Spare part stocks for bikes in NZ: question and grumble

[RentaTriumph]

Being a huge Triumph fan I am blown away by the complete lack of stocks Triumph NZ have for the most basic of parts. What normally happens if one of my bikes requires a simple part as a bar end weight, gear or rear brake lever or a simple decal they have to be ordered from the UK and there is a 2 week wait for the parts to arrive. I recently went to a Honda dealer and asked him about parts availability from their NZ dealer and he said the same thing that due to companies not wanting to carry excess stock you have to suck the sav and wait for the 2 weeks for parts to arrive from off shore.
Is this true for all makes in NZ like Harley, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Ducati etc. How have you found your dealer when trying to source low impact motorcycle accident bits and pieces. I know with some of my bikes like the ST Sprints with full farings that it is very easy to damage farings, mirrors, levers etc with a simple drop of the bike. While farings are normally easily repaired in a couple of days to have to wait 2 weeks for parts I believe dealers should have that covers these sort of low impact accidents is a bit on the nose.

[skippa1]

so far, biggest wait I have had is 3 days to get parts for the speedy.....and that was to Nelson. When I went to AMPS, they had next day delivery.

[AllanB]

Pretty standard now days I think. Basic consumables like filters, levers are stocked and sundry bits but a few years back I had to wait for a air filter!


The other issue now is if you have to wait 2 -3 weks from a NZ dealer you can most likely get it cheaper and quicker from abroad ........... which may be why the suppliers are also stocking less parts.

[slydesigns]

Triumph offer a 1 week delivery service, have your dealer ask Robert at Triumph NZ about this.

They also have 7 brands of bike manufacturer and up to 12 models for each manufacturer to support with parts.

So 70 plus bike models all requiring different parts to be in stock, of which they only sell a handful of each a month. The $$$ value of holding inventory of most parts for all these models is HUGE! Not only in purchasing them and hoping they sell before being superceded by a newer version or improved part, but also in the warehouse floor space to hold them all. Its scary stuff and having a 1 week supply service from the manufacturer is much more economically viable for a small market like NZ.

Unfortunately thats the price we pay for being a small consumer market (ie not enough of us buy the bikes in the first place - you'd be surprised at the actual low number of new bikes sold each year) and for being at the end of the earth. Be thankful we aren't Brazilians. They take 6 weeks minimum to get ANYTHING.

The other issue now is if you have to wait 2 -3 weks from a NZ dealer you can most likely get it cheaper and quicker from abroad ........... which may be why the suppliers are also stocking less parts.

The scary thing with this is parts are where the bike importer makes his or her living from, not from the bike sales themselves. The more we go offshore, the less profit they make here, the less money they have to buy in new bikes, the less they sell, the less they have in cash reserves to buy in parts as stock and promote products, sponsor riders and events, the more bleaker the industry becomes until they fold and no one else can afford to step in and take over. Its happening now with Yamaha NZ.

We'll always have new bikes available, but not as many choices and nothing exotic or interesting. Sportbikes are an example, they sell a small percentage of the total bike market, cruisers and naked are where the money sales are. So Sportbike choices will be reduced without money being spent locally on them and a demand created.

I know with some of my bikes like the ST Sprints with full farings that it is very easy to damage farings, mirrors, levers etc with a simple drop of the bike. While farings are normally easily repaired in a couple of days to have to wait 2 weeks for parts I believe dealers should have that covers these sort of low impact accidents is a bit on the nose.

There is also the possibility that a few of these Sprints have been dropped and they are out of those parts

[North Harbour Yamaha]

We carry a lot of Yamaha parts in stock. YMNZ we can get parts from overnight, If they have to come from Yamaha Australia it is only 2-3 working days and if they have to come from Yamaha Japan it is normally 7-10 working days.

(I have had parts from Australia arrive the next day and from Japan in 5 days)

[SMOKEU]

Even Honda parts are not as easy to come across as you might think. They often have to be ordered in from Japan or Auckland, and when you do get them, they cost a kings' ransom.

