Beta Motorcycles Shipped to your front door, is this the future?

soggy wrote:

i posted about this last year as a possible way to make bike cost more consumer friendly.. It was met with mixed emotions.
https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/Should-manufacturers-ado…

-MAVERICK- wrote:

https://m.vitalmx.com/news/press-release/Beta-Motorcycles-Shipped-To-Yo…

newmann wrote:

Like anyone would see it there...

soggy wrote:

i posted about this last year as a possible way to make bike cost more consumer friendly.. It was met with mixed emotions.
https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/Should-manufacturers-ado…

maicocd wrote:

I don't know how many recall this or acted on it back then- but TUF Racing from Illinois used to sell you and ship your bike...

I don't know how many recall this or acted on it back then- but TUF Racing from Illinois used to sell you and ship your bike in a factory crate to your doorstep.

I got several KX's (mostly KX-250's) sent to me this way in the late 80's / early 90's.

You'd call them and get your complete price with shipping, send them a certified check, and usually a week or two later a crated KX showed up at your doorstep. It was way better then seeing your latest Amazon package for those of you wondering what that experience was like! LoL!!
First- the bike was significantly cheaper then my local dealer.
Second- I knew how to open a create, put on a front tire, handlebars, and a fender.
Third- I was not blessed with a cool, or knowledgeable, or even very friendly local shop despite them having my family's return business for over 20 years... In fact- they were pretty much assholes. They were so bad that if I needed a spark plug to be able to race and had to buy it from them- I'd opt to skip racing... Why would I want to pay them more for a bike that I could have for less and also avoid them altogether?

At the time, I would have though that this was the direction things were headed, so its surprising the concept is only being revisited 30+ years later... I got away from the sport (as far as actively participating) for the second half of the 90's, and returned to the dealer purchased method upon returning again in the early 2000's... I'm not sure why myself nor the industry didn't continue in this direction...

I realize that their are tons cycle shop owners here as well as those that have and support their local and favorite shops... That's great for wherever this can happen. Its a perfect combo when you have good availability, parts, and service and the customer recognizes this, and continues to return to support this.
Unfortunately, convenience is now the stiffest competition to the even the best run store.
Discounting the current need to do this right now for most in the country- how many of us could actually have run out and bought half the stuff that regularly arrives on a porch in an Amazon box?
Lots of it is sitting on shelves in stores that also need customers walking through the front door to stay afloat too.

soggy- nailed it when he said his post from last year was met with mixed emotions... It will be even more interesting to see what happens when things return to "normal"... Like a lot of things in life- we might change what we have known and become accustomed to and this includes the sport that I've enjoyed for almost all of my 50 years.

woodsgoon wrote:

My last 2 MTBs have came from YT with a great experience. Since then i have wondered about dirtbikes going direct to consumer, especially with the...

My last 2 MTBs have came from YT with a great experience. Since then i have wondered about dirtbikes going direct to consumer, especially with the prices of bikes now days. It would be nice to save the mark up. A similar built Giant would have cost 3k more than what i paid for my YT capra. The only dirtbike dealership I deal with is shutting its doors fast tracked by covid but he was planning it anyway so i dont ever want to step foot in a dealership again if i can help it. It took many years to build that relationship and i went to him for almost everything i bought, most of the time paying more than i could buy it on rmatvmc for. Sounds like beta is getting there, but not quite as direct as bike manufactures are.

soggy wrote:

i posted about this last year as a possible way to make bike cost more consumer friendly.. It was met with mixed emotions.
https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/Should-manufacturers-ado…

maicocd wrote:

I don't know how many recall this or acted on it back then- but TUF Racing from Illinois used to sell you and ship your bike...

I don't know how many recall this or acted on it back then- but TUF Racing from Illinois used to sell you and ship your bike in a factory crate to your doorstep.

I got several KX's (mostly KX-250's) sent to me this way in the late 80's / early 90's.

You'd call them and get your complete price with shipping, send them a certified check, and usually a week or two later a crated KX showed up at your doorstep. It was way better then seeing your latest Amazon package for those of you wondering what that experience was like! LoL!!
First- the bike was significantly cheaper then my local dealer.
Second- I knew how to open a create, put on a front tire, handlebars, and a fender.
Third- I was not blessed with a cool, or knowledgeable, or even very friendly local shop despite them having my family's return business for over 20 years... In fact- they were pretty much assholes. They were so bad that if I needed a spark plug to be able to race and had to buy it from them- I'd opt to skip racing... Why would I want to pay them more for a bike that I could have for less and also avoid them altogether?

At the time, I would have though that this was the direction things were headed, so its surprising the concept is only being revisited 30+ years later... I got away from the sport (as far as actively participating) for the second half of the 90's, and returned to the dealer purchased method upon returning again in the early 2000's... I'm not sure why myself nor the industry didn't continue in this direction...

I realize that their are tons cycle shop owners here as well as those that have and support their local and favorite shops... That's great for wherever this can happen. Its a perfect combo when you have good availability, parts, and service and the customer recognizes this, and continues to return to support this.
Unfortunately, convenience is now the stiffest competition to the even the best run store.
Discounting the current need to do this right now for most in the country- how many of us could actually have run out and bought half the stuff that regularly arrives on a porch in an Amazon box?
Lots of it is sitting on shelves in stores that also need customers walking through the front door to stay afloat too.

soggy- nailed it when he said his post from last year was met with mixed emotions... It will be even more interesting to see what happens when things return to "normal"... Like a lot of things in life- we might change what we have known and become accustomed to and this includes the sport that I've enjoyed for almost all of my 50 years.

Ted722 wrote:

Did the same with my '94 KX250. I think it was $4,000 and $200 shipping if I remember correctly. That's the only time I ever did...

Did the same with my '94 KX250. I think it was $4,000 and $200 shipping if I remember correctly. That's the only time I ever did that and it worked out just fine. It was out of Manitowoc, WI from Mitch Hansen who later formed the HMC Ducati / KTM teams in Road Racing.

Agree about when that truck showed up. Backed my F250 up to it and we pushed the box/crate into the bed of the pickup and closed the tailgate. Great feeling!