[ColinDMcN]

I was in the dealership yesterday looking at a Raven R3 . When they were running my credit I noticed a lot of small imperfections in the paint. I found small dents and lines on almost every painted body panel. I was told this is normal, which I found odd coming from a bike that has 1 mile on it and was sitting in the showroom. Is this normal? I have never bought a new car or motorcycle and didn't expect this. I am planning on purchasing this bike later today and I would love to hear others input on what you would do, and if your brand new R3 also had small dents and lines in the paint from purchase.

 

[Mase]

Uh...my red r3 had no such paint imperfections or dents. Well, it did have one tiny ding in the front, but we assumed it happened when the dealer took it to the gas station to fill it up before I picked it up. From the way you're describing it, I don't think it's normal.

 

[Stirz]

FWIW, bodywork is not painted. This is what mine looked like at 00001 miles: http://www.r3-forums.com/forum/737-yamaha-r3-parts-sale/7753-2015-raven-take-offs-sale.html


It is quite easy to see even minor scratches, especially in the black plastics (they aren't very hard) - most fine polishes or wax compounds will make most of them go away. Dents - - not sure what's up with that.

 

[abvc]

there is a 3 x 7cm area in my tank paint where there is almost unseen line marks.

 

[FredR3]

Well, there will always be small, microscopic imperfections with any paintwork. Nothing is perfect but you shouldn't be able to see it if it's brand new. Do you see any swirl marks? There shouldn't be any dings.....if there are, then the dealer didn't keep it in good condition. The lines are probably light scratch marks/marring caused by the dealer touching it with ungloved hands, wiping and dusting it with cheap microfiber towels and improper techniques, customers looking, touching and sitting on the bike (if it was in the showroom), etc.

In any case, marring and light scratch marks are common even on new bikes because oftentimes the dealer uses improper cleaning techniques to maintain it and other customer touching it. I bought mine at a small dealership where they only had two R3s and I took it home as soon as it came in so no others can check it out and touch it besides me. Mine was perfect, no visible imperfections. I went to another dealer to look at their R3s and they were in horrible condition. Marring and swirls all over the bikes. That and their horrible prices made me buy mine from the other dealer which I'm very glad that I did.

There is no real easy way to fix dings by yourself but the lines (assuming they are marring) can be easily fix by polishing the paint. Hope this helps.

 

[zdaman]

Probably crate damage. I wouldn't buy it like that.

 

[SunGawd]

When I first went to the dealer, there were paint and plastic imperfections on the Ravens. My sales rep informed me the crates we not handled with care. This dealer refused to sell those bikes and ordered replacements which arrived that week. Since you are paying, the expectation is your are 100% happy with your purchase.

 

[ColinDMcN]

I moved the bike into the sunlight to get a better view. I assume a lot of the marks I described could be polished out and I am just being a bit anal since I have never made a new vehicle purchase. I went ahead and bought it and am glad to be a part of this forum. Thanks everybody for your input. I am a proud new owner of a Raven R3!

 

[Junpower]

None of them will be perfect, even my brand new raven and 2 others at the dealer have wavy areas in the injection molded plastic panels. I actually think the finish is good but gloss black tends to show those imperfections much more then the matte silver or white fairings.