Upgrade to enjoy this feature!
Vital MX fantasy is free to play, but paid users have great benefits. Paid member benefits:
- View and download rider stats
- Pick trends
- Create a private league
- And more!
Only $10 for all 2024 SX, MX, and SMX series (regularly $30).
Most dealers can stock gear because they can package the sale in with the financing on a new bike sale. It’s especially profitable with helmets and sales to street bike riders.
As for the discount, that’s really where a dealer can compete and should make efforts to do so. Online stores have to sell at MAP but can usually sell below that using coupon codes, however it doesn’t apply to some brands such as Fox and aStars. A dealer Can apply counter discounts to sell these products for a better deal than online retailers.
Selling the same product for a higher price and relying on the goodwill of your customers is not a great business model.
It seems like dealers should be doing everything they can to develop an online business and compete with the online shops. I do use Motosport also- they are really good and the stuff shows up quickly.
Maybe we will get to the point where dealers exist only to buy and service bikes. When I used to sell bikes, there were many buyers that needed to be steered through the purchase of accessories. Dealers used to serve as the information hubs of their local scenes- I just wonder how long the current model can be sustained.
The Shop
I'll go to the local shop to pick up oils and chemicals when I need them right away, but it comes at a price and they don't always have what I need. Shops around here aren't what they use to be. There's a few I would love to deal with, but they've moved on to only doing suspension and bike work now. So online is where I go because I have a wife and two kids and need to save everywhere I possibly can.
I don't know if I would have been able to get into racing without the help of a great parts guy.
Just the most patient and helpful guy. I know a lot of you older guys probably had a similar experience.
I wish I could remember his last name, but it has been almost 40 years. Thanks Mike at easy living yamaha in Rome georgia back in 1979 until 1981.
Just like in the bicycle industry, the dealers have to find a way to give you a reason to choose them and price is not that reason, or not the whole reason for most. You have to buy the bike from them, so they have the opportunity. If they do nothing with that, it is on them. "Shopping Local" is a giant cliche. You will shop where the best value is. Value is a balance between price and service.
A city road widening project will take away most of the customer parking lot. The road will be within mere feet of the front door. After 50 years, this was the sign it was time to let the shop go, among a few other things. The local shop business model has changed drastically over the years.
100-120 unit sales months were the norm , even into the late 90's for them. Now, 30 - 40 is considered a good month. And most months are not even that. The service department is what has carried them for quite a while.
It is not just about the latest jersey or helmet on the rack. Access to special tools, welding, bead blast cabinet, obsolete inventory, used parts for older bikes, access to purchase abandoned bikes brought in for service and left for dead, mechanical advice from a few of the old school techs, it's all going away when their door swings shut for the last time.
Basically had free run of the place whenever or whatever I needed.
Really going to miss it. Hell, I liked to stop in just to hang out for a while, shoot the shit. They are friends as well as business owners.
When I buy a new bike I may have to drive and hour+ or to the other side of the mountains to get any kind of deal, or at least not get boned as it is. I would spend a thousand dollars to save 500 dollars if it means I don't have to buy it from a dealer near me.
I'm not talking about the SoCal mega shops that have everything. I'm talking about your local shop that has a couple handlebars in obscure bends, last years Fox gear for full MSRP, one entry level boot in a few sizes, etc.
Inner tubes, tires, generic size carb jets, chain, sprockets, levers, almost anything and everything has to be ordered. I'll pay just about anything for the above items if it means saving my ride day, but it makes no sense to drive there, pay more, order, wait x days, pick it up, & hope that it didn't get lost in the shop... When I could just have RMMC overnight it
Pit Row
Post a reply to: Shopping at Dealers?