KX Riders
General => In General... => Topic started by: kx666 on October 12, 2006, 10:39:11 AM
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Hello all!
I am currently working on starting up a motorcycle shop in washington state. I am planning on selling Gasgas motorcyles and Cobra mini's, but mostly parts and service. I have been planning this for almost a year now mostly, because i cannt find a shop i like.
I really would appriceate your input, as well as your likes and dislikes of other shops.
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Customer service should be your number #1 goal. I would look at becoming a Parts Unlimited or a Tucker Rocky dealer. Why GasGas bikes?? What bikes do you see at the local tracks and local hare scrambles?? Again every person working in your dealership needs to understand customer service. Gook Luck. My long term plan is start a bike and atv shop.
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I use a local shop that tries to give me everything I need, even if its just advise or even a little help on getting something straight. Every time I go to ask them something, they are always willing to help me in any way they can. Many times its just an ear to bend, others its to help me make sure I've got the right part. If they don't have it, they will order for me. A tip they gave me, is they I should but my spark plugs at the local auto parts vs. buying from them... The price difference is at least $5.00 per plug. That's what I call customer service.
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thanks for your input!! it sounds like i am on the right track, i hated working at other shops because i was so limited to the service i could provide(both as a wrench and as the parts manager).
i want to start with Gasgas because they make a good product, they do not take much to start up (when i was working at a Kawasaki/suzuki dealer a gasgas rep. was beging for us to carry them, we only had to have 2 bikes at a time and the franchise was only a few thousend $ not hundreds of thousands...)
eventualy i want kawasaki, suzuki, and honda. mabe ktm.
what parts do you find a shop should have on hand, including oil and accessories?
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I would carry any after market parts I could get my hands for the bikes you sell, Most people buy bikes and then start adding the goodies, If your price if fair and you have the parts for their bikes they will buy from you. The on-line parts buying is good due to price, but I like driving 10 mintues down to the shop and buy what i need (if the price is fair) and go home and install it, Example my local dealer had Kenda Millevillle tires in stock but they were 87.00 or 90.00 bucks each, got a rear tire for 57.00 shipped to the front door from an on-line store. Your dealership needs to be involed with local races(motocross and hare scrambles).
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I am all about customer service and parts. There is nothing worse than constantly bouncing around from area to area becuase of the military and the dealerships are all secret with riding areas and not concerned about your business because your not a true local. Take care of everyone.
Justin
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The key thing for a shop to me is to have common wearing parts in stock. That is one of the biggest reason I didn't race the 500 this year, was because I always had to order the parts for that bike. Sometimes I need parts in a pinch on a Friday, like wheel bearings and even a clutch or some cables, and with my 250 they've always had them in stock and if it was the last one they're right on it ordering more to have in stock. They always have the parts to do a top-end in stock too so it makes it nice to do all of it without ordering and making sure its right. Very nice and very convenient! Best of luck!
-Seth
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Thhanks again for your input.
what kind of hours do you think i should be open?
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We have a KTM dealerships here in Georgia that is located on 50 plus miles of trails that they maintain and they are expanding the trails and building a motocross track. Anyone can ride them for a fee of 20 bucks, they also rent KTM's. Do you have any land?? This place is open 7 days shop and trails.
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that has to be an insurance nightmare for an already high risk buisness...
i tryed to do somthing like that, i cannot get the numbers to work.
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As someone said earlier I prefer a dealer that will stock the common parts. Bearings, seals, gaskets, o-rings ect... If you have the part on hand your customer will buy it. It seems that most dealers wont stock any inventory as that costs money.
Serafin
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In 36+ years of dealing with bike shops, one of MY biggest attractions to a dealer is their willingness to be friendly, happy to BS a bit, willing to accept the bike you ride even if it's not the latest, and give small deals on parts and accessories. I find that when my dealer is always giving me 10-15% off without asking it really keeps me coming back. In the offseason the deals get better as they try to clear out stock and are willing to make less profit. This is sometimes personel based and not the philosophy of the dealer, as I just found out.
