Who's got one on order? And more importantly, what news have you heard?

[Rider]

Naults, at their Manchester NH store, is currently showing two ct125 as available - serials 1462 and 1588. A couple of years ago I've bought from their Windham NH store, and they're good guys. I hope that helps someone ...

It took 3 days to get a response and 4 days to get a straight answer, but the two bikes on the web site are sold and they told me if I put a deposit down I would be #14 on the list. It seems like the are pricing at retail, though.

 

[Tjdemarco]

Went last Friday to a local Honda dealer in St. Louis who told me that I was #5 on the waiting list and that it would probably be after the new year before I got one. Came home, looked at cycletrader, saw one in Kansas City, called them up (said they got it the night before), and bought it over the phone. Drove to pick it up Tuesday! $500 over MSRP>

That's where I first saw the Trail! But I couldn't get my mind around the $500 over sticker price. Went back the next day to look again and it was sold. Managed to find one on the other side of town a week later for msrp plus the three dealer fees of $200 each. By that time I realised I didn't have any room to negotiate and counted myself lucky.

 

[dallasallad]

Here is what my wait time looked like in case anyone was wondering. This is in Utah, but sounds like most places are like this.

• Sept 2020 - put down $500 deposit and dealer said I was #2 on the list.
• Dec 2020 - bike #1 arrived, but dealer said they wouldn't get next one until at least April
• end of July 2021 - received my bike, they have about a dozen people left on the waiting list after me but no idea when they will get the next shipment. The manufacture date sticker on mine says May 2021.

 

[SneakyDingo]

Here is what my wait time looked like in case anyone was wondering. This is in Utah, but sounds like most places are like this.

• Sept 2020 - put down $500 deposit and dealer said I was #2 on the list.
• Dec 2020 - bike #1 arrived, but dealer said they wouldn't get next one until at least April
• end of July 2021 - received my bike, they have about a dozen people left on the waiting list after me but no idea when they will get the next shipment. The manufacture date sticker on mine says May 2021.

If this was Honda World in South Jordan, I probably called them about that bike.

I've been calling around everywhere within ~1400 mi of Seattle, which is about the limit of getting super expensive to bring the bike back. The local dealership has endeared themselves to my heart by doing the responsible thing and not accepting a deposit because they couldn't deliver a bike - the sales person said, "if you find one, buy it, even if it's in Florida." He also showed me some pre-filled out "We don't have any bikes" templated emails and responses for people who were inquiring about it.

I'm sure Honda knows this, but every other dealer within 20 miles is at least 20 people per dealership on the waitlist and countless other people calling in and asking about them. I haven't heard of a single bike being delivered in my area, but I'm sure they exist. Of course, every bike that pops up on my searches are all spoken for when they're showing up, but I haven't seen a single one popping up in Idaho, Oregon, or Washington. I've seen several popping up in Sacramento and a few dealerships near Los Angeles, plus two of the dealerships in Utah.

I accidentally contacted a dealership down in Las Vegas who, after contacting them, told me that if I put a deposit down I'd be #1 on the list - which is so far away that I actually had to run the numbers in Excel for transport costs if I decided to go down there and take it home myself, assuming I couldn't get moto shipping (or if the dealer wouldn't ship). So according to them, I'm #1 on the list... in Las Vegas, which will cost close to $1k to get the bike back to Seattle. But it could be a hell of a break in ride starting along Hwy 101.

I've seen some insane price gouging going on with this from dealers, but it's a sellers market out there. The only way that will change is if Honda fixes the supply chain issues. By insane, I'm seeing up to $1300 of dealer charges and tax, plus +$1000 on MSRP, which brings the cost of the bike to $6,100 on a bike that's $3,900 MSRP (+56%).

 

[Nimajneb29]

I couldn’t find any for sale in my state (WI)
Then last Thursday after work, I looked again round midnight and one had popped up within an hour of me. I left a couple different messages, and they called me in the morning, told me it was available. It was just reposted after the original buyer fell through. I put the deposit down, drove out on my old cycle, traded it in for the CT, and drove it home! They told me 5 minutes after I hung up, one of the service techs came in with cash in hand intending on buying it, but I snagged it before him I was super lucky.

 

[Ride4all]

If this was Honda World in South Jordan, I probably called them about that bike.

