It's adieu.

[Swoop]

Lou, I did notice your online presence and to me it appeared that you were around in the early mornings. I guess that there would not have been many walk-in customers to deal with "one-on-one" at that time, but you were always able to deal with all of us. The inclusion of many bikers from all around the country who asked questions and had goods sent to them, all because of the portal of KB, needs a mention as well.

I guess we'll see you during your lunch hour then?

[The Pastor]

How many of you tossers do this and get paid for it in work time.. yeah ....

I do but I don't take advantage of the offer, sleeping at work is more productive.

[DemonWolf]

Look forward to your non-work related posts! Though I haven't brought anything from you.. I did get a couple quotes.. but were unfortunately too poor to take up the offers (as much as I would have loved too.. my partner deterred me!). If a couple emails to your employers would help to shed some light on how effect you were at highlighting the services the company had, then I'd be more than willing to send them an email. Let us know.

[inlinefour]

yipee-ki-ay motherfuckers

What you talking about Willis?

[Warr]

My email to AMPS

bruce@amps.co.nz

Please pass on to them that control the purse strings at AMPS.

Quote - Lou
" I've lost count of how much you guys have bought, but it includes 3 Microns, 2 Power Commanders, God knows how many sets of kit, tyres and helmets all over the country. Far more income than a few Gigs of bandwidth is worth. Not to mention the people who now know AMPS sell more than Harleys.
Amazingly short-sighted I think. But I'd say there was a lot of grumbling from people who weren't allowed to surf their (non-work) sites.
But the golden rule applies, "He who has the gold, makes the rules ""

I personally have ample access to notable shops in my area. But where did I buy my last helmet and boots ?
Your shop.

Not because of your flash advertising but because of one member or your staff, Lou Girardin, as a member of the web site Kiwi-Biker.

Regards
Warren Nancekivell
Hamilton
VFR750

PS "When are NZ bikes shops going to realise that the demographic they are selling to has abandoned the quill pen. - Ixion"

Was the only email I could find on the AMPS site so hope it gets to the right place

[Ixion]

Reflecting on the problems that Sarge and Lou (and others) have reported with their employers' attitude to KB involvement, causes me to wonder about a significant change in the nature of bike shops over the years.

It seems to me that bike shops are no longer involved in the biking community, and vice versa, the way they once were.

Perhaps this is a lingering side effect of the way that the biker community nearly self destructed in the 90s. At the same time almost all of the bike shops went under. The few that survived, and new ones that are now starting to appear, don't seem to have the the same connection to the now renascent biker community. The community is rebuilding but the bike shops don't seem interested.

When I was younger , before the Great Implosion, the bike shops were run by people who were well known identities in the biker community. Bill White, Len Perry, Percy Coleman, Bill Russell, Laurie Summers, Mr Weston-Webb (oddly, he was always "Mr") were part of the biker scene, and their premises (noteably, almost always called by their name) were always alive with bikers. Looking, drooling, talking, appraising. The owners, and the bike shop staff, were an integral part of this scene.

It is a shame that so few of the old shops survided the Great Implosion. I do not know if Colemans is the smae business as Percy Colemans in Wanganui, or if Panmure Motorcycles has any connection with the original of the name. Other than that I do not think offhand of any that have been in business since the 70s or even the 80s

Nowadays the bike shops seem a remote and divorced aspect , unrelated to day to day biker activity. They do not seem to provide any input to the biker world, the shops are always like graveyards, I never go into a bike shop now and see groups of leather clad guys clustered round the bikes .A few people wander in and out, the salesmen are attentive, but the buzz, the activity, the COMMUNITY are missing. One gets the impression (doubtless false, I realise) that the bike shops are all run by accountants, who would be just as happy selling cheese or garden ornaments. And those running them do not appear to provide any leadership to the community. Or seem interested in doing so.

And when staff such as Sarge or Lou attempt to establish an interaction with the community, the bike shop management cant see any point in it! How extraordinary. Most businesses , if given the opportunity to be integrally involved in a community of thousands of prospective customers for high ticket goods would be over the moon at the opportunity. Indeed they pay many thousands of dollars to attempt to create such communities via loyalty schemes and such like.

I think this is a bad thing for the bike shops and for the community. But perhaps it is just the grumpiness of old age. Feel free to tell me I am wrong.

I notice too, that scooter shops seem much more attuned to their community. What does this say?

[Biff]

I knew it Lou. You're a plant. Not the leafy kind - but placed here (on KB) by your capitalist superiors in an attempt to earn them more money.