My favorite Kawasaki guy recently moved to the local Yamaha shop. Suddenly I can't get the time of day at the Kawasaki shop since they know I am buying bikes for a family of 4 so will unlikely be plunking down $10k on a new 450. The fact that I'm an ardent 500 rider makes them roll their eyes, shake their heads and whisper. Now at the yamaha shop I get coffee, great deals and friendly acceptance. Guess where I'm buying all my stuff now. If I had the $10K it would be hard to stay green
Hope this helps. Good luck on the shop. Cam.
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In 36+ years of dealing with bike shops, one of MY biggest attractions to a dealer is their willingness to be friendly, happy to BS a bit, willing to accept the bike you ride even if it's not the latest, and give small deals on parts and accessories. I find that when my dealer is always giving me 10-15% off without asking it really keeps me coming back. In the offseason the deals get better as they try to clear out stock and are willing to make less profit. This is sometimes personel based and not the philosophy of the dealer, as I just found out.
My favorite Kawasaki guy recently moved to the local Yamaha shop. Suddenly I can't get the time of day at the Kawasaki shop since they know I am buying bikes for a family of 4 so will unlikely be plunking down $10k on a new 450. The fact that I'm an ardent 500 rider makes them roll their eyes, shake their heads and whisper. Now at the yamaha shop I get coffee, great deals and friendly acceptance. Guess where I'm buying all my stuff now. If I had the $10K it would be hard to stay green
Hope this helps. Good luck on the shop. Cam.
that right ther is why i am starting a shop. i have many of my old customers give me the address and phone # so i can let them know when i open. i know there is no $$ in the motorcycle buisness, but my goal is to open many small shops and make enough to cover my hobby...let wify pay for everything else :wink: (she is in medical school)
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In 36+ years of dealing with bike shops, one of MY biggest attractions to a dealer is their willingness to be friendly, happy to BS a bit, willing to accept the bike you ride even if it's not the latest, and give small deals on parts and accessories. I find that when my dealer is always giving me 10-15% off without asking it really keeps me coming back. In the offseason the deals get better as they try to clear out stock and are willing to make less profit. This is sometimes personel based and not the philosophy of the dealer, as I just found out.
My favorite Kawasaki guy recently moved to the local Yamaha shop. Suddenly I can't get the time of day at the Kawasaki shop since they know I am buying bikes for a family of 4 so will unlikely be plunking down $10k on a new 450. The fact that I'm an ardent 500 rider makes them roll their eyes, shake their heads and whisper. Now at the yamaha shop I get coffee, great deals and friendly acceptance. Guess where I'm buying all my stuff now. If I had the $10K it would be hard to stay green
Hope this helps. Good luck on the shop. Cam.
Cam, it sounds like your dealership is just like mine. I was dealing ALL my Kawasaki parts through our local Honda shop because the mechanics would come out and shoot the crap and the parts guy always would sit around and talk about bikes and had the coffie hot. I always ordered my parts through Parts Unlimited through the Honda shop or through Dennis Kirk. The fact that I could go sit down, have a cup of coffie and talk Motorcycles was huge to me. He ended up moving to a Yamaha shop, and guess what. That is why I have 4 Yamaha's now. He unfortunately moved to another state as of last month, so I'm sol.. I just do phone ordering mostly now for parts. :( Sometimes go back to the Yamaha shop for small parts.
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I greatly apprecate everyones input. it is a good feeling that i am on the right track.
here is the "hard" part, the name i have for the shop is "STEX Cycle"...the little lady named is and i can not do any better. lets here what you think. (do not worry you cannt afend me)
(and also a little insider information i hate parts unlimited and avoid them when ever possible do to poor customer service and they are working on a complete monoply to kill all small and medium shops)
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so... sounds like the name scared all of you off.
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I will go out on a limb here and say if you took out the "T" in your shops name you will have people (99.999%guys ) beating down your door ! :evil: But I could be wrong :roll:
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Sorry but I can't say that I like the name. Needs more flow and rhythm so people remember it easily. Three letters are better than 4 - more rhythm like XTX Cycle or STX Cycle etc. Feel free to ignore. Cam.
