I know we have a lot of Georgia folks here. Is WOW in Marietta a decent dealer? I'm looking to get a 2nd Gen Bandit 1200 as a pure cranking out the miles machine and they have one at a decent price. I've done plenty of long distance deals but they are almost always with WERA guys. And I hate when someone tries to negotiate a deal with me over the phone so I'm sure not playing that game with the dealer (or am I stupid?). They're asking $3260 for it. Personally I think that seems like a fair price but I have to dicker with them a little
Not sure to be honest. They do a lot of buying on Craigslist and then mark it up and put it on the floor. Heard good and bad about bikes from there. For locals I do like it because you can go see a lot of different used bikes in one spot and see what you like.
Thanks, that's what I was curious about. I think I'll just keep my eyes open a little more local. I figure the bike at WOW was $2400 if I can buy from an individual.
yamageezer on here worked there for several years. He was part of their service dept I believe. At one time they claimed to sell the most used motorcycles of any dealer in the southeast. The last transaction with a friend of mine (blakester122 on here) started off bad, electrical issue, but eventually WoW squared it away. They used to put on free seminars once a month....they had continental come in and do a couple hours of education on tires, how they are made, etc.....motul on oil....GMD Computrak on chassis and suspension.....I went to a couple, very informative. They are active in the local motorcycling community. I've never bought a bike from them. Dean (yamageezer) used to get demo's all the time. Dean has a friend, Craig, that probably still works in service......If you see something you might be seriously interested in he or I can probably ask Craig for the scoop on it mechanically.
For what its worth... I live and work right down the street from WOW. I have never bought a bike from them, but do occasionally pop in to see what inventory they have. Now, to be fair...I haven't been there in over a year and the main reason is because EVERY time I swing through to browse bikes.... everything is priced super crazy and look like they have been rode extremely hard! Just looking at some of the bikes, I always wonder how thorough service actually went through them. Your typical 3500-4500 bike is priced around 6995-7995 on their follr. Now, I do understand they are a dealership...and profits keep the wheel greased.....but its pretty crazy how high in price most of their bikes are. But..there has been a time or two that I have seen a very clean, low mile bike priced a smidge high.......but worth it. If you are looking for a bike from a dealership....try Marietta Mountain sports. They have a very small inventory of used....but have a few locations around Georgia and maybe out of state. They could possibly search their other locations for what you are looking for. Clean business, and I know for a fact that a lot of WOW employees have left and went to work for Mountain sports. Great service in all their areas. No I don't work there...but do pick up gear (Gloves, Helmet visors, etc..) and maintenance items (Oil, filter, plugs) every now and again from them and have always had an outstanding experience! Just my .02
Hey, awhile back, WoW bought what used to be "Motions", and changed the name to "asphalt and rubber" or something.....I forget why or what the distinction / difference was between the 2 "dealerships"
I don't think they ever did anything with that building. I went in there once and is was nearly empty..... maybe 2 or 3 bikes that looked like they had seen the back of a semi-truck and piece back together. Maybe its their overflow building. Shipment comes in......it becomes their storage before service has room. Because their service department is the size of my living room.....
The bike in particular is an 03 Bandit 1200 with 20K miles for the price I listed above. I've looked at about 50 around the country and WOW's price isn't far off the going rate.
www.burntrubber.com is the other one...they have bikes listed under 'vintage' 90 Hurricane, 94 GSXR etc...
I was going to buy a bike from them last year sight unseen. I called them ready to put a deposit down. Long story short the sales guy I talked to said the bike I was wanting was not as great as what the pictures showed and he was not comfortable selling it to me without me seeing it in person first so I backed out of the deal. Seemed like a good place or at least the salesman I had was a good honest guy.
"going rate" or "asking rate"? Even with the lowish miles there's no way I'd pay over KBB retail for anything. And there's no way a dealer paid more than KBB trade value. I'll save you the legwork: 2003 B1200S 1990 trade 2940 retail 2003 B1200 1580 trade 2360 retail Beyond that, who cares if it's a private party or a great or shitty dealer when buying a 14 year old used bike? If you like it and the price is what you're ok with, buy it. It's not like you're going back for service or warranty work right? And get an FZ1 instead... more fun and a dime a dozen
Funny you say that because I'm down to the Bandit or 1st gen FZ1. I've got a few bikes in the garage but they're all quirky...Monster, old BMW GS, RZ350. I'm looking for a sled that I can rail cross country on or let my brother or son ride. Yeah, I'd probably have more fun on the FZ but I'm putting hard bags on whichever one I get so it'll mainly be a sport tourer. I'm a Yamaha guy at heart so I'll give the FZ another hard look.
WOW has been there for a long time. They have a solid business model of buying used bikes cheap and reselling them at a profit. They buy stuff from all over the US and have a large inventory. As others mentioned it's a great place to go in and check out a variety of bikes in one location. If you have a bike listed for sale on craigslist or cycle trader and you get a call with a low ball cash offer, sometimes it's them. personally I don't think there's anything wrong with them, they provide a good service for a lot of folks around Atlanta that want a bike, maybe don't have the best credit and/or no cash to buy a bike from craigslist or something and want to finance a good used bike. They fill a good niche here. Their prices may be a bit high, but if that have what you are looking for, you know the price/value of the bike, then buy it or call and see if you can negotiate. I don't think their used bikes are any better/worse than any other dealers trade ins. I've dealt with them in the past a bit and as a company they seem to be solid to work with , and have a lot of people that have been there for a very long time (some of the old Zen Motorcycles guys).
I was bored.... http://mansfield.craigslist.org/mcy/5853131835.html http://bloomington.craigslist.org/mcy/5881049068.html http://lexington.craigslist.org/mcy/5899868138.html
Thanks man, those are three winners right there! I love the yellow/black FZ, but of course the guy gives zero info. The other two are less than two hours from me. I thought I had a pretty good search of my area going but I missed all of those. Now I've got to get serious
Wow, that seems high. I'm eyeing up a FZ1 for the same usage you intend, and can find good examples in the first gen for 2k and the aluminum framed, FI 2nd gen for 4k. Maybe check out the FZ? I'm building a first gen Bandit right now into a 'resto-mod' street/strip bike. Love Bandits (this will be my 2nd) but the lines of the 2nd gen just don't jive for my purposes.
Kind of my experience as well. If you do decide to go look or buy from them take your time and inspect the bike closely.
