Can anyone tell me why bike shops only open for half a day on Sunday?

[Big Dave]

I prefer OMD....ooops - wrong thread.

[dipshit]

because god created sundays for EVERYONE to go RIDE their bikes. this includes the owners and workers of bike shops.

I'm on rostered shiftwork and absolutely love it! Plus 6 days off in a row every 3 weeks. Bliss!
I prefer hitting the roads midweek when every other sucker is back at work doing their Monday to Friday 9 to 5.
You lot can keep your few public holiday weekends every year when you all hit the road again at the same time.

[blackdog]

I'm on rostered shiftwork and absolutely love it! Plus 6 days off in a row every 3 weeks. Bliss!
I prefer hitting the roads midweek when every other sucker is back at work doing their Monday to Friday 9 to 5.
You lot can keep your few public holiday weekends every year when you all hit the road again at the same time.

give every bike shop worker 6 days off every 3 weeks, they'll take it too!


skite...............

[dipshit]

give every bike shop worker 6 days off every 3 weeks, they'll take it too!

I can tell you that setting off on a 3 day 2 night ride anywhere around the south island and exploring new places and roads beats a Sunday over the usual local roads!

(and that is on much more traffic free roads compared to the weekends when all the Sunday drivers are out)

You guys don't know what you are missing!

God can keep his Sunday.

[blackdog]

I can tell you that setting off on a 3 day 2 night ride anywhere around the south island and exploring new places and roads beats a Sunday over the usual local roads!

(and that is on much more traffic free roads compared to the weekends when all the Sunday drivers are out)

You guys don't know what you are missing!

God can keep his Sunday.

can't speak for god, but on behalf of myself and everyone else............we hate you

[blackdog]

I prefer OMD....ooops - wrong thread.

lmao

[dipshit]

can't speak for god, but on behalf of myself and everyone else............we hate you

I know...

Jesus people, just try thinking outside the square every now and then.

[IdunBrokdItAgin]

im sure this has already bin said on this thread but i aint gonna read it to find out. how it has managed to go on this long is beyond my ken.

because god created sundays for EVERYONE to go RIDE their bikes. this includes the owners and workers of bike shops.

if you cant sort ya shit for ya sunday ride on the other 6 days of the week then stiff shit i say. if its the case of an 'emergency' situation, my experience is you'll find they'll probably bend over backwards to help a good customer if they can anyway

it's nothing at all like flogging ipods at dick smiths, these guys are all motorcyclists just like us

so feel free to work yourself on a sunday if ya like, we'll all be out riding our bikes like everyone else who has a life

Fair enough that you admitted that you didn't read past the OP. But, if you can't be arsed to read through the thread then why reply to the OP?

Sorry if I am coming over as rude but it is my pet peeve on kiwibiker when people don't read through a thread but still post on their opinion of the OP.

If you had read through it you would have seen that the thread developed more of a slant around later week night closing and afternoons on a saturday. Everyone gave up on Sundays because "god invented them for riding" even on a cold wet winter sunday, apparantly.

[Crasherfromwayback]

If you had read through it you would have seen that the thread developed more of a slant around late week night closing and afternoons on a saturday. Everyone gave up on Sundays because "god invented them for riding" even on a cold wet winter sunday, apparrantly.

And you think shops should at the last minute open if it's raining?

[IdunBrokdItAgin]

And you think shops should at the last minute open if it's raining?

Nah, that was just a tongue in cheek reply to the argument that bike staff are out all day sunday riding (all year round).

I can accept bike shops being closed on a sunday, as long as there are other time oppurtunities for punters to access the shop (late nights or saturday arvos), outside of normal office hours. Yup, I said office - I am one of those paper pushing bastards, along with a very significant proportion of other bikers.

That said, I was out at the weekend - on a saturday morning believe it or not (no hangover for a change) - and went round the shops in the Hutt. Hadn't been to them in a long time.
Noticed that both were extremely busy on saturday morning and that Red Baron had brought in some new staff (I assume to cover the weekends) - who were very helpfull, even if they don't have as much experience as someone who as worked in the industry for x years.

Take from that what you will.

However, I do think that this thread has turned into a bit of a bike shop bashing one. That was not the intention of the OP at all.

