Norm
Senior FZ6 Advisor
I made the mistake of walking into my Yamaha dealership and asking my friendly sales guy "What if?" Since Eric traded in his FZ6 I can't get this out of my head. Obviously he's a super liked member and I always love his posts and learned a ton from him. So if he sees a big difference in the bikes I know I can take that to the bank. Now I want to be clear here. I've got 10,000 miles on the Fizz in 10 months. I've ridden it through the winter whenever I could, ridden in rain, and pushed myself to be a better rider. I've been riding now for about 6 years with about 30,000 total miles. But I know I'm still nowhere near most sportbikers skills. So I'm not saying that I can do what Eric does (cause I know for a fact I can't), but a bike with all those upgrades in suspension, brakes, steering, etc. should be safer too, wouldn't it?
Now there are 2 FZ1's in the showroom: A red 2008 leftover (brand new, no miles) and a blue 2009. So the sales guy begins defiling his shirt with drool and starts throwing numbers at me. He really wants to move the '08, really really badly. The '09 has been going nowhere fast as well and he tells me that there's just not that big a demand for the FZ1. He tells me that even with 10,000 miles he knows he can move the FZ6 much faster. So I go on his computer to check to see if there were any upgrades/changes from '08 to '09. He wasn't sure himself. I see no differences. (Eric, am I wrong about this?)
He starts with my bike + $4400 for the '08. I laugh. He says "would you do the deal today for your bike + $4000?" I say I'll do the deal today for my bike and $3000 figuring this is so absurd he'll do the laughing this time. He does. As I'm walking out the door he says "Norm, wait, give me one more chance." He goes in to the pit boss for about 5 minutes. He comes back and says "Your bike and $3500." It's enough to make me think hard. I'll be honest, I went in there expecting them to give me a lousy deal so it would be easy to walk out. This is difficult to walk out on but I do and tell him I'll probably be back. There are no more offers forthcoming so I figure this truly is the best deal he's going to give me. I go home, put the cash in my pocket and the title of Mr. Fizz in the saddlebag. I also call my insurance woman. I'm still secretly hoping she'll tell me the insurance jump will be huge. Nope! Just $70 more. So I take off. I get halfway down my block and do a U-turn and come home. I couldn't pull the trigger.
I can say that's the first time I've ever done that. Turn around that is, once I've made up my mind to buy a vehicle. I just kept thinking to myself "I love this bike". I've got frame sliders, a gps mount with hard wiring, battery tender, Cal Sci windshield, throttlemeister throttle lock, and this bike has never given me a lick of trouble. It'll do 150 MPH and it handles like a dream, at least for me. Since when do I need a liter bike? It'll cost another $500 to put the same mods on this bike. The sales tax, which I'll pay at the Registry in MA, since this dealership is in NH, will be another couple hundred I figure (they'll charge me the balance of the FZ1 minus the FZ6). He calls me a couple hours later and I tell him what happened. He's quite gracious and says that if I change my mind he'll be ready.
So now that I've had a few more days to think about it I'm still toying with it, trying not to though; I've got that devil/angel on the shoulders thing going on. Only now I'm thinking my bike and $4000 for the '09 blue one. Damn Eric, you're killing me...
Now there are 2 FZ1's in the showroom: A red 2008 leftover (brand new, no miles) and a blue 2009. So the sales guy begins defiling his shirt with drool and starts throwing numbers at me. He really wants to move the '08, really really badly. The '09 has been going nowhere fast as well and he tells me that there's just not that big a demand for the FZ1. He tells me that even with 10,000 miles he knows he can move the FZ6 much faster. So I go on his computer to check to see if there were any upgrades/changes from '08 to '09. He wasn't sure himself. I see no differences. (Eric, am I wrong about this?)
He starts with my bike + $4400 for the '08. I laugh. He says "would you do the deal today for your bike + $4000?" I say I'll do the deal today for my bike and $3000 figuring this is so absurd he'll do the laughing this time. He does. As I'm walking out the door he says "Norm, wait, give me one more chance." He goes in to the pit boss for about 5 minutes. He comes back and says "Your bike and $3500." It's enough to make me think hard. I'll be honest, I went in there expecting them to give me a lousy deal so it would be easy to walk out. This is difficult to walk out on but I do and tell him I'll probably be back. There are no more offers forthcoming so I figure this truly is the best deal he's going to give me. I go home, put the cash in my pocket and the title of Mr. Fizz in the saddlebag. I also call my insurance woman. I'm still secretly hoping she'll tell me the insurance jump will be huge. Nope! Just $70 more. So I take off. I get halfway down my block and do a U-turn and come home. I couldn't pull the trigger.
I can say that's the first time I've ever done that. Turn around that is, once I've made up my mind to buy a vehicle. I just kept thinking to myself "I love this bike". I've got frame sliders, a gps mount with hard wiring, battery tender, Cal Sci windshield, throttlemeister throttle lock, and this bike has never given me a lick of trouble. It'll do 150 MPH and it handles like a dream, at least for me. Since when do I need a liter bike? It'll cost another $500 to put the same mods on this bike. The sales tax, which I'll pay at the Registry in MA, since this dealership is in NH, will be another couple hundred I figure (they'll charge me the balance of the FZ1 minus the FZ6). He calls me a couple hours later and I tell him what happened. He's quite gracious and says that if I change my mind he'll be ready.
So now that I've had a few more days to think about it I'm still toying with it, trying not to though; I've got that devil/angel on the shoulders thing going on. Only now I'm thinking my bike and $4000 for the '09 blue one. Damn Eric, you're killing me...