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

[dipshit]

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...

I have appreciated your frank point of view. I really have.

Someone working 7 days a week is just stupid and shows there is something fundamentally wrong with the industry.

Why hasn't the motorcycle industry changed much since 1985 when I first got into bikes? Was away from motorcycles for about 15 years - in which time the world had changed quite a bit. Except for motorcycle shops.

Why are there riders in NZ that wouldn't trust some motorcycle workshops to change their spark plugs? ( http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...post1129267955 ) If you can't just drop your bike off at a workshop for a change of plugs without it being a crapshoot that it will be done properly is a very sad reflection of the industry.

If you are indeed good at your job and passionate about what you do... then you should be as equally eager to see the useless mechanics that are in the industry to disappear as well. Better off the good trustworthy mechanics getting the work than the useless ones cutting in on a limited number of clients.

And why can't we see bigger shops that perhaps sell every brand of new bike under one roof instead of half a dozen small shops in a town...??? Imaging the fun a customer would have browsing comparable bikes side-by-side at the same time. Imagine such a shop being able to hand pick the best staff in town. Imagine such a shop being able to open longer hours like other retail sectors. And imagine such a shop being able to run an effective online store as well.

But no, let's keep just doing what we were doing in 1985 and complain while the rest of the world passes us by...

[dipshit]

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

Actually I would really like to see the kind of workshops where you can do some of your own spanner work then let a mechanic take over.

Like with my GSXR... There is lots of fiddly time-consuming work taking all the bodywork off to get at the engine. I am more than happy doing that kind of work but still wouldn't be confident enough to tackle a job like removing the cams to adjust valve clearances. Or Auckland has a mobile mechanic that has earned a very good reputation by the sound of it. That would be brilliant if it was available to me, as I could have my bike stripped down and tank removed so a experienced mechanic could come to my place and do the valve clearances. Even if paying top dollar for his work, it would still workout far more beneficial than dropping my bike off at a regular workshop and paying them lots of money to do shit I could be doing myself.

This must be the case for many owners of modern complex bikes these days. This isn't 1985 anymore.

There are some workshops around the world where you pay to come in and work on your bike yourself and also have competent mechanics on hand if needed.

[avgas]

dipshit, I like your idea.
But would hate for some scumbag to come in with bike and pocket half the bits from the snaplock socket set while doing the work.

[avgas]

SS90 Fucking a porn star must be awesome. This is a no brainer as fucking is good, so fucking something good = good + good = AWESOME.
case closed haha.
I do hear what you say, and I agree - I guess I am just bitter as this is rolling into week 5 in a row that I am on-call. Infact as I look up at the calendar, I have worked half the weekends this year thus far.
However I do think it could work here. I actually wouldn't expect skilled staff on a weekend, but perhaps I am not the average customer.
In fact I think I am too nice to be a customer.
You guys must deal with some real asreholes - if KB is any gauge as to the average motorcycle customer.

[dipshit]

dipshit, I like your idea.
But would hate for some scumbag to come in with bike and pocket half the bits from the snaplock socket set while doing the work.

hmmm... that could be a problem in NZ.

Good security cameras and a metal detector at the door...???

[Crasherfromwayback]

Actually I would really like to see the kind of workshops where you can do some of your own spanner work then let a mechanic take over.

dipshit, I like your idea.
But would hate for some scumbag to come in with bike and pocket half the bits from the snaplock socket set while doing the work.

No way in hell that'll ever work. Customer..."you rounded off my sump bolt!!!". "You lost my fairing screws...!!!" "You cracked my fairing!!!". Tools being lost,broken, stolen. No way.

[Big Dave]

What we need is a bike shop that lends out Porn Stars.
Then they could bring them back in on Sundays and change the plastics.

[Robert Taylor]

No way in hell that'll ever work. Customer..."you rounded off my sump bolt!!!". "You lost my fairing screws...!!!" "You cracked my fairing!!!". Tools being lost,broken, stolen. No way.

