Buying the Goldwing
A week ago Wednesday, we went to the Honda dealer:
http://www.seminolepowersports.com
to look at Goldwings. They had 2 on the sales floor, but they did not have the accessory packages we wanted. We originally were looking at the dark red metallic paint job, and the salesman, Chris, checked and said they had one in their warehouse, which is located on the other side of town. So, we went ahead and started the paperwork, haggled a bit and arrived at a price.
The following day we arranged the funding, got approved right away. The bank draft was ready for us to pick up on Friday morning, so we ran over there in the morning to pick it up.
While driving to the bank, I got a call from Chris, who told me that they had brought the crate containing the red Goldwing back to the shop, but when they opened it up, there was actually a Titanium silver bike inside, despite the fact that the label said red on it. I checked with my wife, and she thought that color might be OK, but wanted to see it in person. Chris said they would put the bike together and we could come look at it later that afternoon.
That afternoon, we arrived at the dealer and checked out the bike. The color was fine, but Chris had noticed that there was one panel on the left side of the bike that was not the proper color. It was a lighter silver instead of the dark color of the rest of the bike. Chris ordered the right panel and said they would call us when it came in and they would replace it.
We went inside to complete the paperwork, but it was discovered that the paperwork still showed the bike as being red, so they had to do it all over. In fact, the temporary registration still says it is red, but the dealer said it would be fine as long as the VIN matches the paperwork.
Over the weekend, I was out riding and noticed that I was getting an Invalid Operation error when the GPS navigation system started up. It continued to be a problem, so I ran back by the dealer so they could take a look. They opened the trunk and reseated the chip into the socket in the GPS unit. The unit has not acted up since, so maybe that took care of it.
On Thursday, my insurance card arrived in the mail. I went to the bike to put the card in the bag along with the registration papers. I pulled the release handle for the left saddlebag, and heard a snap. The bag did not open, and there was no resistance on the release lever. I called the service department and the guy knew all about that happening and said it was a common problem. He told me I could bring it by in the morning and he would replace the broken linkage clip for me.
Everyone at Seminole Power Sports was very helpful. It was just frustrating to have these little things happen when I had purchased the most expensive motorcycle they sell.
In spite of these issues, I am very happy with the bike and it rides like a dream.