Ripped off.

[MikeL]

You have been, if you bought a new or near-new bike earlier this year. Check out the article in the latest Kiwi Biker mag about the NZ$ rise between 2001 - 2004. For each of the currencies the importers have to pay for their bikes in ($US, Yen, GBP and Euro) there was a massive change in the exchange rate which should have meant that prices ought to have gone down by thousands of dollars (with consequent flow-on effect on the second-hand market). Some of the figures are mind-boggling. What explanation, I wonder, can the importers and retailers offer for retaining this huge windfall??

[Lou Girardin]

They'll find one. It's bound to be that they're recouping lost profit margins from when the dollar was low.

[rodgerd]

You have been, if you bought a new or near-new bike earlier this year. Check out the article in the latest Kiwi Biker mag about the NZ$ rise between 2001 - 2004. For each of the currencies the importers have to pay for their bikes in ($US, Yen, GBP and Euro) there was a massive change in the exchange rate which should have meant that prices ought to have gone down by thousands of dollars (with consequent flow-on effect on the second-hand market). Some of the figures are mind-boggling. What explanation, I wonder, can the importers and retailers offer for retaining this huge windfall??

But now the dollar goes down again, watch importers who never dropped their prices do the dance of, "oooh, look, prices have to rise!"

[wkid_one]

There is also an argument about price consistency however. You drop a price of a bike by $2000 - and you can bloody hell rest assured that everyone who bought a bike at the old price will be up in arms about paying a higher price. Also - it is then more difficult again to ramp the prices back up quickly to recoup ER losses once it falls again.

Unfortunately arguments about the ER aren't talking about an extremely fluid market and at the same time - there exist pricing issues to deal. Plus you have middle men in the middle.

[merv]

You can buy a GS1200SS for under $10,000, but then Suzuki have always been the kings of discounting just after you paid a higher price for your bike. Even in 1975 a mate of mine felt raped when he bought a TS250 and about a week later they knocked them down $200 which is like about $2,000 now.

As Wkid says there needs to be some stability in pricing too to maintain the secondhand market and some slow changes in pricing is OK.

[Lou Girardin]

Yeah, but isn't it relative? You'd only lose if you sold low and didn't buy again.

[SPman]

......... and some slow changes in pricing is OK. Yeah, the prices are real slow to change down, but real fast to change up - just like petrol!

Ducati (at least) charge what the market will bear.

[moko]

There is also an argument about price consistency however. You drop a price of a bike by $2000 - and you can bloody hell rest assured that everyone who bought a bike at the old price will be up in arms about paying a higher price. .

Bike prices in the U.K. are dropping quite drastically.What`s happening is that the manufacturers are bringing out new models and they`re listed at way below the prices of the bikes they replace,if not you`ll get offered a massive discount off of the list price anyway.examples are the latest SV650 which goes for nearly 20% less than the old model(not list but nobody pays list on that model)and the new XR125 Honda which kicks out for about 30% less than the XL it replaces,mainly I suspect due to some neat Chinese bikes coming in that are just as good but cheaper and in the case of the Suzuki to pre-empt the Hyosung 650 which is way cheaper than the old model SV but pretty-well stuffed by the new one at current prices.

[Mongoose]

Check out the Hardly prices world wide, they, for sure, charge what the local market will pay