Do you seriously believe that the resale value of your bike remains unaffected while the new bikes are to be sold below msrp.?
I'm not saying anything about the deal that the dealer offered BobD other than this.
Louis, you're right on this.
I've was in vehicle sales, although back in the '70s, but if you're looking at trading in, the dealer usually will go retail to retail or wholesale to wholesale, but never retail (trade in) to wholesale (new).
Let me explain.
If a person wants to get use retail value from their trade at the dealership, the dealer will use the highest listed pricing he can on his new unit. If he offers low book on your trade, then you can expect to be able to push him to a lower than asking pricing on the new unit. But don't expect him to offer you used retail value and then discount the new unit.
Unless the person has a VERY special trade that's flying off the used lots faster than you can sign the paperwork, one would have to assume if the new market is soft, so is the used market. So reselling the trade for the dealer is going to be tougher and the resale prices will have to be lower to reflect the current market.
When doing a trade in, all that matters in the end is how much out of pocket you have to pay. So if you get wholesale trade in and discounted new unit pricing or full or above market resale value on your trade and you pay list pricing for the new unit, it still boils down to out of pocket money. Regardless of how it's shown, if in your mind the dollars to trade are too high, walk away and keep looking.
I was told early on when I bought my new '08 SERK that CVO's depreciate about the same as a non CVO model, only you start with more money and the used pricing is always higher than the same year of a non CVO model. But still it has depreciated about the same percentage. Now there's always exceptions to this average and some CVO's may reflect that in slightly less depreciation than other models.
I've read a lot lately about buying non CVO and then upgrading to near CVO options. Some still think they can do this upgrading and come out better. Maybe that's true if they keep the bike for 10 years and you feel that you've gotten your money back from the fun and added performance you've had to use for the past 50k miles and X number of years. I've read here that people have traded in highly optioned non CVO bikes on CVO's and the dealer didn't care if they put the trade back to stock before they traded, they weren't going to get any more or less with or without the many options at trade time. Again I say there are always exceptions on this as well. I'm sure mods from an 88" to a 103" and maybe a 5sp to 6spd will retain more of the upgrade value, but extra chrome or different pipes, seats, etc are just a loss at trade time.
Look at the use or muscle cars selling right now. You can buy everything to make your own Yenko Nova and probably be as good or better than an original Yenko, but at best, it's still only a clone wanna-be. For the person that built the clone, he's having a ball with it and it shows well, but don't expect to get the high end for it. I will admit though that a nicely done clone will get you more money than a stocker, but never what the real one was. Another example, a 6cyl Dodge Dart converted to a Hemi Dart with all the appropriate goodies will be a VERY cool car, but alas, it's not a Hemi Dart, only a clone. Now believe me, it will pull ton's more $$$$$ than the original 6cyl Dart, but I doubt you would make your investment back.
Sorry again guys for rambling on and on and on, just slap me.....
