Best and Worst Online Stores

barkbustn33
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Stewartville, MN, USA
barkbustn33 4/1/2014 9:46am
4/1/2014 9:46am
I prefer to stop in to the local bike shop that I drive by on my way home from work every day. I have ordered online but prefer the experience stopping in. The guy at that shop is able to get stuff the next day or within a couple days from almost all of the distributors if he doesn't have stuff in stock. If we dont shop at the local stores, they will go away and we wont have anyone to work on our bikes!

Just something to think about....
hvaughn88
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hvaughn88 4/1/2014 12:10pm
4/1/2014 12:10pm
barkbustn33 wrote:
I prefer to stop in to the local bike shop that I drive by on my way home from work every day. I have ordered online...
I prefer to stop in to the local bike shop that I drive by on my way home from work every day. I have ordered online but prefer the experience stopping in. The guy at that shop is able to get stuff the next day or within a couple days from almost all of the distributors if he doesn't have stuff in stock. If we dont shop at the local stores, they will go away and we wont have anyone to work on our bikes!

Just something to think about....
I would absolutely love to be able to do that. Unfortunately, the shops around here are more like UTV, quad and street bike shops. The only moto things they usually have is a few years old, still full price and no one has a clue about supercross or motocross. I'll put it this way, the shop in the town 30 minutes north of here has chad reed posters of him wearing thor...on yamahas. In that regard, I don't feel bad about ordering online.
peelout
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peelout 4/1/2014 12:31pm
4/1/2014 12:31pm Edited Date/Time 4/1/2014 12:37pm
Slavensracing.com has been great to deal with as well.

not as easy to find parts as say Rocky Mountain, but competitive pricing and tons of great parts (especially for KTM)

my starter went out on my 300 and Rocky Mtn had them for $200+... picked up a starter rebuild kit for $75.
SEE ARE125 4/1/2014 1:00pm
4/1/2014 1:00pm
barkbustn33 wrote:
I prefer to stop in to the local bike shop that I drive by on my way home from work every day. I have ordered online...
I prefer to stop in to the local bike shop that I drive by on my way home from work every day. I have ordered online but prefer the experience stopping in. The guy at that shop is able to get stuff the next day or within a couple days from almost all of the distributors if he doesn't have stuff in stock. If we dont shop at the local stores, they will go away and we wont have anyone to work on our bikes!

Just something to think about....
I agree and I usually check there first. Definitely get all my oil and lubricants there. But as far as parts(even OEM) or accessories/gear, none of them ever have anything in stock. Usually their "stock" consists of an ugly ass ONE graphics kit for a 2006 KX85 that's been facing the window since '06, baking in the sun and is horribly faded, a tank pad with flaming skulls for a 04 GSX-R600, a billet shifter knob for a Polaris RZR, some fringe for the Harley wannabe cruisers, some life jackets, and a skid plate for a 1998 Yamaha Warrior. They have to order everything and it's always 5-7 business days and twice what I could buy it for online. If by magic they actually do have it in stock, I'll gladly pay a premium price to have it now. But if I have to wait, I'm gonna wait and save money. It really is a bummer because I REALLY want to give them my business, but they just never stock anything I(or anyone) needs. It's always oddball stuff that even the Joes don't buy.

The Shop

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hvaughn88
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hvaughn88 4/1/2014 1:03pm
4/1/2014 1:03pm
SEE ARE125 wrote:
I agree and I usually check there first. Definitely get all my oil and lubricants there. But as far as parts(even OEM) or accessories/gear, none of...
I agree and I usually check there first. Definitely get all my oil and lubricants there. But as far as parts(even OEM) or accessories/gear, none of them ever have anything in stock. Usually their "stock" consists of an ugly ass ONE graphics kit for a 2006 KX85 that's been facing the window since '06, baking in the sun and is horribly faded, a tank pad with flaming skulls for a 04 GSX-R600, a billet shifter knob for a Polaris RZR, some fringe for the Harley wannabe cruisers, some life jackets, and a skid plate for a 1998 Yamaha Warrior. They have to order everything and it's always 5-7 business days and twice what I could buy it for online. If by magic they actually do have it in stock, I'll gladly pay a premium price to have it now. But if I have to wait, I'm gonna wait and save money. It really is a bummer because I REALLY want to give them my business, but they just never stock anything I(or anyone) needs. It's always oddball stuff that even the Joes don't buy.
You just basically described my exact experience every time I go into a shop here. That's why I get kinda pissed when someone comes on here asking for peoples opinions about certain items like helmets, boots, gear and the "too cool for school" guys just come back with their typical response of "go to the shop and try them all on, bro!" That isn't even an option around here.
JVT357
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Vail, CO, USA
JVT357 4/1/2014 1:33pm
4/1/2014 1:33pm
Ive found that the local shops wont bargain or compete with online retailers. Im all for shopping locally to help support them but its hard to justify when they are usaually more expensive and you have to pay sales tax on top of it. A shop in denver I go to wouldnt budge an inch on there price. I went in to buy some new botts, sidi crossfires, which arent cheap. I found them online with free 2 day shipping and zero tax for 20 dollars less than this shop had listed. I asked for the manager and said, " i want to buy locally to help support you guys and give you my money. I found these boots for $20 cheaper online with no sales tax, can you match this price so you get my business" And he straight up said, nope. I cant compete with online reatailers. I just dont see why you wouldnt want to at least make a sale and make money than make no money at all. Needless to say I wont buy anything from them anymore
cgruber13 4/1/2014 2:44pm
4/1/2014 2:44pm
Any experiences ordering to Canada?
barkbustn33
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barkbustn33 4/1/2014 2:45pm
4/1/2014 2:45pm
We have a couple of those stores in this area. I try not to frequent the kinds of places that wont work with you. If I'm in a bind I will buy from there but I try not to make it a habit. The shop I get almost everything at is dedicated to dirt bikes and he stays up to date on all of the current trends and popular items. Like I said, I do buy stuff online once in a while. Its hard not to buy a gear set for $75 on closeout! I wasn't intended on bashing anyone for buying online. I just like to see money spent locally whenever possible and in some cases that isn't possible.
rocketsocks26 4/1/2014 2:47pm
4/1/2014 2:47pm
Jvt357, i 100% agree with you. My ktm dealer is an hr away, his prices are way off of online stores. The time it takes me to get there and back and gas etc it just doesnt make sence. Thats just the way it is anymore. I went there to have my tires mounted and he wanted $45 a tire! I straight up told him hes crazy! I buy everything online. And my dealer is for emergency use only lol.
BobbyM
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BobbyM 4/1/2014 3:19pm
4/1/2014 3:19pm
youwish16 wrote:
What are some of the good and bad places to order online? For me, I like to order from Rocky Mountain for the most part and...
What are some of the good and bad places to order online? For me, I like to order from Rocky Mountain for the most part and a little bit of ebay.

