Figbassist75

I had an issue with the sales people at my local Honda shop. Being a 5'11'' 220lb guy, I was laughed at for wanting a Rebel at first. They all gave me the same crap as other riders I know did. Shooting the well worn out line: "You'll grow out of it in a week" It angered me at first but I knew what I wanted and was not going to leave without getting it.

I stood my ground and was able to haggle a good deal on a new Rebel. I did sit on a Shadow or two and found out they were not much taller than the Reb but I didn't want anything I couldn't handle as a new rider. Moral of story, listen to your heart. Sales people are there to make a profit and that's one of the main reasons they push the bigger more expensive bikes. It's about money and not really at all about your needs. IMO.

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JunkyardDog

Glad you resisted the salespeoples attempts to sell you something you didn't want, and got what you did want. A few years ago, that would have been almost impossible, they would have been too busy selling high dollar bikes to even bother with someone wanting a Rebel, but things have changed. Now they will take anything they can get. They may try to sell you something more expensive, but if you say no, and they know you want a Rebel, they will do their best to make sure you do not leave without one. They simply cannot afford to lose a sale. The bad economy has done wonders to put these once arrogant dealers in line.


As for the Rebel, if you fit on it, you will be fine. If you don't have enough legroom, there are options. I'm 6' 200 with a 34" inseam, and needed more legroom. I understand floorboards are a good option, but I chose to relocate the stock pegs, shifter and brake 4" forward with homemade brackets (well, I did have access to a machine shop to fabricate them in) now I fit fine. The size of a bike doesn't really matter to me if I fit. I've had 45 motorcycles, including the 5 I still have, including 1500cc cruisers and a Goldwing. I'm on my second Rebel (first one an '85, bought new), and have just as much fun on it as any other bike. Jerry.

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Fridgitator

I bought my Rebel at the height of the gas price peak of '08. There were thousands of people shopping bikes, and it was definitely a seller's market. I had decided before I went to a dealer that I wanted a Rebel. I talked to several salespeople, and each tried to steer me to something bigger. I stood my ground, and each excused himself, referring me to someone else that would handle the sale. I ended up buying from the sales manager, who treated me quite well. Even he kept steering me to the accessories area to wait while things were being processed, but he delivered the bike for me in his own truck. I thought the whole thing was pretty odd, until I learned later that they only made a twenty dollar commission on a Reb. I don't think that makes it okay, but it does explain their rush to dump me when there were people waiting to see the big bikes.

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JunkyardDog

Around here, NO bikes are sleeing well, big, small, new or used. The dealers finallu dropped their bogus freight and prep fees, but it may be too late, at least here. Unemployment is still rising, though not as fast as it was. But that is to be expected, as more than 25% odf the people here lost their jobs within a few months when the construction industry collapsed. That was what our economy was based on. Then lots of other businesses started failing, they were not able to make it without all the business from now unemployeed construction workers. I do not see the construction industry returning anytime soon, most of the decelopers went bankrupt. And there is now a LOT of both commercial and residential property sitting vacant.


So sales of anything that wasn't absolutely necessary came to an abrupt end, as people struggled to feed their families and hang on to their houses.

Fortunately my job remained uneffected. That's how I was able to but a new Ninja 500 a short time ago, at way below MSRP, let alone what the OTD cost would have been a couple of years ago. And I plan to buy a nice used Harley Electra Glide in the not to distant future. There are plenty of them for sale on Craigslist for around 8K. It is definitely a buyers market big time, unfortunately that will make it next to impossible for me to sell a couple of bikes I want to get rid of. I would have to sell them for about 30% of what they would have been worth 2 years ago. Time to start building another storage shed. Jerry.

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