[Crasherfromwayback]

However, I do think that this thread has turned into a bit of a bike shop bashing one. That was not the intention of the OP at all.

In my 23 years in the industry...I've learnt that no matter what you do, you'll never please all of the people all of the time. But we do try.

[dipshit]

However, I do think that this thread has turned into a bit of a bike shop bashing one.

Some people that work in the industry like SS90 here treat most of his customers like they are stupid and look down their noses at us. They are so up themselves they think they are indispensable and everything that comes out of a bike workshop in NZ has been done to perfection.

That's not how a lot of the motorcycle community see the bike shops as though. Many will turn to alternatives like Supercheap for oil on a Saturday afternoon or get stuff over the internet instead if a bike shop can't be assed to be open.

Many in the industry need to get over themselves and realise they are just another retail/service business that needs to compete for customer patronage and aren't something special.

[SS90]

Some people that work in the industry like SS90 here treat most of his customers like they are stupid and look down their noses at us. They are so up themselves they think they are indispensable and everything that comes out of a bike workshop in NZ has been done to perfection.

That's not how a lot of the motorcycle community see the bike shops as though. Many will turn to alternatives like Supercheap for oil on a Saturday afternoon or get stuff over the internet instead if a bike shop can't be assed to be open.

Many in the industry need to get over themselves and realise they are just another retail/service business that needs to compete for customer patronage and aren't something special.

Ok, I will reply to this.
Actually, I worked 12 years in NZ, and the last 3 in Europe, developing two stroke cylinders, ignitions heads and exhausts.

Don't take my frank points of view as arrogant, because they aren't meant that way, they are, as a said, simply a frank point of view based on real world experience.

I have seen many a starry eyed pimply snot nosed kid (myself included) quickly accustom to the realities of how hard it is in the NZ motorcycle industry, and the realities are simple.

Much lower pay than your mates you went to tech with, longer hours, and less job satisfaction.

It truly is only "the love of it" that keeps you going.

An old employer of mine told me that "If I had spent as much time and energy on property development as I has on bike shops, I would be a very rich man"

I will never forget that, simply because it is true.

So many customers have the mistaken belief that a bike shop is simply a license to print money.

I still have friends that own bike shops in NZ, and when I visited 2 months ago, I was not surprised to see how they both where working 7 days (no shit).

The shops weren't open to the public on the Sunday, but the owners of these bike shops where out the back, sorting shit out for the next week, doing unchargeable work etc.

I spent time with both these guys on the weekends, helping out with an experienced pair of hands, and can assure you my help was well appreciated.

It's the thiings like this you don't see, or hear about that many shops do, and why I take issue with the "open 7 days" crys.

Some people have made some valid points in relation to the call that "bike shops need to keep pace with new business trends"....yes, I agree, they do, but let us not forget that we have less motorcyclists in NZ than a SINGLE STATE IN AUSSIE, and, by in large, the relaities of it all is that the NZ motorcycle market is actually over catered to.

I see small (by international standards) towns in NZ being stuffed full of well known brands, and I feel there are already too many bike shops (3 Suzuki dealers in Christchurch?????????)....I see that as damaging the brand value!

Avgas gave a very good example of how quickly he can find some suspension parts he want's.

Great!

Then, he points out it would be prudent to take it all to a specialist to have it fitted.

Good man.

The necessary skills to do that job effectively take an inordenant amount of time to aquire, and, that skill set deserves (and want's) sufficient remuneration.

This remuneration package needs to be offset by the profit made in selling the part.

Other wise, if everyone got their (well known brand name) shock of the net, the "skilled person" would be forced to double his labour rate to be able to pay his staff.

This is just another example of how hard the NZ bike market is.

Don't judge it, till you have lived it.

Think of it as wanting to fuck a porn star.

great in your mind, but when you get to do it, it's not quite like you expected.

[SS90]

True - but also isn't rocket science.
I have found the part time staff at stores like motomail etc - actually relatively useful...........and definitely convenient.
Motorcycling is also an industry where a good chunk of the time someone will walk into a shop with clue, or at least some idea of what he wants. And while they may have an opinion, and no smarts.......it doesn't take much for a moron like myself to do this click one then do this click two.......and 2 weeks later rock on up to someone who has to clue to fit it. Most likely get the whole process organized on a Sunday.
So there has to be a reason why I should go to the local bike shop.

