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Motu
26th August 2003, 13:06
I gotta give a plug for Malcolm Kirkby at Econohonda,this guy is outstanding to deal with.

I have a bit of an unusual bike - 1986 Honda XLV 750...anyone who knows what it is or has seen one put up their hand,it's on my avatar.

Took my rear wheel off yesterday for a tyre and saw I could do with some rear brake shoes....ring up Honda....um,uh,well...we'll ring you back on that - yeah sure,like you didn't last time.A call at a couple of bike shops - is that a Transalp...is that an Africa Twin...no,it's what I told you it was.....we have no listing on that....then the ultimate - we don't stock brake shoes anymore,we will have to get them in from the supplier.

At 5.15pm I ring Malcolm,give my name - he knows what bikes I've got - I don't know If I can do that in aftermarket,we may have to go to genuine Honda shoes...leave it with me and I'll see what I can do.

At 8.30 this morning I had a set of aftermarket brake shoes in my hand,overnight from Te Aroha - beat that!!!!!

wari
26th August 2003, 21:29
Impressive !

SPman
27th August 2003, 00:08
Well, when it comes to older Hondas, Malcom's the man. - he doesnt do 3 trips a yr to the States looking for parts for nothing , mind you. What are his prices like? Reasonable?

Motu
27th August 2003, 08:23
I've bought a lot of parts off Malcolm,none of his prices have been outlandish enough to upset me,even stuff he imports special - no 3 week ex Japan crap either,it's at my door in a week.

In my game I am ordering parts from auto suppliers all day - I don't care about price...I want them to say ''yes,we have that'',send it right now and be the correct part...waste my time and I won't be back.

Malcolm doesn't have a ''too hard'' basket,too hard is his game,I just wish the others up theirs.

Lee Rusty
30th August 2003, 02:11
I'll take up the beat that challenge.

I was in Chch when my CBX750P (only 2 in country) ran out of rear shoes. went to CHCH Honda dealer who was not even good enough to be called useless. The conversation went like this .
Hi I need some rear shoes for my CBX750p. We don't have any
Can you look to see if they are compatible with any other model.
They are not. You know that without looking. Havent got time.

So not wanting to waste their precious time I got a phone book at a coffee bar (bike shop wouldnt let me use theirs ) and rang a car brake reliners.

DO you do M/c shoes - bring it down to us and let us have a look.

I did - I took rear wheel out - the staff looked at it said yep we can do but it takes an hour for the bonding to set.
I went for coffee and had a snooze in the sun. Staff came out an hour later after skimming drum, cutting new shoes from a sheet, cleaning off old linings, bonding on new ones.
Price was a stunning $23.00 - I refitted wheel and was away.

When I got back to Auckland I priced Honda items $99.00

Im still runnning on CHCH shoes two years later.

So if your lucky enuff to live in CHCH or SI (they do mail order)
give a call to Safe R Brakes 45 Durham St CHCH Ph Fax 03 3665914

1 hour make to measure personal service is hard to beat.

What?
30th August 2003, 06:41
I've known Malcolm for a lot of years now, and can verify that he is a Honda NUT!. He has a huge knowledge of what fits what etc etc and can be a great source of hard-to-find bits. Ring or fax him anytime, but don't expect replies to e-mails - this is one area where he falls flat...:beer:

Jackrat
16th October 2003, 18:40
Dang I thought most guys had their shoes relined,I go to a place in Otahuhu,Have done for years.I will find their details and post them so you guys and use em, too.
Hey MOTU,I was riding a Trident up the northern motorway about
fifteen yr,s ago when an XLV blew me into the weeds,A most humbling experiance,,,Bloody trail bike,,mutter,mutter.:o :niceone:

Motu
16th October 2003, 19:43
That would be Autostop in Otahuhu maybe - they did the front shoes on my XS1 a few years ago....I didn't get a snooze in the sun like Lee,but back the next day is nothing to moan about.Radiused to suit the drum - only way to go.

Yeah,my big trail bike is a bit deceptive - a few weeks ago a Buel and a big litre sports job thought they would toast me up Happy Valley....by the time the Buel got me he had trouble making the next corner....then when we hit the twisties I nearly pushed them off the road, and me on knobs! If your gunna ride a sports bike - at least have the guts to ride it like one!