$90 per hour if I do it unmolested,

$130 per hour if you watch and keep asking questions requiring that I continually stop

$180 per hour if you help

Maybe thats all a bit harsh but for the most part good mechanics ( and there are some good mechanics ) like to get on doing it without often overbearing ''customer surveillance'' That is no different to many industries.

We had a customer today who removed his fairings etc so we could remove and upgrade his suspension, that was fine as he wasnt an idiot and wasnt in our face. So we could get on with the job and do it in a respectable time.

But what irks me most are timewasters.

[Robert Taylor]

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.

For buying straightforward stuff, yes. For specialised knowledge and experience, good luck

[Robert Taylor]

I have appreciated your frank point of view. I really have.

Someone working 7 days a week is just stupid and shows there is something fundamentally wrong with the industry.

Why hasn't the motorcycle industry changed much since 1985 when I first got into bikes? Was away from motorcycles for about 15 years - in which time the world had changed quite a bit. Except for motorcycle shops.

Why are there riders in NZ that wouldn't trust some motorcycle workshops to change their spark plugs? ( http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...post1129267955 ) If you can't just drop your bike off at a workshop for a change of plugs without it being a crapshoot that it will be done properly is a very sad reflection of the industry.

If you are indeed good at your job and passionate about what you do... then you should be as equally eager to see the useless mechanics that are in the industry to disappear as well. Better off the good trustworthy mechanics getting the work than the useless ones cutting in on a limited number of clients.

And why can't we see bigger shops that perhaps sell every brand of new bike under one roof instead of half a dozen small shops in a town...??? Imaging the fun a customer would have browsing comparable bikes side-by-side at the same time. Imagine such a shop being able to hand pick the best staff in town. Imagine such a shop being able to open longer hours like other retail sectors. And imagine such a shop being able to run an effective online store as well.

But no, let's keep just doing what we were doing in 1985 and complain while the rest of the world passes us by...

One of the fundamentally wrong things with the industry is that there are far far too few highly experienced and qualified people in it, and poor returns offering a disincentive to do so. The more we embrace redshed mentality the worse this is going to get.
BTW Im working at least 6 and a half days per week and Im certainly not wealthy out of it. As SS90 related if Id put my energy into something that actually had good returns then I might just be very wealthy.

[SS90]

Actually I would really like to see the kind of workshops where you can do some of your own spanner work then let a mechanic take over.

.

OK, this is what I would call "an unreasonable expectation"

You are basically asking for a Mechanic (although "technition" seems to be term used more and more) to teach you.

You would like to be able to do the work yourself, as many people do, and you want a skilled person to actually show you how to do it, so that you may then do it yourself, doing this person (and others ) out of a livleyhood.

That, I consider an "unreasonable expectation"

Period.

Believe it or not, things like Youtube actually make money for us.

Because "JO expert", simply gets it into his head that he now knows it all, and makes a wee video "explaining" how do do something on his bike, and Millions of people think that must be correct (after all, no-one would make a video if they where wrong, now would they.........)

Case in point was last night someone posted a link to a youtube video "explaining" how to adjust a chain........pathetic really. 7 minutes of my life I won't get back, and wrong too.

People who work in the industry have personal lives, just like you, and, they need to protect their livleyhood (feed their families), just like if you taught everyone how to strip mine in their own home "mining operation", there would be no more work at Macrays flat in "Palmerstown", as we would all collect our own gold.

[Ixion]

One of the fundamentally wrong things with the industry is that there are far far too few highly experienced and qualified people in it, and poor returns offering a disincentive to do so. The more we embrace redshed mentality the worse this is going to get.
BTW Im working at least 6 and a half days per week and Im certainly not wealthy out of it. As SS90 related if Id put my energy into something that actually had good returns then I might just be very wealthy.

Well the industry can't have it's cake and eat it too. All the industry input here says " we are not interested in maximizing the business, it's a life style thing." such being the case you can't expect to make a great deal that's the nature of lifestyle operations.

The days when any business could say " I'm the only shop on town you have no choice" are long gone.

