Stark 'demo'

[SHSMITH76]

Got back this afternoon from my 2nd Stark demo at Big Boyz Toys in Marlboro NY. It's a mostly-offroad dealership with a lot of enthusiasm for the Stark, Alta, and electric vehicles in general, a great fit. Josh the Stark guy was there again, and provided info for upcoming demos in New England:

Monty's Motorsports, Westfield, MA, (413) 642-8199 (12/29/22?)
Pilgrim Powersports, Plymouth MA (508) 747-6181 (12/30/22?)
Motorsports International, Auburn, MA (508) 832-9494 (date unknown)
Souhegan Valley Motorsports, Milford NH (603) 673-6007 (date unknown)
Motorbikes Plus, Portsmouth, NH (603) 334-6686 (date unknown)

The tour then heads south with another guy (Jason) to a bunch more dealers, thru Texas, and ends up in Arizona where it started. Check out the Stark dealer page for dealer list & locations.

Dealer Info: Big Boyz ordered 40! Vargs, any of which can be fully customized up till 90 days fm delivery date. The $100 online deposit will be deducted fm the total dealer price, which in my case will not involve sales tax (out-of-state purchase; this will save me over $800). Stark will not charge dealers sales tax (tax TBD by dealer) but will on all others depending on state/country/VAT etc. (per Josh). I sent Stark an E-mail about this, and have yet to hear back. In light of this and the production / delivery-priority info below, I've changed my mind about getting my bike through a dealer and now think it is the best, quickest, and cheapest route.

Delivery Priority (approximate, TBD):
1st) Dealer/reviewer demos (worldwide? surely at least 100 bikes, maybe more)
2nd) Euro dealers: Josh predicted at least 500 Euro-dealer bikes, imo a big enough number to reveal & correct initial problems. Alta only made @ 700 bikes total.
3rd) All other dealers (as logistics permit)
4th) Online custom orders (dealer delivery preferred, drop-ship availability unknown)

Production: initial target @ 100 bikes/week, ramping up to whatever's doable

Demo display was non-functional (only showed the 2nd screen below w/bike pic, buttons didn't work).

View attachment 9494
Stark display video:

Misc:
KYB forks had 'STK' raised letters on LH-leg axle mount (I'll try to find out what this means, if anything)
Battery: 200 cells, 360V nominal, 420V max
Front brake numbers: Master Cylinder Brembo X10 1629, Brembo caliper A361 and A21
LHRB numbers: MC Formula FM10109-02, Brembo caliper 22 8468 and 21 2F
I'll research all brake numbers and report back if I find anything.

Do you really think it will be cheaper? I ordered mine before the price increase so if I cancelled my order I would have to pay new price at the dealer, also there is usually DOC fees at the dealers, I live in NH so there wont be any sales tax..

 

[rayivers]

Do you really think it will be cheaper? I ordered mine before the price increase so if I cancelled my order I would have to pay new price at the dealer, also there is usually DOC fees at the dealers, I live in NH so there wont be any sales tax..

For me it will be. In the 45 US states with sales tax, you'd have to buy out-of-state to eliminate the tax, and there may be other laws at work too. With no sales tax, drop-shipping (if available) should be fine. There's also the possibility of dealer discounts, sometimes big ones (I got my YZ for $50 above dealer cost). So much we still don't know at this point.

 

[SHSMITH76]

For me it will be. In the 45 US states with sales tax, you'd have to buy out-of-state to eliminate the tax, and there may be other laws at work too. With no sales tax, drop-shipping (if available) should be fine. There's also the possibility of dealer discounts, sometimes big ones (I got my YZ for $50 above dealer cost). So much we still don't know at this point.

I am going to have mine sent to my dealer. Motorbikes plus because they are awesome guys there, but not sure if the sale will go through them or they will just be my point of contact for the drop ship. Like you said still so much we don't know yet.

 

[rayivers]

I am going to have mine sent to my dealer. Motorbikes plus because they are awesome guys there, but not sure if the sale will go through them or they will just be my point of contact for the drop ship.

Me too. I asked Josh about the drop-ship to my house, he told me "I'm not really sure" but his facial expression said "don't get your hopes up". I think it's likely Stark will ship your online order to the nearest dealer, who will require whatever payment amount the Stark ordering system provides, period. Otoh, if you had transferred your order to the dealer earlier, there might be at least some flexibility regarding price, taxes. etc. on a bike the dealer had already committed to buy from Stark.

 

[rayivers]

Here's what I just received from Stark:

"You will receive a final checkout notification a few weeks prior to the delivery of your bike. On checkout, you’ll be able to choose home delivery and assemble the bike yourself or dealer delivery where they’ll have it ready for you to pick up, at no extra cost. Please note that taxes are not included in our price. These vary from State to State and depend on local law which may be applicable to our product category."

 

[wfopete]

Ok my 2 cents. I pre ordered but from what I am hearing Stark ran into legal problems selling direct once they establish a dealer network. My order delivery date is the fall of 2023 and I got in early. Many states have laws against this direct selling and by passing dealers. I was told by a dealer that I would have to get my bike from a dealer and pay pre-delivery/set-up charges and who knows what else. I would disregard anything I see on the demo models or at least take it with a grain of salt. I will let the first buyers be the beta testers and I'm more than happy to sit back and wait because there is so much potential BS going on here that you just never know what the real scoop is.