I've been calling around everywhere within ~1400 mi of Seattle, which is about the limit of getting super expensive to bring the bike back. The local dealership has endeared themselves to my heart by doing the responsible thing and not accepting a deposit because they couldn't deliver a bike - the sales person said, "if you find one, buy it, even if it's in Florida." He also showed me some pre-filled out "We don't have any bikes" templated emails and responses for people who were inquiring about it.

I'm sure Honda knows this, but every other dealer within 20 miles is at least 20 people per dealership on the waitlist and countless other people calling in and asking about them. I haven't heard of a single bike being delivered in my area, but I'm sure they exist. Of course, every bike that pops up on my searches are all spoken for when they're showing up, but I haven't seen a single one popping up in Idaho, Oregon, or Washington. I've seen several popping up in Sacramento and a few dealerships near Los Angeles, plus two of the dealerships in Utah.

I accidentally contacted a dealership down in Las Vegas who, after contacting them, told me that if I put a deposit down I'd be #1 on the list - which is so far away that I actually had to run the numbers in Excel for transport costs if I decided to go down there and take it home myself, assuming I couldn't get moto shipping (or if the dealer wouldn't ship). So according to them, I'm #1 on the list... in Las Vegas, which will cost close to $1k to get the bike back to Seattle. But it could be a hell of a break in ride starting along Hwy 101.

I've seen some insane price gouging going on with this from dealers, but it's a sellers market out there. The only way that will change is if Honda fixes the supply chain issues. By insane, I'm seeing up to $1300 of dealer charges and tax, plus +$1000 on MSRP, which brings the cost of the bike to $6,100 on a bike that's $3,900 MSRP (+56%).

Last week a CA dealer told me they were adding a $1,500 surcharge. I told them, politely,

 

[SneakyDingo]

Last week a CA dealer told me they were adding a $1,500 surcharge. I told them, politely,

I can appreciate that. There is a certain level of "f**k off" that comes with that coming from a dealer.

BUT

My understanding is that dealers usually make their dollarydoos with servicing. With this terrible supply problem, they're not quite running at a loss but it's pretty close with people like me who want to snag it and zip off to whatever place they live at. Every dealer I've spoken to won't do shipping, for example, and it's probably why my local sales guy was so keen for me to, "buy in Florida if you must." So it was something I fully expected to get slugged with extra fees, something I expect they'd quickly waive for Regular Rob, who lives in the area and comes to them for all his servicing.

Again, a problem that wouldn't be a problem if Honda fixed their supply chain issues.

 

[Ride4all]

I’m picking up my “Conchita” from a dealer in Florida, and I live in NJ and CA respectively. I’ll buy a helmet when I’m there to help them out a bit.

 

[SneakyDingo]

I’m picking up my “Conchita” from a dealer in Florida, and I live in NJ and CA respectively. I’ll buy a helmet when I’m there to help them out a bit.

You're touching on one of my plans for "sweetening the deal" for them.

It's easier, and probably cheaper, for me to fly down there with the bare minimum and buy all my moto gear from them. It's been a while since I looked up prices, but I'm pretty sure for what I'm looking for, a helmet, boots and gloves minimum, and a jacket and bottoms if they have one in my size. If they have everything in stock, that's probably pushing the $1700 range for extra gear for the things I would actually buy.

The "f**k off" part would be that I am also a SaltyDingo, and if they said they would still slug me with those fees (or if it was unfortunate and they just didn't have any stock), I'd buy it locally and/or from a competitor and bring it down. I'd really rather not, since my time is valuable and it effectively costs me more money to go somewhere else, but I also spend my money at places I think are worthy of my money.

And gear IS one of the places where they have a decent markup, so they are making good bank on that.

 

[Carolina Vagabond]

The Trail 125 was to be my first “New” Honda that I’ve ever bought. The past 8 months have been a fiasco to say the least. My first one arrived in January. Dealer called to let me know on a Friday. I was working and told them I’d be there Monday morning to get it. Monday morning rolls around and I’m on my way when a salesman calls to tell me that someone else had sold it out of state (California) on Saturday.
Now, I’m dealing with another dealer whom told me mine had shipped on July 29th and would be here last week. Still no bike but they were kind enough to email me today to let me know that my bike was scheduled to ship towards the end of August. Talk about a Charlie Foxtrot......
I think I’m about done with Honda dealerships.

