I decided to take a quick lunchtime look around and examine some bikes in more detail. Research not riding. I'd had a look at the new Kawasaki Vulcan on trip 1 to the bike shops and during a visit to the local Suzuki Dealer, that missed a mention in the blog until now, I was told that an aquaintence of mind had bought a new Suzuki Boulevard M50 with panniers for $10,600 ride away. That bike I thought was a little small for me, I definitely had a pillion in mind, but I'd gleaned that the C019R was about on the money.
I actually knew the dealer principle from my previous years and years of bikes, had bought and sold bikes through him before and had had a number of them serviced there. I'd heard a comment from my father-in-law a while back who had a very negative experience there and at the time I was surprised by that, I'd never found them that way.
The first time I went there, I was in a hurry, reaquainted myself with the dealer principle, explained what I was after and was shown a Vstrom 1000 @ $14,600 ride away. That done, no more interest was shown in what else they might have had and I left a little confused by not unhappy.
So, I decided to go back, revisit the Vstrom (turned out another aquaintance of mind had one and liked it a lot) and also get some information about the C109R. I was pressed for time, so it was my intention to organise a test ride if possible later in the day.
I was the only person in the store and there were at least 5 staff I could see doing not to much. Eventually a sales person approached me and I explained why I was there. First comment "I don't know if you can ride the Vstrom, and we don't have a demo. I'd have to ask if you can" with no move to do so. I guessed at that point that I wouldn't be getting the Vstrom, I'm unlikely to part with nearly 15k on spec.
So, I started to ask about the C109R and the M019R next to it. The monosyllabic salesperson with a clear attention deficit just didn't want to sell me this bike. I wanted information about it and it was like trying to get blood from a stone. The rude bastard wasn't even looking at me most of the time. Sad thing was, I really did like it, I had the money for it. So I left determined that if it was possible I'd never return to that shop for anything.
