Posts
1674
Joined
12/22/2014
Location
Woodbine, NJ
US
Fantasy
1978th
Edited Date/Time
2/23/2020 9:24am
Down in Florida for a moto vacation and I break a clutch cable. Yes I should’ve brought my Extra clutch cable with me but it didn’t cross my mind since I’ve never snapped one. Anyways long story short I called over 10 dealers and not one of them carried a clutch cable for a 2019 CRF450r....yet they complain we need to support our local dealers. Luckily I’m borrowing a buddies bike so my trip is saved but come on dealers...
Normally l'd cheer a fuck internet purchases post but in this case they are the cause.
Not to mention they should go the other way now. If riders knew a shop actually carried some parts there'd be a line around the block.
Number 1, you have to have sales history to be able to stock the correct inventory. If nobody is buying it you shouldn’t be stocking it. that being said you must log any lost sales to build adequate history. If someone asks for a part and you don’t stock it, you log a lost sale. That starts the process. You get enough hits, the part gets stocked.
2. Holding inventory is very expensive, we keep nothing longer than 12 months without a sale. We aren’t running a museum, we have to make a profit.
3. If you never come in to buy anything, we won’t stock anything other than what the service department needs. It can always be ordered, but you may not like the time frame to get it. Lots of stuff now is next day or two days so that is less of a issue.
4. If your not supporting your local parts department buy purchasing parts from them, it is no surprise they don’t stock what you may need. It is a demand driven business. There is no crystal ball to figure out what the demand for a part will be.
The parts business is all about turning products on the shelf, and taking care of your customers. It’s a very fine line between too much and not enough. Some dealers are really good at it and some just aren’t. If you find a good one use them, so they can afford to stock the stuff you need.
Sometimes it’s the whole chicken and the egg argument. Did you not sell it because you didn’t stock it or did you stock it but never sold any so you sent them back. It’s a tough business to get right and make money doing it.
The big online retailers have the advantage of lots of sales data that the little guys don’t have. They know how many bikes are out there, what the top selling part numbers are and a nation wide customer base, as opposed to a city/county wide customer base. They play on a significantly larger scale than the average local dealer. More sales history more inventory.
Accessories and clothing is a whole other issue that I know nothing about. Getting the right mix of that is a black art that I don’t fully understand, nor want to. I”ll stick to selling car parts.
Support the good guys, they need you and you need them.
The Shop
I once needed a seat bolt for my 2014 crf250r the morning of a race weekend. Ended up ordering the bolt from my dealer, putting a $50 hold on a 2017crf250r and stealing the bolt from new bike. Bolt came in and they put it on the new bike, gave me my $50 back and gained a customer for life. Some dealers are a cut above the rest, some are not.
We have to pay for our inventory weekly, we order parts and they take the money. It’s not like a new bike that you can floor plan and pay interest only to have it set on the showroom floor. Parts inventory is a huge investment that has to pay for itself and make a profit. Most dealers just don’t/can’t have that much money tied up in dead/slow moving stock.
Again if you and your riding buddies are not buying it it makes 0 sense to keep it around just in case you need it someday, maybe. If your local grocery store never sells dragonfriuit they won’t stock it, because it is a waste of money. It’s no different with parts. No sales No stock.
Now there are dealers that value and promote parts sales and service and some that don’t. If you value that, you may have to choose a different color bike next time and support the dealer that takes care of you after the sale.
Maybe we need an “autozone” for motorcycles that will have stuff in stock.
Cant the dealer provide that service for you also?
Pit Row
I always give them a shot at matching or beating so i can continue to support them.
I really try to support my local brick and mortar shop. Been shopping their since '87. The issue I find is that they don't pay well and whenever they get a good guy on the parts counter who knows his stuff about moto, they lose him to another shop. Recently they hired a guy who knows nothing about moto, and when I went to order some shrouds, he calls them "side fairings"...a week later I call to order a TM Designs chain guide and slider kit and he tells me he's unable to order it. Knowing he was just being lazy and thumbing through the Tucker Rocky catalog, I called TM Designs and they confirmed that my shop has an account with them. I called my shop back, got him to put it on order but there was some attitude from him, which I didn't appreciate. Meanwhile, I can send an email to BTO, if they have the parts on hand, I see them the very next day on my door step. Anyhow, I've stopped dealing that parts guy and have moved down the counter to another parts guy who knows moto fairly well and is happy to go the extra mile for a sale.
"If you stop supporting local dealer you STOP SUPPORTING YOUR SPORT!!"
I'm pretty sure BTO,RMATV and Motosport would argue your comment. In the last 10 years all 3 of those companies have done way more for MX than any local dealer ever has..
So you can defend dealers all you want making up how expensive stocking parts is. They cant even stock jets that cost them maybe $2 and 1 square inch of storage space. And the part could be used on kawi, Suzuki, honda, yamaha, ktm, and even husky at the time. That really got me.
"We can order it"
Yeah no shit, so can I, cheaper, faster and without having to explain to you what it is.
They flat out lie constantly to get sales also. They won't stock high end gear and wil tell you the lower end from the same brand fits the same as the high end. As if a tech 3 boot fits exactly like a tech 10. Or a v1 helmet fits the exact as a v4. Etc.
.thats bs and not true.
On our side of things small to mid-size dealers do not like to stock parts because of our level of service. Most of our territory if orders are in by 4:30pm they will have it next day.
Dealers need to remember:
• It’s hard to get a sales history if you don’t stock stuff
• Every manufacture produces a suggested fast mover list for dealers to stock
• All oems do an annual or quarterly return so you can circulate fresh inventory. Most do not charge a restock if
you’re in good standings.
My son wrecked on his PW and broke a brake lever, so I swung by Iron Pony(mega dealer) on the way home. I asked for a rear brake lever for his PW and the guy argues that motorcycles don’t have rear brake levers. After a few minutes of this dumbass looking for a foot brake pedal I looked up the part number on my phone and gave it to him. Of course they didn’t have it. There’s no way they don’t have enough sales history not to justify stocking a part that has been unchanged for 30+ years.
This just happened Saturday. I never ever buy tires local but I decided I would over pay for a set at a local dealer. I called to confirm they had a front and rear 10” tires , guy on the phone said yes. I drove down there and lo and behold they only had the front. So I wasted 2hrs of my Saturday for something I was willing to over pay $25 for.
I’ve kind of gave up on buying local other than bikes. Dealers don’t stock anything and very rarely employee knowledgeable people.
Stock the basic shit and people will order the odd ball shit.
The only thing I use the big dealer for is things like oils, grips etc.
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