I owned a honda , in the late 80's ,It was a big old ex police bike high mileage , 750 k7 i think it was , did'nt have it long it was a cheap bike to buy until i could afford the one i really wanted , that was a 750 honda v 45 honda sabre , the bike was very nice to ride , but a pig for reliability , always breaking down , my next honda was a cruiser 750 ace i bought new in 98 i think it was , i kept it for 18 months and moved it on , Not a bad bike , had no trouble with it .
Other than that i've never really been a honda fan , owned every other sort of bike , kwakas , suzukis , triumphs harleys .
But the first Honda i've seen that done anything for me has been this CTX , , I've put elswhere about the trouble i've had finding one , then when i found one after repetedly asking about the availability of the backrest and luggage rack , and i'me still waiting for the answer , seems they cannot even be bothered to find out , i yesterday rang interstate , .
I told the guy what i told the local salesman the bike is NO GOOD to me unless i have these parts , simply because , the boss will not get on a bike without something to stop her falling off , and i need a luggage rack for my bag , because the boss takes up 2 panniers and half my bag when we travel . . So he says i'll ring you back
He rings me back , and first thing he says is how keen are you , keen i say , , but i did say the only thing about honda that worries me , is they have a tendency to put bikes out at a very high price and drop THOUSANDS not hundreds but THOUSANDS of the price when they cannot sell ,
Naaw rubbish he says , Ok i say I don't want to argue , but how about last year , the ST 1300 dropped from 23 grand to 17 grand to clear them , what about the new vfr came out at 24 grand now selling for 18 grand , what about the goldwing dropped from 39 thousand DOLLARS TO 29 THOUSAND dollars , and left a lot with sour tastes in there mouths , I said look thats a worry but not a deal breaker , its a new model , i want one so i'm willing to pay a premium , .
So based on the fact i tell him the price does'nt bother me , coming interstate with a fly and ride , is more appealing to me than off putting , , so whats the availability of the parts ,
2-3 weeks he says , , Ok were cooking with gas , its all looking good , so he says he needs a deposit on the bike before he can order anything ,
Ok no worries i say , BUT and theres always a BUT , I tell him , he has to fax me a contract , i'll give him a deposit no worries , but on the contract i want it put in BIG BOLD LETTERS in no uncertaim terms , that if the parts do not arrive ,and are put on the bike within ,4 weeks , then the deal is off , and i recieive a FULL refund OF MY DEPOSIT .
He suggests thats unreasonable , i say no its good buisness , after all you want a deposit and i don't want the bike without the parts , what if they don't come what if they decide not to sell them in Aust ,
The wife then interjects, and says to me , stop messing around just buy it , winters coming on , i won't be going anywhere till after winter anyway , and thats plenty of time .
So i think , well there not prepared to discount the bike in any way , they hav'nt sold one , and from what salesman are telling me they don't seem to get many enquiries for this bike , and are getting more negative than positive responses , so i suggest , ok if i put down a deposit , fly over in 4 weeks , pick it all up and ride away happy , its all cool , BUT if the parts are not there , i still pick up the bike they send me the parts when they come , but at 50% price reduction , and put it in the contract .
Ok we will do it , he says but you will have to trust me , because we are not allowed to put it in the contract , By now i'm getting real suss on these parts ,
I then ask , anyway you hav'nt told me the price of them , Oh there competetive he says with other brands , yeh but how much i say ,
He then tells me
Backrest ---- $595
Pad ------- $197
Luggage rack $386
Fitting ----$360 A grand total of $1538 For a friggin backreat and rack ,
End result ,,, Honda can stick this bike up there ass .
