Price for new '05 WR450

[Ocaptainmycaptain]

Hello all. I am new to TT but not to motorcycles. Been riding for about 25 years now, mostly dirt bikes when I was young and street bikes later in life. My recent return to the dirt is when I bought my first quad 6 months ago. However, recently I have been missing the freedom of being in the dirt on two wheels and want to sell my quad (Brute Force 650) and get either a WR450 or CRF450x. I am leaning more towards the Yammy because of the potential valve issues with the X. With that said, a dealer near me has an '05 WR450 left, priced at $5,700. This was without tax, so let's assume $6,000 otd.

Is that a good deal? I called about 6 dealers and nobody had any '06 WR's in stock - no 250s or 450s. I called one Honda dealer and they had two '05 CRF450x in stock for $6k and also a 2006. Even the Honda salesman told me over the phone that you have to really be on top of the maintenance with the X if you want to ensure that you won't have valve/engine troubles. The Yamaha just sounds more reliable to me.

If I don't get a WR450 now, my other option would be to wait for another 6 months for the '07 model to come out but I don't know if I can wait that long with nothing to ride. Any advice would be appreciated. Incidentally, my very first motorcycle was a blue Yamaha 60 dirtbike. Probably early to mid 70's, not exactly sure what model it was but it said "Torque Induction" on the blue side cover panels.

[Ocaptainmycaptain]

Nobody has an opinion as to whether $6k is a good price for an '05 WR450?

[stonewall]

$5700 is an OK price for an '05. I paid $5700 for mine in Jan. of '05 and the same dealer had a leftover '05 in November for $5595. The '06's are going for $5895. They also have a new '05 CRF450X for $5645. No setup/freight or tax in WV. ?

[odonnks]

I'd say that is a pretty good price.

A few weeks ago I paid 6100 pretax and title for a 06.

Another area dealer had a new 05 I was working on. I told him I'd take it if he could get below 5800. He wouldn't do it.

[toatgoat]

I paid $6000 OTD 12/01/05 local dealer wouldn't budge on price ,drove 100 miles to get better price.

[Old_Yeller]

$5700 OTD with 20% off any store items. No sales tax in Oregon!

[Ocaptainmycaptain]

Thanks for the replies. Is it typical for dealers to charge freight charges on these bikes? I think that it BS. ? Paying tax on them is enough.

Also, can anyone verify that there have been no changes from the '05 to '06 WR450 model? I don't see that there have been any, other than the '05 weighing 5 pounds less than the '06 according to Yamaha's website but for no apparent reason. ?

[Old_Yeller]

I didn't have to pay frieght on my 05 WR450 but I did on my daughter's 06 TTR50. Although they did drop the price by $100 on the TTR50.

[odonnks]

They do pay to have them shipped in. There is sometimes a set-up charge too.

[dbailey223]

From what has been posted here in TT, there were changes from the 05 to the 06, but not major ones. Do a search and you'll find several topics about it, some as recent as earlier this week if I recall.

[Ocaptainmycaptain]

Well, I went to the dealer at lunch time. They did have an '05 WR450 for $5,700 and and '06 for $6,300. However, they are also a KTM dealer and had a couple of nice EXC's. I know this is the Yamaha forums but some of you must have previous experience with KTMs. What do you think of those? How are they maintenance-wise versus the WR? They look really solidly built and finished. I like the hydraulic clutch, too. I don't want to sound naive, but the sales guy said that getting parts for KTM is not as problematic as it used to be. He said there were two newer parts distributors, one on the West coast and one on the East coast that has helped with the availability of parts. I have no idea if that's true.

Anyway, I'd like to look more into the KTM 450EXC, but I also really like the WR450.

[John M62]

I think 5700 is good if they don't hit you with too much other costs. Therreally isn't much difference between the 05 and 06 other then the computer.

As far as the KTM. I'm sure it's a great bike, but i went with the WR for its reliabilityand plenty of parts around for it.

Also, my son has a KTM and the parts seem to cost more, and take a bit longer to get here.

John

[n777ff]

'05' bought new in Nov. for $5,140