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As for a name, look into naming your business after something local. It will give your store that "Down Home" attraction. As for the hours of operation, seven days a week. It will cut into your riding time, but nothing is worse then running out of oil or getting a flat on a sunday and not having any tubes left. Even if you are only open for a couple hours. Set up a rotating schedule with your staff so you still get to go out and ride. If you don't like Parts Unlimited the use Tucker Rocky. You could also look into becoming an outlet dealer for Dennis Kirk or Rocky Mountain ATV/MC. Let them pay for the stock and you could collect the proffit. Just some ideas for you.
Justin
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Are you sure that Rocky Mountain and Dennis Kirk have outlet dealers??
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Sorry I'm not good at the name thing.... but hours of operation. If possible, stay open until 6:00 in the evening during the week, and 2:00 of Saturdays, and a few hours on Sunday. I usually work to 5:00 - 5:30, so getting to a shop that closes at 5:00 is out of the question. I am one that rides when I can, usually without a lot of notice, so a few a shop that is open later and for a few hours on the weekends, always get my business.
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I'm not positive if they do or not. But it is definately something to look into. Alot of companies look for other people to stock their supply to save on shipping. And also to get their name out.
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thanks everyone i apreciate your honesty :wink:
the last shop i worked for i was the parts manager, so i have all of the reps for the venders' personal cell phone numbers still. that is the part i am not worried about.
I will go out on a limb here and say if you took out the "T" in your shops name you will have people (99.999%guys ) beating down your door ! :evil: But I could be wrong :roll:
that right there was the base of the name. my little lady was telling me what she would do in the shop... :wink:
I do have to agree w/ cam on STX. it would make a better looking graphic for a bike. hummm how smart is it for me to write all of this at work with IT guys checking everything??? :evil:
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I bought my new 04KX500 from the shop that,six years ago, hunted down left and right engine cases for my 82cr250. They went online to a parts locater, found one in California and the other in South Dakota. I had both cases in less than a week. Now all the other bike shops said " part discontinued sorry " So when it was time for a new bike I decided to try them. They told me that 04 was the last year for the KX500. They went online to a dealer inventory locater and found a 500 in Eastern Ohio. Had it in a week.
It is the little things that the dealer does that earns my loyalty. I have a Kawi dealer three minutes from my house, but will buy my nexe bike from a dealer who is an Hour and a half away.
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that is really lucky to have a good shop like that
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O.K Myself I have thrown around the idea of my own parts and accessories shop. My question is If you had a forum based web-site that was brand spec.(Honda,Yamaha, Kawasaki etc.) and had an on-line parts catalog that had all the maintenance items for the forum based bike brand would you order your parts from that site? Kinda like a one stop place on the net.
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The Kawi dealer I work with told me they couldn't find a 2004 KX500 on the bike locate site. I thought that was B.S. I went home and started calling dealerships. I found 2 at a Colorado dealer. They were the 24th dealer I called that after noon. Why couldn't my dealer do that? His loss my gain. Back then Oklahoma charged sales tax on off road veh. I was out of state with the Colorado dealer I paid no tax and they had a shipment of quads going to Texas and said if I would wait 2 months they would deliver free. I did buy my KLR650 from the dealer I work with only because my friend works in the parts department. The salesmen are good guys but I feel they dropped the ball on the K5 issue. I'm not even asking them to go the extra mile just the extra inch.
Here where I work we try to earn a little money from everyone. Not gouge alot from a few. Just do a good job and ask a fair price. Above all keep the customer that's standing in front of you happy. That's the guy you don't have to spend any advertisement dollars on.
Danger
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O.K Myself I have thrown around the idea of my own parts and accessories shop. My question is If you had a forum based web-site that was brand spec.(Honda,Yamaha, Kawasaki etc.) and had an on-line parts catalog that had all the maintenance items for the forum based bike brand would you order your parts from that site? Kinda like a one stop place on the net.
one recommendation, avoid yamaha and parts unlimited when ever possible. from a dealer standpoint they have very poor customer service.
lets say a yamaha dealer has 100 recalls or warrenty issuses. yamaha will not pay you for any of them. what i ended up doing was getting a hold of the west coast reps cell # and keeped bugging him until he got yamaha to pay for about 30 or 40 of them.
hughs, you idea is a good one. If that is what you want to do, than do it!!! you're looking at a very high start-up cost, but "if you work hard 20 hours a day 6 days a week, you might break even" (a quote from the owner of a bike shop i worked at).