In almost everything now people look for one of two things - price or convenience ( both would be nice but this is an imperfect world). But bike shops offer neither . Seldom is any New Zealand shop going to be able to compete with the Internet for price. that would be OK if they were more convenient ( which is another way of saying offered better service) . In many things I happily pay a premium for convenience. But the bike shops offer neither, because making the transaction easy for me gets in the way of their lifestyle. Fair enough that's there choice and they're not the only ones to go down that road.

But then don't whinge that you're not getting rich doing it.

[Crasherfromwayback]

But then don't whinge that you're not getting rich doing it.

I don't think anyone here myself included has whinged we're not getting rich. Just that we need a life too. All of the 'Anti bike shop brigade', may one day be lying on the side of the road and need help from said bikes shops. Those shops may be too busy helping the customers that use their services to come and get you. Then you'll be doing the whinging.

[SS90]

Well the industry can't have it's cake and eat it too. All the industry input here says " we are not interested in maximizing the business, it's a life style thing." such being the case you can't expect to make a great deal that's the nature of lifestyle operations.

The days when any business could say " I'm the only shop on town you have no choice" are long gone.

In almost everything now people look for one of two things - price or convenience ( both would be nice but this is an imperfect world). But bike shops offer neither . Seldom is any New Zealand shop going to be able to compete with the Internet for price. that would be OK if they were more convenient ( which is another way of saying offered better service) . In many things I happily pay a premium for convenience. But the bike shops offer neither, because making the transaction easy for me gets in the way of their lifestyle. Fair enough that's there choice and they're not the only ones to go down that road.

But then don't whinge that you're not getting rich doing it.

I don't agree that any-one on this thread as given the impression "like it or lump it", the context of this thread has, and continues to be why bike shops in NZ aren't 7 day a week operations.

The simple facts are, they operate on too smaller profits to enable this to happen.

The reason that the profits are too small, is simply because the turnover is low (due to NZ's small population)

simple.

There is only a small market from which to "take your share", so, if a bike shop want's to increase it's profits, it either has to cut the other dealers throats with pricing (dutch auctions then begin.....and NO the customer does not win in the end), and simply "pick" customers from other shops, or, simply increase their margins, and the two ways of doing that are 1) bulk purchase accessories etc from overseas (and in so doing piss of the NZ wholesaler.....not wise at all)....this also takes a large capital input, and this is never easy, or 2) simply raise the prices.

The two options are used all the time by shops, both large and small, and now with free trade agreements, (let's ignore bike sales at this point, and concentrate on accessories, as it does seem that is what people want bike shops to be open for on the weekends), It seems now that every man and his dog is importing gloves, helmets,jackets (riding gear et all), setting up a web shop (may or may not include trademe), and "having a go"

The interesting thing is, they are all new to the whole concept, and, for the time being anyway, are horny on the idea of carting their wares around the race meets etc, "getting their name out there".

That is admirable.

My experience tells me, that come a few seasons (the market is seasonal remember), these guys are just a little less keen to give up their free time as they initially where.

To JUSTIFY the capital outlay needed to purchase new stock, and hold it, you need to be seeing a reasonable return on the money you outlayed, and all of a sudden, the prices will slowly start to fall in line with the established bike shops, no longer will the new guys be satisfied with the small margins they get for their work/investment, and, therefore the price will go up, even more so if the are somewhat successful, and, have to rent bigger warehousing (assuming it is a Email order sort of deal)

As the overheads go up, so do the margins needed just to keep the lights on.

I have seen some pretty good examples posted on here of how you can source the same brand named suspension unit via the web at a saving.

Hey, here's an idea, why doesn't someone simply start up a parallel import business for such items..... you can find them cheap on the net (shown on this thread)!

Let's lay it all out.

Hmmmmm.

What should this person stock?

OK.

Let's start with 600's, starting at 2001

R6,ZXR6,CBR6,GSXR6

Now 1000's
R1,ZX........oh, shit, hang on...... fuck, to be a viable business, I am going to have to outlay 100's of 1000's of dollars just to stock the friggin parts, and I have to rent a workshop (oh, with big storage for my stock), speaking of which, what about fork springs, and oil, and a shock dyno, and a van, and some staff) (you will need more than a PC and dial up now my boy)

You see where I am coming from?