 

[Ride4all]

The Trail 125 was to be my first “New” Honda that I’ve ever bought. The past 8 months have been a fiasco to say the least. My first one arrived in January. Dealer called to let me know on a Friday. I was working and told them I’d be there Monday morning to get it. Monday morning rolls around and I’m on my way when a salesman calls to tell me that someone else had sold it out of state (California) on Saturday.
Now, I’m dealing with another dealer whom told me mine had shipped on July 29th and would be here last week. Still no bike but they were kind enough to email me today to let me know that my bike was scheduled to ship towards the end of August. Talk about a Charlie Foxtrot......
I think I’m about done with Honda dealerships.

Don’t you mean: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot??

 

[Rider]

The Trail 125 was to be my first “New” Honda that I’ve ever bought. The past 8 months have been a fiasco to say the least. My first one arrived in January. Dealer called to let me know on a Friday. I was working and told them I’d be there Monday morning to get it. Monday morning rolls around and I’m on my way when a salesman calls to tell me that someone else had sold it out of state (California) on Saturday.
Now, I’m dealing with another dealer whom told me mine had shipped on July 29th and would be here last week. Still no bike but they were kind enough to email me today to let me know that my bike was scheduled to ship towards the end of August. Talk about a Charlie Foxtrot......
I think I’m about done with Honda dealerships.

In fairness, while dealers mess up quite a bit and seem to continue operating as if it was the ‘70’s, you are trying to buy a high demand product in one of the most inventory constrained times in history. Supply chains are messed up from chips to pressed metal, and everywhere in between. Heck, I bought a pair of Red Wing boots last week and hadn’t gotten them yet, when I called back, I was told that the boots I bought are not available anywhere in the US, and the company doesn’t know when more will be available. And this is for their 2nd most popular boot. So they asked me if I want a different boot in a different color. “No sir, we don’t have the CT 125, but I can put you on the CBR1000-R today, and the insurance will just about cover the funeral!”

If the dealers could get inventory, they would be happy to be delivering bikes and hosing you on financing all day.

All that said, sorry you got hosed by the first dealer. I am looking at inventories to see when shops get them in and calling, but if I am going to be 16th in line, I may as well wait until next spring and see if I still want one. Side story: Nault’s still has one of the CT125’s listed in inventory after 3 weeks. I don’t know if they are holding it or what, but you’d think that one of the 15 people in front of me would take it…

 

[AZ7000']

And gear IS one of the places where they have a decent markup, so they are making good bank on that.

They got me for $5500ish otd, the above is why I get all my stuff at rockymountainatvmc.com Screw em, they need to order spark plugs for petes sake... If they had expertise or anything else I would try, they mostly have young kids "servicing" utv's, financing and bolt ons are where they are making money...

We do use Fly Bucks from the boys racing there at full retail prices...

 

[Rider]

i am all for loyalty and building relationships, and I know retail shops can’t beat online stores for pricing most of the time…but loyalty is a two way street, and most of the motorcycle shops I have dealt with seem to think loyalty is something customers owe them for letting them buy a bike. I walked into one shop a few years ago and told the parts guy I was looking to spend about $1,000 on helmets, gloves, etc. I knew exactly what I wanted to buy but wanted to try it on. The guy spent my entire visit explaining to me why the stuff I wanted was garbage and I should buy the RF1100 helmets at $600 each at the time. Sorry for the digression. I don’t know why so many shops make this so hard. This is supposed to be fun.

 

[m in sc]

while it sucks and all, its supply ( & lack thereof) and demand.
for example:
C8 corvettes, sold, on average, for 86k. in feb of 21. with a base msrp at 56k. dealers will of course take advantage of that as much as the parent company will allow it. Some of us got lucky with the trail..., others not so much. IF they would have hit me with a 1500 or 2k up-charge over what i paid, I would have waited as well. 1st gen groms were the same, (but not as bad), as were 1st year SV650's.

 

[functionoverfashion]

Hey all, I'm new here. Just picked up a Trail 125 from a place in Massachusetts (I live in New Hampshire) after a long process starting in May... actually April I guess. I'll detail that elsewhere but anyway this shop wasn't taking any deposits or wait lists because "we don't want to promise things we can't provide" but I called on the right day and drove right down to pick it up. I can tell you nearly every dealer I called just laughed at me / with me about finding one of these unicorns. Hopefully Honda can step up production so these shops can make some money next year selling a zillion of these.