I tried Partzilla recently because of the distance from my parents house (10 minutes) where my bike is. I will never order from them again.
JC Whitney has it all and shipping is free.
Parris
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Mauldin, SC, USA
Parris 4/1/2014 3:37pm
4/1/2014 3:37pm
youwish16 wrote:
What are some of the good and bad places to order online? For me, I like to order from Rocky Mountain for the most part and...
What are some of the good and bad places to order online? For me, I like to order from Rocky Mountain for the most part and a little bit of ebay.

I tried Partzilla recently because of the distance from my parents house (10 minutes) where my bike is. I will never order from them again.
BobbyM wrote:
JC Whitney has it all and shipping is free.
Years ago a kid ask me what I thought of the engine overhaul pellets. I called bull crap on him .No such thing I said. He showed me the JC Whitney.. The catalog actually said if you have a V8 you will need to order two packs.
yz414
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CA
yz414 4/1/2014 3:50pm
4/1/2014 3:50pm
BTO has been great, never and messed up orders and pretty great prices too, the 20% off with the pulp code helps a ton when ordering large items

i bought some stuff with motosport.com but the prices just cant compete with BTO

i also try to support my local guy as much as possible, he helps me a ton but sometimes the prices are just too much swallow.
FreshTopEnd
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Sacramento, CA, USA
FreshTopEnd 4/1/2014 4:05pm
4/1/2014 4:05pm
My experience is that most of the MC industry sites do a really good job (my favorite for years has been Rocky Mountain).

This is unlike the photo industry, where there are a handful of stellar places and way more shady folks.
GPearl
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Lakewood, OH, USA
GPearl 4/1/2014 5:33pm
4/1/2014 5:33pm
I started out ordering from Motosport until we had this situation:

Early December we ordered two items from them for Christmas gift, one hoodie and one pack of Motosport tie downs. At the time of ordering over the phone they told my boyfriend that the tie downs would ship right away but the hoodie was on backorder and wouldn't ship until early January. The tie downs were shipped and we received them just fine.

It got to be mid January and no news from them and no hoodie. We called there to see what was going on. I spent about 30 mins on the phone with a guy who worked there and the entire time he was never able to locate our order in their system. He searched by name, billing address, shipping address, phone number, zip code, he even searched the entire credit card number and said that there were no records in their system and we must have ordered from someone else. I repeatedly told him that the tie downs we received (the first part of the order) say MOTOSPORT all over them. He continued to say we must have ordered from somewhere else. WTF? That's like going to McDonald's to order a Whopper.

We even gave him the order number and he said it didn't exist in their system. I requested to speak to a manager saying this was outrageous. At that point the guy put me on hold and then managed to find our order. We cancelled the hoodie when he came back to the phone. And now we order from Motorcycle Superstore.
smoothies862 4/1/2014 6:51pm
4/1/2014 6:51pm
local shops for chain spray,oil,plugs stuff like that. big stuff its bto motosport or rocky. if they have a team or sponsor a team ill use them. the only complaint i would have is sometimes it will say "5 in stock" then it will come 3 days later than your other box with the rest of your stuff. just say we really dont have that here,its coming from somewhere else. no biggie,it would just be nice to know if its all coming the same week. 1 part might need the other that isnt coming so youre held up.

Pit Row

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