It is so easy to be a keyboard warrior and pick holes in the industry (and it's short comings), when you have no idea of what it entails just to get started, let alone turn a profit (even a small one)

[SS90]

Well the industry can't have it's cake and eat it too. All the industry input here says " we are not interested in maximizing the business, it's a life style thing." such being the case you can't expect to make a great deal that's the nature of lifestyle operations.

The days when any business could say " I'm the only shop on town you have no choice" are long gone.

In almost everything now people look for one of two things - price or convenience ( both would be nice but this is an imperfect world). But bike shops offer neither . Seldom is any New Zealand shop going to be able to compete with the Internet for price. that would be OK if they were more convenient ( which is another way of saying offered better service) . In many things I happily pay a premium for convenience. But the bike shops offer neither, because making the transaction easy for me gets in the way of their lifestyle. Fair enough that's there choice and they're not the only ones to go down that road.

But then don't whinge that you're not getting rich doing it.

I don't agree that any-one on this thread as given the impression "like it or lump it", the context of this thread has, and continues to be why bike shops in NZ aren't 7 day a week operations.

The simple facts are, they operate on too smaller profits to enable this to happen.

The reason that the profits are too small, is simply because the turnover is low (due to NZ's small population)

simple.

There is only a small market from which to "take your share", so, if a bike shop want's to increase it's profits, it either has to cut the other dealers throats with pricing (dutch auctions then begin.....and NO the customer does not win in the end), and simply "pick" customers from other shops, or, simply increase their margins, and the two ways of doing that are 1) bulk purchase accessories etc from overseas (and in so doing piss of the NZ wholesaler.....not wise at all)....this also takes a large capital input, and this is never easy, or 2) simply raise the prices.

The two options are used all the time by shops, both large and small, and now with free trade agreements, (let's ignore bike sales at this point, and concentrate on accessories, as it does seem that is what people want bike shops to be open for on the weekends), It seems now that every man and his dog is importing gloves, helmets,jackets (riding gear et all), setting up a web shop (may or may not include trademe), and "having a go"

The interesting thing is, they are all new to the whole concept, and, for the time being anyway, are horny on the idea of carting their wares around the race meets etc, "getting their name out there".

That is admirable.

My experience tells me, that come a few seasons (the market is seasonal remember), these guys are just a little less keen to give up their free time as they initially where.

To JUSTIFY the capital outlay needed to purchase new stock, and hold it, you need to be seeing a reasonable return on the money you outlayed, and all of a sudden, the prices will slowly start to fall in line with the established bike shops, no longer will the new guys be satisfied with the small margins they get for their work/investment, and, therefore the price will go up, even more so if the are somewhat successful, and, have to rent bigger warehousing (assuming it is a Email order sort of deal)

As the overheads go up, so do the margins needed just to keep the lights on.

I have seen some pretty good examples posted on here of how you can source the same brand named suspension unit via the web at a saving.

Hey, here's an idea, why doesn't someone simply start up a parallel import business for such items..... you can find them cheap on the net (shown on this thread)!

Let's lay it all out.

Hmmmmm.

What should this person stock?

OK.

Let's start with 600's, starting at 2001

R6,ZXR6,CBR6,GSXR6

Now 1000's
R1,ZX........oh, shit, hang on...... fuck, to be a viable business, I am going to have to outlay 100's of 1000's of dollars just to stock the friggin parts, and I have to rent a workshop (oh, with big storage for my stock), speaking of which, what about fork springs, and oil, and a shock dyno, and a van, and some staff) (you will need more than a PC and dial up now my boy)

You see where I am coming from?

To pay for all this, you are going to have to put what we call "a margin" on the stuff you brought (because you aren't just going to give them away at cost are you?) hang on, you also now have to pay DUTY (because you are now a business) on all these units you got.

It is so easy to be a keyboard warrior and pick holes in the industry (and it's short comings), when you have no idea of what it entails just to get started, let alone turn a profit (even a small one)