 

[Rider]

Hey all, I'm new here. Just picked up a Trail 125 from a place in Massachusetts (I live in New Hampshire) after a long process starting in May... actually April I guess. I'll detail that elsewhere but anyway this shop wasn't taking any deposits or wait lists because "we don't want to promise things we can't provide" but I called on the right day and drove right down to pick it up. I can tell you nearly every dealer I called just laughed at me / with me about finding one of these unicorns. Hopefully Honda can step up production so these shops can make some money next year selling a zillion of these.

Congratulations and welcome! What shop did you buy from and (if you don’t mind saying) what was pricing/fees?

I’m doing the opposite of what you’re doing; I live in MA and am looking in NH and ME.

 

[functionoverfashion]

@Rider Thanks and I don't mind sharing details. I guess this is a good a place as any to tell you how I got it. I'll put the important stuff up front: I got it from Cycle Design in Phillipston, MA. Total OTD price was $4493 which isn't marked up I don't believe - just list price plus prep. Back when I worked at a Honda outboard dealer, we'd never sell for list price (always lower) but with prep and installation it usually came back into that ballpark OTD but that depended on what people wanted for gauges, how complicated the install was, etc. I had no problem paying list in this case.

My wife put a deposit on one with Freedom Cycle in Concord back in April, as a 40th birthday present. I'll be using it mostly to go back and forth the 2 miles to my work, which I do many times a day - I'm a teacher at a private school and often have breaks throughout the day, even if my day goes from 8am to 11pm at times.

The idea was amazing and I was so excited, until I called the dealer and talked about availability. But I used to hunt down hard-to-find stuff all the time, so I made a spreadsheet and started calling every dealer in a 90 mile radius, rating each one with a hot/cold scale like sales leads. I got on as many wait lists as possible, and then repeated the cycle after a few weeks just in case I caught someone who backed out of their deposit as a bike appeared ... which never happened.

I was on vacation the last week in July when I got a craigslist notification from PA, a bike with ~500 miles for sale at a dealer. I called immediately and got nothing. Monday I'm back home and it pops up on Ebay, same bike, everything. So I paid the deposit and BAM I got a phone call. But the total cost was going to be close to $6k by the time I shipped it, so I said hang on, let me make one more round of phone calls, otherwise I'll just keep waiting. My last "warm" lead was Cycle Design in Mass and the conversation went like this:

"Hi I'm looking for a unicorn"
"Oh yeah? The Honda 125 I'm guessing."
"Yeah that's the one, is this where you laugh with me about unicorns?"
"Yeah well I've got one here, it just came in"
[long pause]
"Wait, what? But it's sold to like, 10 people, right?"
"Nope, we didn't take deposits because we didn't know when one was coming, if at all. You want it, it's yours."

So I drove down the next day and picked it up, I still didn't think it would happen until it was in my truck. But there you go. I bought myself a new helmet there, too. I feel for these guys who can't get inventory, I'm sure more than one shop has been shut down due to lack of sales revenue. But anyway, there you have it.

 

[Rider]

Nice. I worked with Cycle Design several years ago when I was looking for a Honda Shadow - which was the unobtainium of that time. Most of the shops in MA are owned by the same family/group and operate as a cartel, more or less. Getting anything out of them is a challenge and they jack up prices as each shop assures you you’re getting a great deal on a super rare bike from the other ones as they laugh behind your back.

Edit: I guess the moral of the story was that Cycle Design was the only place in MA that didn’t give me the run-around on a bike that nobody could get at the time.

It seems most of the places in NH have long wait lists - Nault’s told me 15 ppl waiting - and no idea when they’ll get stock in.

Thanks for the info, and happy riding!

 

[functionoverfashion]

Yeah I was impressed with the guys at Cycle Design. I worked with Ryan.

Cycle Design was the only place in MA that didn’t give me the run-around on a bike that nobody could get at the time.

Yeah there were a few shops that I felt like were being honest, this was one, which was why I put them as a warm lead even though their initial response was "I don't have any and don't know if I will, and I don't have a wait list." In part, it was the lack of wait list that made me call back.

Nault's does have a long list, if you like I can share with you the other places I felt were somewhat promising. Other than that, I'd say keep calling around.