Support your dealer

R6, V6 same thing. It has 6 in the name so it must take six plugs.

 

Reminds me of the guy from the big box Harley shop asked me what the redline on my aprilia was.

My reply; uhh, it doesn't have one.

He thought I didn't hear, so he asks again.

I reply, "it's a 2 stroke, they don't have redlines"

He still didn't get it.

 

So what is the most RPMs the motor can safely pull? Wouldn't that be the redline?

 

Valve float...The world's first red limiter...

 

Yea, I didn't get that joke.

 

Don't bring logic into this discussion. Motorcycles! Livelihoods! Taxes! Government!

 

Been watching this since the thread started...biting my tongue.

I own a small indy shop. We also do internet business. We try to price our online stuff competetivly but still have to turn a profit. Tires we can kind of compete on because we buy a ton but right now people are selling them at a loss to get new customers. I wont sell at a loss because new customers do me no good if I'm out of business. The profit I turn on tires is from installing them.

I would rather do walk in business all day than internet. I like to know my customers and interact with them. I have built relationships with a bunch of my internet customers and love that side of the business but it is still a little sterile to me.

Sales tax across the board would help but seldom do my customers complain about the tax because they know the shop is here for support, bike nights and a place to hang out.

You want to know whats killing indy shops? The big internet guys. A couple of those guys are "favorites" on this board and thats all good but fact is they are putting the rest of us out of the market. We all have pricing policies we have to follow. Minimum advertised pricing etc. Alpinestars (and many others) will cut me off and pull my ability to buy and sell their product if I dont follow their policy. Last year there were big sales going on A*'s from a couple of online guys and so I matched their deals. I got cut off within 24 hours. When I asked about the "other guys" A*'s said there was nothing they would do because that shop bought so much from them. They couldnt grasp that if they let me sell it for the same price I could move merch too.

The market is ugly right now. A few big shops have enough pull to get what they want and the small guys like me get the scraps. I dont mind competition at all but when I'm following the rules and others get a pass it makes it tough to compete.

I love what I do and I'm not bitching. I dont want to be a huge shop, I dont want 10 employees pissing off my customers. I want to deal with every customer myself and make enough to pay my bills. Theres a bunch of small shops out there that are in the same boat, throw those guys a bone once in a while.

 

I disagree. $8 an hour will get you a $8 an hour performance. You want to see 100% dedication and commitment, pay me what I'm worth, not what you think you can get away with in the current economy.

It seems it's completely normal for a employer to take advantage of a $8/hr employee, but it's a blasphemy for the $8/hr employee to take advantage of their employer.

I agree that best thing is to get yourself in a position of not having to take a minimum wage paying job but with current economy it's a ugly reality for some.

 

When I started this thread it wasnt to argue buy local or use the internet, it was based out of my frustration at local guys that wont return messages, dont answer the phone, etc. When I take time out of my day to visit their shop, ask questions, make a purchase, is it too much to ask to call your customers and let them know that this part is on back order, or your stuff has arrived, etc.

I would much rather support my local dealer even if that means having to pay a bit more for what ever it is, I realize those guys have bills to pay and are trying to make a living too. But when they say F customer service it makes it really difficult to want to do business with them. And with shops closing at a rapid rate these days, the number of local guys is getting smaller and smaller. I buy 90% of my stuff from Kevin at Safety First Racing, he always answers the phone, will answer the million questions I have, returns messages promptly. He's one guy in a shop. Why cant more local guys be like him, and he's not even local to me anymore (since he moved).

 

No offense, but it seems that right now if you work the counter at a shop, you're worth $8/hr, no matter what you think you're worth. How is that an example of an employer taking advantage of an employee? Why is the employer the bad guy?

 

No offense taken. You made a perfect example there. This is why dealerships have shit customer service, because people can't see the valve of having more than a $8/hr guy behind the counter. Yet expect the guy to be a genius with 100% dedication and drive. Reality tells different.

This is why people can't get your order right at the drive through, they're not all stupid. Some just don't care. There is a reason.

 

I'm sure every time you bought a t-shirt, snacks and drinks at an out of state rest area on the highway you kept your deceit and filed it with your taxes...

 

Technically, he would only have to do that if he transported said refreshments back across state lines for the purposes of consumption.

 

I wouldn't hire you. The rate paid for a given job should be directly related to what it costs to replace the individual in terms of training and value to the organization. Demonstrate you are worth more and the smart owner will pay more.

Unfortunately the "I'm worth more" arguement seems to be prevalent in good times and bad. It has been my experience that a significant percentage of the workforce has an inflated sense of self worth.

 

If he didn't, then THAT would be "deceit"...

 

I'm sure that he paid state sales tax when he bought whatever.

 

So do you now know the answer to your question on how a dealer 5 hrs away can sell a bike for less? It didn't seem like a rhetorical question when you first asked. Sorry I just call it like I see it. You make a stupid comment I will call you stupid.

This is what I was talking about when I asked you about labor rates at a shop. There are people at motorcycle shops that make minimum wage. And yes it may be the parts guy.

There is a difference in service. If a shop has shitty service that sucks. Did you respectfully say something about the issue to the manager? Most managers would try to address situation like this in the future. Shit happens sometimes even at the best places, but if they just can't get it right then by all means shop somewhere else.

Sure every dealer would love to be able to pay all the parts guys $20/hr or whatever. The simple fact is they may not be able to afford to pay someone more than the $8/hr. Sure chicken and egg theory, but if they go broke and close up shop paying some dude $20/hr it wont matter if he increases sales.

I don't remember stating in this thread anything about how I pay my taxes. I also not the one on here bragging about cheating on my income taxes.

Technically you are required to pay the difference in tax rates. So if you buy in state that has 5% tax rate then bring it back to CA or wherever you are supposed to pay the additional 4.25% or whatever to get you to your tax rate.

 

And it's highly likely the lowest paid Johnny Come Lately assembled your bike from the crate and checked all the boxes on the PDI.

 

This is illegal. Problem is it would cost you about $500 grand in attorneys fees to take A*'s to task on it. You would win and they would be paying it back and then some, but putting up the $500k in the first place is the hard part.

Ain't that the truth. You are nuts if you don't double check everything before you ride it.