[Smiff-ta]

Its simple Parts stocking and re-stocking.

If you have 0 sales history for an item. You don't stock it. Pretty simple really.

A good parts manager will only stock FAST moving and Common parts.

You can't stock everything, so what you do stock are items you can turn over.

[RentaTriumph]

Triumph offer a 1 week delivery service, have your dealer ask Robert at Triumph NZ about this.

While I haven't had any accidents this Year on any of my rentals I have never had parts delivered from the UK within a week. What is extremely frustrating is when the part arrives from the UK and it is the wrong part which means more time off the road.
I will ring Street and Sport and ask about this 1 week delivery service and see what the extra fee is as it is the 1st I have heard of it.

[Motu]

Close your eyes and point to any car on the street,then try and get some obscure part for it - it will arrive on 1 hour courier.It's just supply and demand,NZ has a shit load of makes and models of car,and any part is a phone call away....dealer or aftermarket.There just isn't the infrastructure of parts companies to supply the small amount of bikes on the road.If the dealer keeps the airbox cover for your make and model of bike,you'll be able to buy it for cost in 20 years time,it'll still be on the shelf.Or you could get it sooner if they go out of business.....

[Robert Taylor]

Motu's sentiments whilst cynical are pretty much on the money. We have or want all the trappings of the western world, theres a huge range of makes / models and spec variations, therefore millions of different parts. We have only 4 and a half million people and seemingly half are on welfare. Stock turn in international terms is very very poor and therefore the unit cost to stock is also very disproportionate. Exacerbating that even further is we have too many distributors and dealers competing for ever thinner slices of a cake that is not that profitable, especially when you consider that the ratio between returns and just opening the doors is not that flash. Dont believe me, try it!
We want parts instantly and expect every part to be stocked and at instant beck and call right down to the most obscure part, and then we also want them at the lowest possible price. Sorry but all of that just cannot add up. If we had a popoulation of 40 or even 100 million then there would be enough business for distributors to be able to AFFORD to stock more. Higher stock turn would then allow sharper prices so that our countrymen ( ordinary New Zealanders like you and I ) could begin to compete with internet resellers.
I get sick and tired of oversimplistic bagging of local distributors as being rip off merchants when the people doing the bagging have got precious little idea of the hoops that you have to jump through just to stay afloat in this new world.

Those who work in distribution will understand all this, painfully so.

[Mully]

Those who work in distribution will understand all this, painfully so.

Indeed. Although in the age of international Express companies, sourcing from Australia should be an overnight thing.

In fact, I worked for a company who, provided they ordered by 3pm NZ time, had the shipment delivered the next day.

Perhaps NZ retail shops need to be cosying up to the Aussie guys to leverage off their market.

OP - just out of curiosity - as a rental fleet owner, wouldn't it make sense for you to keep levers, mirrors, etc in stock in case one of yours gets broken and you can get the bike on the road ASAP??

[Taz]

Why aren't we opening the floodgates to immigrants? Would be easy to get 40 million chinese here.

[tri boy]

Why aren't we opening the floodgates to immigrants? Would be easy to get 40 million chinese here.

Crafar farms would back that idea for sure.
Fortunately most of NZ will not

[Voltaire]

Why aren't we opening the floodgates to immigrants? Would be easy to get 40 million chinese here.

They have but they like Auckland too much....

[ynot slow]

Was wondering why you don't keep clutch,brake levers,maybe indicators etc as well.

I was impressed when I saw at Supercheap the fact they stocked limited bike filters etc,much more impressed when I went accross from work to Suzuki dealer to get a filter,had option of oem or aftermarket,asked for prices and only $1 different,didn't have aftermarket so got suzuki labeled one for $19,the other was $18 and supercheap had same in stock for $22,which was 300mts down the road,so ask yourself supercheap with kiwi and aussie buying power should sell the exact same item cheaper than a bike shop eh.