You present both sides of the coin here..... I would like NZ bikes hops to come in line with customer demands, but I would also like the customer "conditioned" as to what a reasonable demand actually is......friendly knowledgable staff are expensive, and they need a rest every 5 days or so........ I have never been to a car sales yard on a Sunday, but I can't imagine any of the staff would know half of what a bike shop staff member has to know.

[Brian d marge]

Ok, I will reply to this.
Actually, I worked 12 years in NZ, and the last 3 in Europe, developing two stroke cylinders, ignitions heads and exhausts.

Don't take my frank points of view as arrogant, because they aren't meant that way, they are, as a said, simply a frank point of view based on real world experience.

I have seen many a starry eyed pimply snot nosed kid (myself included) quickly accustom to the realities of how hard it is in the NZ motorcycle industry, and the realities are simple.

Much lower pay than your mates you went to tech with, longer hours, and less job satisfaction.

It truly is only "the love of it" that keeps you going.

An old employer of mine told me that "If I had spent as much time and energy on property development as I has on bike shops, I would be a very rich man"

I will never forget that, simply because it is true.

So many customers have the mistaken belief that a bike shop is simply a license to print money.

I still have friends that own bike shops in NZ, and when I visited 2 months ago, I was not surprised to see how they both where working 7 days (no shit).

The shops weren't open to the public on the Sunday, but the owners of these bike shops where out the back, sorting shit out for the next week, doing unchargeable work etc.

I spent time with both these guys on the weekends, helping out with an experienced pair of hands, and can assure you my help was well appreciated.

It's the thiings like this you don't see, or hear about that many shops do, and why I take issue with the "open 7 days" crys.

Some people have made some valid points in relation to the call that "bike shops need to keep pace with new business trends"....yes, I agree, they do, but let us not forget that we have less motorcyclists in NZ than a SINGLE STATE IN AUSSIE, and, by in large, the relaities of it all is that the NZ motorcycle market is actually over catered to.

I see small (by international standards) towns in NZ being stuffed full of well known brands, and I feel there are already too many bike shops (3 Suzuki dealers in Christchurch?????????)....I see that as damaging the brand value!

Avgas gave a very good example of how quickly he can find some suspension parts he want's.

Great!

Then, he points out it would be prudent to take it all to a specialist to have it fitted.

Good man.

The necessary skills to do that job effectively take an inordenant amount of time to aquire, and, that skill set deserves (and want's) sufficient remuneration.

This remuneration package needs to be offset by the profit made in selling the part.

Other wise, if everyone got their (well known brand name) shock of the net, the "skilled person" would be forced to double his labour rate to be able to pay his staff.

This is just another example of how hard the NZ bike market is.

Don't judge it, till you have lived it.

Think of it as wanting to fuck a porn star.

great in your mind, but when you get to do it, it's not quite like you expected.

The problem is as I ( I think banged on before about )

The motorcycle is a comodity , reliable for many thousands of KM and also is a recreational vehicle

So while niche markets will have trade , MX , Vintage, tuning the volumes for such an over stocked market is/will be low

especially when the credit crunch bites

So you have to develop the market accordingly . Here I am thinking about service , as in what do I do with my bike when I have time off , Clean it , adjust things and go riding

but where do I go riding , I want (just me here ) to go to a place where on the way there are lots of corners ( or adventure riding) and to get to a place where I can talk with others who have done the same ,

maybe have a beer or to ( cant drink and drive ) then watch a bit of moto gp on a big screen in a comfy chair

thats my idea of a good time ( oo eeer ) I have big jackets that I don't want to carry around , helmets too.. a very expensive motorcycle that I would like watched ( and taken home if I drink too much ,fall off or even cant be arsed riding

Now all I am doing here is sitting here with a cup of coffee just thinking what I would like ,,, You can see it has not a lot to do with the traditional bike shop and a hell of alot to do with looking after peoples needs ... If you could get my wife enthusiastic ,,,dot dot dot .... the business would make money ,,,

I really do think that a lot of the old business models in the the last ten or twenty years have seen better days , the Bike shop is one of them

Stephen

My over valued 2 cents worth