

[kboehringer]

2016+ has a 6-speed.

But I would have thought that with an 18 grand price tag, it would have been a 2017 ES version, w/ cruise?
Bob

I want the 2016 which is a good bit less than 18 @ MSRP of $16,300.00. The 17 model is MSRP $17,999.00 I like the Blue '16 no longer available for 2017.

I was expecting not more than $14k (+ all the B.S., tags, tax, etc.) be pretty close to $18k with GA Tax.

The 16+ have the improved 6-speed transmission too.

I will lay low for a while. Local dealer offering the Silver/Gray '15. I don't want the 5-speed.

Kurt

[XJOK2PLAY]

I want the 2016 which is a good bit less than 18 @ MSRP of $16,300.00. The 17 model is MSRP $17,999.00 I like the Blue '16 no longer available for 2017.

I was expecting not more than $14k (+ all the B.S., tags, tax, etc.) be pretty close to $18k with GA Tax.

The 16+ have the improved 6-speed transmission too.

I will lay low for a while. Local dealer offering the Silver/Gray '15. I don't want the 5-speed.

Kurt

Don't blame you at all. I'd get the six speed, too.
I'm also with ya about the blue. Looks good on those bikes.

Bought my C14 back in April, '12. Mine, at that time was $13,300 out the door.
An FJR was about a grand more. Now, a new C14 goes for around $10k. A new, hold over that's a year or two old can be had for around $8k.

Here's a big difference between the bikes... Yamaha only offered a one year warranty. Kawasaki offered 3, with the ability to re-up 2 more times... (total of 9 years warranty!) Cost to re-up is $325. That appealed to me.

I also preferred the suspension, VVT, heated grips, larger side bags, and better fuel economy why offering more performance.

Both bikes are pretty bulletproof, though. And they've made a lot of significant improvements to the FJR now, which keeps it competitive.
Best things the FJR offers now over the Connie is Electronic suspension adjustment on the fly, factory cruise control, adjustable seat positions, adjustable handle bars...

I have most of that, but had to put them on through aftermarket. My suspension is fully adjustable, but manual.

One thing to watch for, if you get one... Watch out for what tires Yamaha puts on them! The C14, BMW K1600GT, and others are using Bridgestone 50 series.
Doubt you'll like them! Pirelli or Michelin PR's make a huge difference and in 55 series.

Hope you find a good deal on one, Kurt. They're great bikes.

[Bonz]

That RED FJR is the best choice for color, IMO.

Bob, I agree the C14 is the performance bargain of the century so far.

If anyone is in the market for new tires in the 180/120 sizes for a bike, I am running the Pirelli Angel GT's on my ZRX and they are a superb tire. My buddy is running the A-Spec version (for heavier bikes) on his newer R1200RT. Funny thing I weigh about 100 pounds more than him, my bike weighs 100 pounds less than his so I theoretically could run the A-spec tire as well. Given the tread life I have seen I don't know if it would be worth it to spend the extra money or not.

I have 5800 miles on the rear angel GT and 4600 miles on the front. There's at least a couple thousand more miles to go on the rear and more on the front. Hope to run this set out and put some new ones on in time for the rally.

Bob, where are you finding those great deals on the leftover stock? Do you ask the dealer about them or are they advertised at certain places?

[HalfCentury]

Hey Kurt

Sorry for your frustration with your local dealers.

This is one reason I only purchase bikes from Craigslist. I surf way behind the curve on many hobby items including motorcycles.

My FJR1300 is a 2003. I paid $3400 and spent more than $1500 changing the handlebars and seat.

Yes I would love to have 6 gears and cruise control but I do not have that much spending cash to own the latest.

I definitely love to ride my FJR. The XJ1100 may not see the open road for a while since the FJR is so capable for camping and multi-day trips.

All the best to you for your hunt for a new FJR.

[DiverRay]

Kurt, That sounds just the same as I went through, but for a used bike! Local dealer had an FJR I liked, and another dealer had a C14 Kawi. Rode the Kawi and then called the Yamaha dealer to set up a test ride on the FJR. Showed up at the time I said I would, and the bike was still behind three rows of other bikes. I walked out, called the other dealer from their parking lot and got the Kawi.
Yes, I really wanted a Yamaha, but the local dealers are crap now. The Connie has been a good machine so far, the only thing is the $1K cost for a valve adjust! It's a 8 hour job just for that, so I'll be doing it myself. And yeah, the Bridgestone tires suck. As soon as the tires are worn, I'm going back to my GT3 Mich. tires. The BMW was getting about 12K on a set.

[Radioguylogs]

I wouldn't walk away

Kurt:

I don't blame you one bit for being so frustrated with Mr. Andy- somebody should discipline him.

However, if it were me, and I really wanted that bike, I would swallow my anger and buy it anyway; extra $200 or not. I bet that $200 charge would go away after you complained.

Good luck (it's almost March 17) whatever you decide to do. You deserve a treat after working two jobs to get a better situation. Nice that Nancy agreed to do it, and you can share it together.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Kurt,
Bonz asked the question about where to find those C14 prices.
Probably doesn't matter to you, if you've got your heart set on an FJR, and can't blame you, at all if you're not interested in anything but an FJR...

But in case you are, these prices I've talked about are at various dealers, internet, and from fellow COG members/owners.

For the past 2 years, I've posted to other members on COG when some would put their's up for sale with less than 5000 miles, less than a year old, and be practically giving them away. I complained about how they were lowering the resale values of all our C14's.
To each, their own, I guess. I only know I wouldn't even think of selling mine for some of the low prices I've seen recently. It certainly isn't reflective of the greatness of the bike, or it's dependability.

Ray's right about the valve adjustments- both cost and difficulty.
I recently had mine done by Bobby Pugh at Stillwater Kawasaki.
He's the ONLY dealer around me I trusted to do it right.

But Kurt, you get the right tires and seat, a Rostra CC, a set of touring pegs, and the SISF EVO flash on a C14, and you got one great bike.

Red or blue, though... the FJR is a solid choice...regardless of which color's "faster"... Lol Just costs more.
Maybe Mike's right... stay after it, if it's what you want.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Hey Greg,
Was Tod riding a bike, driving that Jeep, or riding bitch w/ Ivan?

(Hehehehe... )

Never have heard if he got another bike running or not...?

[madmax-im]

Kurt...sorry to hear the boneheads locally cant seem to get this stuff right...So now you have to expand your search out of Atlanta(maybe)...I'm pretty certain you are keen on the FJR and so it will happen...keep the faith Perhaps Mike's is the wisest advice of all...