Actualy Jack it reminds me a lot of a Trident - 60hp,450lbs and never stops reving! Only difference is I've cleaned up a Trident with one ruptured carb diaphram at the time.

SNOman
9th March 2004, 17:31
I gotta give a plug for Malcolm Kirkby at Econohonda,this guy is outstanding to deal with.

Yep, big thumbs up for Malcom from me also. He saved me quite a bit of time and money when I had to replace the output shaft on my 83 XR350

wari
9th March 2004, 19:53
Talking abut wnomen and snow women ... anyone know the difference?

Answer : - one has snow balls :spudwave:

can anyone tell I'v e been dinking?

merv
9th March 2004, 20:52
Dang I thought most guys had their shoes relined,I go to a place in Otahuhu,Have done for years.I will find their details and post them so you guys and use em, too.
Hey MOTU,I was riding a Trident up the northern motorway about
fifteen yr,s ago when an XLV blew me into the weeds,A most humbling experiance,,,Bloody trail bike,,mutter,mutter.:o :niceone:

Yep when I had drum brake Hondas at the first change I bought a set of Honda shoes and then got the old ones relined and kept them as spare. Used to get them done in Napier (old home eh) at Don Agencies I think it was called.

As for Malcolm I've spoken to him a few times but bought very little (don't usually need much) but a few years ago I skidded on a hidden branch in long grass in the Waitarere forest and hit a tree with my 1983 XR tipped at an angle and it hit the headlight. All plastic it didn't break and I thought phew saved that OK, but then I picked myself up and rode off and saw the speedo needle do a twirl in front of my eyes. The damn headlight housing had been pushed back against the speedo cable and bent the guts so the needle was locked on and just spun around and wrecked the unit. Ring up Malcolm and sure enough he had one - it was a second hand one and looked like new - about half the price of a new one. Great service no doubt.

As for Christchurch, I did my Uni days down there in the 70's and Whiting and Waltho was the place to go - old Mrs Whiting looked after me like a son and was still giving me student discount years after I finished Uni. She always had the parts I needed when I was running an XL Honda. Some of my mates were still on TS Suzukis and in those days the Honda parts were about half the price of a Suz equivalent that's if they could even get the Suz parts. I don't think its like that any more.

merv
9th March 2004, 20:55
I have a bit of an unusual bike - 1986 Honda XLV 750...anyone who knows what it is or has seen one put up their hand,it's on my avatar.

Motu you probably know Brian that Lynda works with. He used to have an XLV and rode with us occasionally on it back around mid 90's. Couldn't find a photo of it in my collection though .

Motu
9th March 2004, 22:10
That's my bike,he was a fussy bugger and I've got recepts for all sorts of silly things,he kept a full service record and I've carried on with that too.Tell him I look after it like a baby,but don't spare the throttle.Also - what did he do to get the tank into that condition?....apart from dropping it on both sides.

LB
10th March 2004, 05:05
That's my bike,he was a fussy bugger and I've got recepts for all sorts of silly things,he kept a full service record and I've carried on with that too.Tell him I look after it like a baby,but don't spare the throttle.Also - what did he do to get the tank into that condition?....apart from dropping it on both sides.
Holy shit - you've got Brian's old bike????? I'll be at his desk first thing this mng!!!!!! Will find out re the tank for you and come back to this thread with it. He's a neat guy, he'll be rapt to know you've still got it.

merv
10th March 2004, 07:39
That XLV could go pretty good. On one of our e-Riders runs when Richard Scoular was the main man he always liked long fast rides so (I think it was in '95) we did Wellington, Wanganui, Raetihi, Top O The Bruce for lunch, Waiouru, Vinegar Hill, Ashurst, Saddle Road, Woodville, Wairarapa back roads and back home - over 850kms in the day and Richard was apt to crank us along at 160 - 180 when the HP didn't exist and the Brian had no problems running at those speeds.

Likewise the later Africa Twin one of our e-Riders got one of those and toured the South Island with us in 96 and 97 and I rode behind him into Omarama with around 190 - 200 on my speedo. They may only be 60hp but they can go even sitting up so tall in the wind.

