The 2013 CBR500.

[Toaster Chicken]

Originally Posted by mimico_polak

I was at the Toronto motorcycle show yesterday and had a chance to check out the bike. Felt and looked really good together.

You didn't happen to ask when they were going to arrive at the dealerships did you? I was there too and totally slipped my mind. I'd like to see one that's not been abused by thousands of people.

I kinda wish Kawasaki was there so I could do a more direct comparison between the two. I guess I'll have to wait for the January show to clear up some FUD.

I'm going to resist the urge to rant about how absolutely disappointed I am about the quality of the CBR500R for the moment. Some of it might have been due to all kinds of people fondling it, some of it might have been due to rushing it for the show circuit, I dunno. I intend to go to the January show where both the CBR500 and the Ninja 300 will be at so I can make a better comparison. I sat on a Ninja 300 a couple weeks ago at a dealer and I was rather pleased with it.

I'm interested in the CBR500 because it should have substantially better brakes than the Ninja 300 and more torque.

[mimico_polak]

When I asked when they'll be at the showrooms no one was able to give me a clear answer. When I talked to a parts rep at the dealership he said that he hopes its not like the NC700...2 in march...5-7 in the summer...and 1-2 in October. His dealership got 2 all year and they came in October so they didn't sell em.

[Toaster Chicken]

Originally Posted by mimico_polak

When I asked when they'll be at the showrooms no one was able to give me a clear answer. When I talked to a parts rep at the dealership he said that he hopes its not like the NC700...2 in march...5-7 in the summer...and 1-2 in October. His dealership got 2 all year and they came in October so they didn't sell em.

I'd be prepared to throw a pile of money at them if I can have it at the beginning of the season, otherwise they're going to miss the boat.

[CraigCBR]

I've been told March / April, and that there will be "plenty to go around". This appears to be a much more aggressive rollout than the NC700.

[CraigCBR]

Originally Posted by mimico_polak

I was at the Toronto motorcycle show yesterday and had a chance to check out the bike. Felt and looked really good together. The X is version looked the best and seemed to be the comfiest bike. However I tried to make a deal on the F as I think that one meets my needs best. Once we started talking numbers the F alone comes up to close to 8k with taxes and all fees in. There's about 800-1000$ in dealership fees alone. The X would be in around the 8200$ mark all in. Sorry but that's way too much for me. They wanted my bike as trade and 4300$ as their final offer. For 4300$ I can buy a second bike and insure it for years, or spend the $ to farkle up my 250 to the ultimate tourer.

Sorry Honda I love your bike but it's too rich for me.

Either Canada's motorcycle pricing is off the charts, or, you were speaking to a con artist. No way should any of these 500's cost you anywhere near $8200 OTD.

$4300 for your used 250? That's high too. Am I missing something here?

[mimico_polak]

They wanted my bike as trade PLUS $4300 cash. They put 2900$ on my bike as trade value. This was on the F model though. Thinking more about it I'd like to get the X but that's the one I expect to come up to around 8200$ OTD.

Trying to work off memory here as they didn't give me the paper:

CB500F
$6299 for the bike
$710 or so for the Freight and PDI
$150-200 for the Admin Fee
= $8100 approximately out the door with no trade.

The X version is about $500 more on the base price so that'll come up to over 8200 OTD...$8650 using the numbers I remember. Mind you that's worst case scenario. I'm sure you can haggle a bit, but they won't be reducing these too much for the first year.

I'm just going to keep my trusty ol 250 and just enjoy the hell out of it for the 2013 season. Got my hard luggage on order and will just use that. Then when the pricing goes down on the 500s, or even 700s I'll look into upgrading.

[CraigCBR]

Originally Posted by mimico_polak

They wanted my bike as trade PLUS $4300 cash. They put 2900$ on my bike as trade value.

The trade in value is on par with quotes that I've received as well (I got one to go as high as $3100).

Unless you're upside down on your bike (you owe more than the trade is worth), their pricing is quite high. If you're looking at the ABS model, it's not too bad.

Otherwise, I'd walk away from that one (it's amazing how much the price of bikes & cars plummet when you walk away from a salesman...).

[mimico_polak]

Originally Posted by CraigCBR

The trade in value is on par with quotes that I've received as well (I got one to go as high as $3100).

Unless you're upside down on your bike (you owe more than the trade is worth), their pricing is quite high. If you're looking at the ABS model, it's not too bad.

Otherwise, I'd walk away from that one (it's amazing how much the price of bikes & cars plummet when you walk away from a salesman...).

I'm definitely not buying a new CB500F/X whatever. My current bike is paid off 100% and I can't take that type of loss on it. I may try to sell it privately but in the end I was very wishy washy on upgrading as I love my bike. So I'll just keep it.

Like I said for $4k I can buy a small cruiser and just enjoy that with the gf and keep my 250 for my own personal commuting.

[Hooplah]

Originally Posted by mimico_polak

I'm definitely not buying a new CB500F/X whatever. My current bike is paid off 100% and I can't take that type of loss on it. I may try to sell it privately but in the end I was very wishy washy on upgrading as I love my bike. So I'll just keep it.

Like I said for $4k I can buy a small cruiser and just enjoy that with the gf and keep my 250 for my own personal commuting.

This. Out of curiosity I took my bike up to a few dealers to see the trade in on it and I got anywhere from 2,500$ to 3,200$ for it which would still be another 3-4k out of pocket for the bike. Just not worth it. For that much out of pocket I could go buy another SV650S, insure it, and have two bikes if I needed them.

I love the way the new 500R looks but it's just too expensive trying to upgrade to it.

[mimico_polak]

The problem now is that the new 500s will bring down the resale value of our 250s considerably. That's the way I'm looking at it. Honda will price cut the 250s to move them and make room for the 500s. But that's business.

Actually I may end up waiting for the 700s a few years as it's a good size, and realistically looking at my riding style I rarely keep the revs up and I think that bike would just be a good replacement for the 'good at everything great at nothing' type of bike for me. So many bikes out there it boggles the mind!