The local dealers really make it hard sometimes...

Someone explain to me why a 900 dollar generator quoted from a dealer often mentioned here needs a 95 dollar documentation charge??? Do I now need a license and title for a generator???

 

My parts guy for years was a good friend and sometimes roommate. He knew a hell of a lot more than I did about identifying/sourcing parts. I never had a problem with it.

 

That "fee" is negotiable...it gives you the option to negotiate a purchase elsewhere.

 

If I'm doing the legwork to find the part numbers and prices, I'm then spending extra 30 seconds on the computer and buying it online.

Why so angry? God damn you're right. This hobby isn't for me cuz some Rando online has a thin skin.

 

I'm not so angry, I'm just so.
It's no skin off my ass if you want not to have a relationship with the people that might sell you a bike someday...or other high-dollar item(s).

 

I absolutely feel your guys' pain. I'm a sales rep for Parts Unlimited so I'm trying to help these shops stock and sell more product. It's a multitude of issues that's making the majority of the shops not all that great for anything other than new riders. Most shops want to stock the cheapest products as possible as 'nobody around here wants to spend any money'. I'm betting pretty much everyone on this forum is not rocking $100 helmets, $40 gloves, etc. Selling more expensive product takes actual product knowledge, which takes employees that care, which means you have to actually pay them something. Same goes for accessories and parts. Do you think your average parts counter guy knows what safety wire is? No, because they can't even afford to own a motorcycle, let alone do anything fun like going to the track. So of course they don't the difference between a Vesrah RJL pad and an SBS DC pad, nor stock either. Enthusiasts can't afford to work at the shops in most cases and the owners don't want to spend any money on employees. Obviously there are some killer shops out there but this is why you can't just go to any random local shop and get good service.

The whole ordering thing gets on my nerves too-most parts can be supplied through the three main distributors and the majority of the time its at max 2 days away. But..getting the shops to order things more than once or twice a week means it takes forever to actually get things in. Getting the shops to understand the immediacy that most people want their parts is always a struggle. The good shops know that the cutoff time is 2:00 or whatever and make sure they do all their orders every day before cutoff. But of course that takes effort.. I've tried to get some stores to get in front of not stocking a ton by offering to ship or drop ship product to customers and do orders over the phone or email but only a few really embrace it.

It sucks because like many of you guys I grew up in a time when you went to a shop and the same guys worked there for years, were enthusiasts, and actually cared about this industry. The big shops are becoming so corporate and cold that most of us don't get that warm and fuzzy feeling we want when we go into shops. I could go on and on but it just sucks seeing this industry die and much of it the stores are doing to themselves.

 

i have been looking the dealer parts up that i need for the current race bike on our dealer's online parts source on their website, copy and paste the p/n's and email them to my parts counter contact. he then returns my email with price and availability and emails me when everything is there at his site. one trip to pick up and pay. they help with a racer discount for Max. everybody happy! i do the same thing with my aftermarket guy(cycle gear) and Street and Comp.
tim

 

I've heard that for years, and it always makes me shake my head in amazement. If you're bread is buttered by parts and service, why do so many of them put so little effort into it? I'm pretty lucky that I've got a couple good ones near me, and try to give them business whenever I can, but I just don't need anything anymore besides a couple oil filters an maintenance stuff for the atvs.

 

+1. When i bought my lst crotch rocket in '93, i went to the dealer closest to me, 2 miles away. A guy at the counter was former racer and was currently rocking an 84 VFR750 i believe. He knew/and or raced with/or associated with Team Pearls Suzuki...knew Kurt Hall, etc...

Next thing i know, im meeting a group every Sunday morning at the dealer for a ride down into KY. Within a month i'm doing my lst track day on my lst street bike at Putnam.

Nowadays, it's young flat-billers working the counters, with their machines in their faces, asking you to slowly repeat every word you just said to them.

 

Well I'm a small shop in a poor area but I do most of what you're trying to get your dealers to do. PU is my supplier for everything unless it has to come from the OEM's then I order from a couple dealers a hour away and have them send it to me. When I'm busy I order almost every day and tell customers I usually have stuff over night or 2 days unless it has to come from one of the further warehouses. Do the order after lunch, usually about 1:15. I stock a dozen - 15 different oil filters and batteries and cover 90 plus percent of everything out there. Sell one, order another the next day and back on the shelf. I do stock the 100 dollar helmets and 30 dollar gloves because honestly that what sells. I get people that think a 100 bucks is alot for a helmet, I do get some I can up sell to something nicer but not many. The new Solaris modular is starting to take off though. The cheap gloves are usually a impulse buy, people don't impulse buy 100 dollar gloves but will 30. I keep a smoke shield in stock to fit the helmets I stock. No sense in stocking tires when I can have them over night.

I opened the shop 20 years ago because we didn't have any dealers in the area that knew anything or gave a shit.

Do you know my rep ? Dan Davis #173

 

Sounds like we operate in a very similar way that works pretty well. Stock things that sell and order almost daily. Next day delivery with 90% of that for bikes already in the shop or stocking the movers. We stopped carrying helmets and such because the hand holding was more effort and time than anything.

If you don't work in the industry and you are a knowledgeable enthusiast, you may be a rare bird. Spend time on the other end of the phone or side of the counter and prepare to be amazed!

You have to either look for a good fit for your needs or just be self sufficient. I'm guilty of not buying a -new- bike in years but the doucher vibe from most dealer sales tactics have turned me off for years. The doucher vibes I got from customers turned me off to sales when I was at a dealer actually selling bikes!

The last time I had to (chose to really) go to the local (since sold) Honda parts counter I was told "yeah, we wouldn't keep something like that in stock."......A crf100 head gasket!

 

Same way a car dealer wants $350-400 to mail some paperwork. Just to pad their pocket more.

 

same way the dealers tax freight, and set up (non taxable labor), then say... that's how it is done, it's a state law. cite the law, lemme look it up, douchebag. smfh. Ski

 

If I have to take the time to look up the parts, usually on a site like bikebandit or something. Why not just click "add to cart" right next to where I just looked it up instead of wasting time going to the dealer? I just went through this last week where I tried to get a part from the local dealer... By the time they placed the order 2 days after I stopped, and then somehow took 4 days to show up from Suzuki, I had paid more and waited 5 extra days from just ordering it online...

 

Not arguing personal choices nor advocating for dealer only purchases.

I like going to bike shops, they're a nice distraction. Who knows, I may want to buy a bike and, whether or not it helps, I'd like to have some previous rapport with the seller. Using them as a parts resource helps maintain a good relationship.
That's just my MO...every new bike I've ever bought, and all but one OEM part.

 

how long before motorcycle dealerships become something like Carvana. Click, buy, and have it delivered from your favorite device.
Heck you can even setup a "vend a bike" system for easy to ride stuff like a grom or scooter!

 

It's an issue across industries. I still can't figure out how leslies pools is in business.

me: walks in, asks for specific (very common part)
sales guy: hmmmm, we don't have any in stock, but we can order them, and have it in 2 days
Me: pulls out app, 1-click buy it now on amazon, yeah, I can order them as well and not have to drive back over here
sales guy: dumfounded

ANYONE can order ANYTHING... access to something is no longer a differentiator for most companies.