I take it you failed?

And I had you down as a socialist.

Like Ixion.

[Big Dave]

<< It seems to me that bike shops are no longer involved in the biking community, and vice versa, the way they once were.<<

At AMPS:

Patrick rides and attends RAT events regularly.
Geoff attends HOG events and participates with their crew.
Ray still drag races Harleys at Meremere and is well known in those circles.
Lou does KB rides and participates still.
Bruce is at every round at Puke.
Greg is at all the motocross events when hes not too beat up or broken to be racing.
The parts boys have various participant interests.
I happily represent them at trade shows and industry launches etc.

Sponsorship is spread across all these sectors.

Your move.

[Lou Girardin]

Dave is right. The AMPS guys are involved in a lot of events.
I saw KB as a useful adjunct to my shop floor duties and it did pay off for them.
It beats me why knickers got twisted. After all, I was efectively working alone for 2 or 3 months when my last colleague left and all other work still got done.
I'd be sorry to see people not patronise AMPS just because of this. I didn't shun Colemans because they gave Sarge a hard time over it.
It's their business, life is too short to worry about it.
I have a far greater worry at present, why's my bike so f'in gutless?

[Ixion]

Yes, but are these people doing these things with their "shop hat" on, or in a private capacity. Lou, for instance, is certainly involved in the biker community. But his involvement (as he himself has said) represents Lou Girardin, not AMPS. And far from being supportive of that involvement AMPS appear to deprecate it.

I would assume that people who work in bike shops are going often to be bikers (not always). And being so will do biker stuff in their private capacity. But where is the "official" community involvement from AMPS?

F'instance what part do AMPS (or any of the other bike shops) play in the various runs such as the Westpac Helicopter run. I imagine they may kick in a few dollars. But they have no PRESENCE. Where is the presence of the bike SHOPS (not people who happen to work there) on things like BRONZ?

Back in the day, you could hardly get into Whites on a Frriday night, with all the bikers hanging round. Most of them WERE just hanging round. But the shop seemed happy with that, even encouraged it.

Nowdays bike shops are usually almost empty. Noone hanging around no group dynamic.

The bike SHOPS used to be part of the community, not just some of the people who worked there.

Maybe its one of those things that y'have to be old enough to remember what it used to be like, to see the difference

EDIT. I don't want this to come a cross as some anti-AMPS thing. I'm just using them as an example, substitute any other bike shop name. And I'm not pushing a "death to AMPS cos they hit Lous surfing" message. Just an obervation that bike shops don't seem to be the biker Meccas that they were.

[Lou Girardin]

As a Harley dealer, AMPS is heavily involved with HOG and they do a lot of charity fund raising. The shop is a major gathering point for the piglets at any time. The RAT involvment is on a lower scale, but still a presence.
They do as much if not more than most shops.
But you are right Ixion, the world has changed.

[Motu]

I don't know how much say Ray Pratt has in the running of his business these days,but he's always there.Ray would have more motorcycle involvment than anyone in any shop in the country.I remember Ray working in sheds and another small shop at the bottom of Kyber Pass even before he started Universal Motorcycles in a dark basement down an alley in Stoddard Rd,it was a dingey hole,but he slogged it out and built up a customer base before moving down the road to a bigger building with road frontage.He became a hero with the British bikers when he became dominant with his Norton speedway sidecar at Western Springs,cleaning up the Jap fours.

I don't go into AMPS much,but Ray nearly always gives me a nod or comes over to talk if I'm checking out a bike or jacket.I don't know if he recognises me from those days,but it's nice to have the connection....

[sAsLEX]

It's all gone.
And, I haven't surfed porn sites. Maybe I should have.

I dont understand.

The advertising they get on this site, one of the single largest portals to NZ bikers in the country, is essentially free!

Where did they go to business school the wananaganaga aetoeroa? or what ever its called?

[SARGE]

It's all gone.
And, I haven't surfed porn sites. Maybe I should have.

just surf TradeMe like all the other bike shops do...

[Big Dave]

I dont understand.

The advertising they get on this site, one of the single largest portals to NZ bikers in the country, is essentially free!

I think you over-rate it.
It's like selling stuff on talk back radio.
Soon as a product is mentioned someone pipes up with a better/cheaper alternative or a horror story about using it.

For bike salesmen and blokes like Quasi championing a product and meeting people it's pretty good.

For general retail and product sales there are much better returns on the time and effort.