Motu
10th March 2004, 09:18
180kph is the top speed I think,I've never been past 160 on it.Sitting up tall in the wind is right! Brian made a screen for it and sometimes I run that,gets up to 160 without thinking and could do it all day,sitting behind the screen outa the wind.With the soft long travel suspn keeping the wheels on the ground is a problem at speed.I have a Two Wheels road test of the XLV750 and they said then that the 60HP claim was modest,I'd agree with that - goes like no 60HP bike I've ever ridden.

Click on my avatar to see it.

LB
10th March 2004, 20:01
Motu: have sent you a PM with a message from Brian re some stuff he's still got for the XLV.

Lynda

Ms Piggy
20th April 2004, 14:22
I just got some parts from Econohanda fro my bike. The thing impessed me was that on the invoice he had typed 'Hope that finger is better..." How nice is that! :2thumbsup

vifferman
20th April 2004, 14:49
....<snip>...no 3 week ex Japan crap either,it's at my door in a week.

This is something that stood out in your posts. What's up with Honda parts? It seems every time I want something, even summat that you'd think was reasonably common, it's: "Oh... we don't have that in stock; we'll have to get it in from Japan. And please can you pay up. Now. In case we get stuck with these extremely rare brake caliper seals. And go out of business. And you have to somewhere that has stocks of parts, like Econohonda."
In fact, it's so rare that I can actually go in and buy something off the shelf, that it's a real jaw-dropper when I can do so. "What!?! You actually have Honda wheelbearings in stock?!? Wow!!"

The other beef I have is that we are paying too much for Honda parts. I recently priced a throttle position sensor ("Oh... we don't have that in stock; we'll have to get it in from Japan." - fair enough, they don't break all the time) and it was MUCH cheaper for me to order one from Sydney (who also didn't have any in stock) and have it shipped here. I'm not talking a small difference - it was something like 2/3 of the price before freight (of only a few dollars).
Maybe the Honda Japan that Australians get stuff from is a completely different company than the one we have access to....

So, most of the parts I've bought recently have been sourced via the interweb. I've saved a significant amount (even with paying airmail), it's quicker, and the service is better (delivered to my door). I wish I'd got some brake seals from the US, or Hungary, or Bolivia or summat. $107 for a few pieces of rubber seems a bit extreme...

750Y
21st April 2004, 14:08
well that was lucky Motu, otherwise you mighta had to break out the ol steel sole shoe.

toads
28th April 2004, 07:59
This is something that stood out in your posts. What's up with Honda parts? It seems every time I want something, even summat that you'd think was reasonably common, it's: "Oh... we don't have that in stock; we'll have to get it in from Japan. And please can you pay up. Now. In case we get stuck with these extremely rare brake caliper seals. And go out of business. And you have to somewhere that has stocks of parts, like Econohonda."




I really wish I had of checked out our extremely rare fork seals before getting them from Japan, hmmm, matter of fact I wish I'd read this topic before checking out parts locally for the NV :mad:

scracha
28th April 2004, 12:15
Thanks for the plug and we appreciate your comments. Malcolm has changed the way he deals with Email so you should ALL be getting a reply to your emails and answer-phone messages within 2 working days. The website has also been changed to make it easier to search for parts (it will get better).

merv
28th April 2004, 12:58
Thanks for the plug and we appreciate your comments. Malcolm has changed the way he deals with Email so you should ALL be getting a reply to your emails and answer-phone messages within 2 working days. The website has also been changed to make it easier to search for parts (it will get better).

Are you his rep in UK or something?

Racey Rider
28th April 2004, 18:32
I wish I'd got some brake seals from the US, or Hungary, or Bolivia or summat. $107 for a few pieces of rubber seems a bit extreme...

Try Brake fluild O rings. Kawasaki brake seals Cost $118 for my KR150. Tried O rings for $4. They work great!

scracha
6th May 2004, 13:39
Are you his rep in UK or something?
Well spotted. Nah...I'm on a working holiday in New Zealand.

Badcat
12th May 2004, 20:16
another praise - sorry - but i had to.
poss. the best service i've ever had in motorcycling - overnight couriers and visa payment coupled with intelligent and rapid callbacks and email.
only reason i don't deal with him still is that i no longer own a honda...
anyone know a good KTM parts dealer????
ken