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[Spiderman]

I've heard a variety of things over the years on this issue. When Eric Thorsgaad was Sales Manager at San Diego H-D, he told me the dealers get a master list from the MoCo of bikes that will be shipped to them and the prospective ship dates. There are no serial numbers attached until the bikes are actually Mfg'd but that the dealership puts in it's request list at the beginning of the new sales year and they get an allotment and as I said a master list of what they'll get and when. When I bought my 05 SE V-Rod, I was told when the Orange model I wanted would be shipped to SD H-D but there was no VIN so I could not finalize the deal. Best I could do was put a $5k deposit against a detailed description of the bike.
So, my question is this. Is what I've written above correct or off base. If off base, how does the MoCo inform the dealers of bikes they will be getting and when ?

B B

[cvobiker]

i think the dealers get a list of every model/color they will get through the year along with anticipated delivery dates. I say this because when i bought my second 2007 CVO the dealer pulled out this delivery sheet showing everything he was expected to get through the year and I picked off the list the color/options i wanted. I was lucky enough that my pick was scheduled for delivery within 2 weeks from that time... 

[Keats]

The way I understand it the Dealers get a preliminary schedule for their orders to come in (for the year, by quarter)
and is based on production schedules.

The key word is preliminary, such as schedules always get moved up and down due to the market. (avail of parts and how inventory is moving)

The dealer gets a notice of the months scheduled shipments, but the actual serial number is not known till the bike is manufactured and the bike will ship quickly when they can marry a truck to it (usually less than 6 days on the east coast)

Dealers cannot count on anything till it is made.

[Midnight Rider]

BB...I think you are right on the money with how it works.  When I was searching for the '06 SEUC in March of '06, I called around to get the best price and when/if they were going to get the color I wanted.  When it all came together for me, Mobile HD said they were scheduled to recieve one more in my color, with a tentative ship/receive date of late May/early June.  This information came off of some kind of "master list" they had showing what they were going to get for the rest of the year.  I think that list can be modified or added to, depending on sales for the year...like some dealers got one more SEUC towards the end of the model year than was planned, as they had sold all of them they were supposed to get for the year, but wanted another if available.  When I got the Red SERGU this year, it was on the showroom floor, but they pulled out a list so that I'd know if they were going to get another Red...they were, but there was going to be a Gray one coming first.  About a month later, the Gray was there.  I went ahead and got the Red they had on the floor.

[1sharprdkg]

BB...I think you are right on the money with how it works.  When I was searching for the '06 SEUC in March of '06, I called around to get the best price and when/if they were going to get the color I wanted.  When it all came together for me, Mobile HD said they were scheduled to recieve one more in my color, with a tentative ship/receive date of late May/early June.  This information came off of some kind of "master list" they had showing what they were going to get for the rest of the year.  I think that list can be modified or added to, depending on sales for the year...like some dealers got one more SEUC towards the end of the model year than was planned, as they had sold all of them they were supposed to get for the year, but wanted another if available.  When I got the Red SERGU this year, it was on the showroom floor, but they pulled out a list so that I'd know if they were going to get another Red...they were, but there was going to be a Gray one coming first.  About a month later, the Gray was there.  I went ahead and got the Red they had on the floor.

+Agree with BB and TC, last year, several months before I found my 09 SEUC in Stardust Silver/Blue in Erie,PA. I was at my local stealer asking if they could find the 09 and of course they said no, they of course wanted to sell me a 2010. Anyway my point is the salesman said let me check the "list" and he had a 2010 SEUC in the Blue/Gray coming in a week or two. I said I would look at it, the bike came in and he called I saw it right out of the crate. It was nice but I decided to search for the one I have now. No queston that they have a "list" had them check it several times.