New Zealand bike prices WTF

[short-circuit]

Stock also has to be ordered many months in advance by distributors in line with production schedules. You just cannot order it any old time. Often the buy price is ''unfavourable'' when several months later the exchange rate shifts. Currency fluctuation has a habit of distorting prices significantly and if anyone thinks any of the distributors and dealers are making a killing they are VERY wrong.
What concerns me is how many ordinary everyday people are losing their jobs because of so much offshore buying of many goods, not only motorcycles, parts and accessories. I think everyone should have that on their conscience.

I think those that support(ed) neo-liberal lunancy and freemarket policies need to take a good hard look in the mirror

[lakedaemonian]

Why not a trans tasman motorcycle big box chain??

One or two per city depending on size/demand.

Sell any brand that wants to jump on the bandwagon.

Because its trans tasman e.g. lots of outlets they could leverage off their buying power and purchase direct bypassing distributors. Not just bikes but parts and accessories as well.

Attach a workshop and trye fitting bay to each store.

Its the way of the future.

I thought the same way when I entered the industry a decade+ ago.

And for a time it WAS heading in that direction.

A couple of the bigger dealerships in NZ were accumulating a good number of brands....we maxed out at 5 for a brief bit.....one in Auckland got to about 10.

But from my perspective it seemed like FAR too many moving parts to do things really, really well.....jack of all trades and master of none and all that.

It still seems to work in places like the US with mega multibrand car yards.

I've also been to visit Bert's in the US(outside LA)...pretty much every brand but Harley.....easily 100,0000+ sq ft. I walked out when the only staff member to even acknowledge my presence was the one who told me I wasn't allowed to sit on or take a photo of a Honda Fury in the middle of the showroom(without any such signage on it). Big box retail selling motorbikes just doesn't seem to work well.

So my personal opinion has changed to laser sharp specialization and seems to be working well(in our case for the last 5 years).

[SS90]

serious question, why dont people open up specific, to-order motorcycle importing businesses, where a customer can pay a nominal fee to a company which imports excess overseas stock, landing the customer a new bike at a price substantially discounted from the standard NZ floor price?

Would covering manufacturer warranties be an issue if the bike is sourced overseas, or would the manufacturer still have to honour factory warranties via a local brand specific agent, even if that agent wasnt responsible for the sale?

Small "grey market" importers have been trying to do that for decades, and, the crux of it is that Kiwis don't really like "paying before you see it", as would be required with such concepts. You will have seen for at least the last 10 years Grey import based business's offering "import to order", the bottom line is, the majority of punters who enquire into the service, expect that they are going to get a major discount on the bike because they are paying up front, and the reality is that this just cannot happen.... Margins are tight in both new dealer sales AND Grey market.... Simply because of the massive amount of competition in NZ, even with recent closures of business in NZ, the market is still, in general, over subscribed.

I am not saying we should allow a return of the 70s and 80's when the "old boys club" based LMVD licensing system created a "jerk circle" whereby the punters where regularly shafted on trade ins, and, due to expensive car prices (even imports), where stuck with bikes as a mode of transport, and as such, dealers where ,making a killing, with no chance of new blood being able to source, let alone SELL a bike for a business, but we have to realise ghat NZ is, due to it's population,
Eternally stuck with paying high prices for luxury items, such as motorcycles.

For bike shops to exist in NZ, they have to make a profit. To make a profit, they have to be open 6 days a week, therefore, their Return of investment for the director(s) needs to be AT LEAST as good as any other High investment (over $400,000) operation. To achieve that, there mustvbe a reasonable margin in the products and services they sell.

Contrary to poular belief, Bike Shops and the Red Cross are two different things.

[oneofsix]

...

Contrary to poular belief, Bike Shops and the Red Cross are two different things.

that could have been fun had you compared bike shops to St Johns

[lakedaemonian]

I think those that support(ed) neo-liberal lunancy and freemarket policies need to take a good hard look in the mirror

From what I've seen, it would look like a big chunk of the blame(but far from all of it) goes to the LACK of enforcement of existing regulation.

There were/are PLENTY of whistleblowers sticking their hands up to point out the financial malfeasance throughout the west....but for a lot of reasons it went largely ignored or far under resourced to gain any traction before the first waves of the calamity hit.

At the same time, many average Joe Bloggs contributed to the problems by believing their homes were a "bank" from the over-cheap credit wave which allowed their home equity to be "unlocked" because property prices "always go up"(until they don't) and how debt was such a good thing.

I think we all own this problem...individually and collectively(but some clearly more so than others).....but I also think that there's about eleventeen zillion opinions on this rather heated and complex topic.

But from our narrow NZ motorcycle industry perspective...all the distortions created that continue to cascade in waves include this opportunity to buy stuff cheap from overseas. And those that buy from there do so with the knowledge that it can(and probably will) continue to hurt the NZ motorcycle retail industry as Robert Taylor stated earlier.

And that's not laying blame...people are gonna do what people are gonna do...cause/effect and what not....we just want to try and be in a position that reduces the chance of a size 12 "effect" boot to OUR ass.

[YellowDog]

I do not agree with the assumption that every grey imported bike or accessory is business lost for a home dealer.

Busness owners can choose to whinge and bitch about their perceived loss, or they can get on with accurately profiling their potential customers and make some money. Why chase business that you have no chance of getting?

The dinosaurs that are unable to adapt to the new global marketplace will soon be extinct.

[Big Dave]

Take Kiwirider magazine for example. That magazine is better than any mag you can find in Canada or the US.... only the British magazines are similar in quality.

Thanks very much! - your comment has been circulated around writers and staff.

[SS90]

I do not agree with the assumption that every grey imported bike or accessory is business lost for a home dealer.

Busness owners can choose to whinge and bitch about their perceived loss, or they can get on with accurately profiling their potential customers and make some money. Why chase business that you have no chance of getting?

The dinosaurs that are unable to adapt to the new global marketplace will soon be extinct.

Erm, think of it this way....

What percentage of NZ owns a road going motorcycle..... I don't even know, but I would guess at 1% (it's possibly less than that)

So at the most, we have a total market pool of 40,000 punters.

Now say, (for tis example), the same 1% rule applies..... In a country like, say, Australia (with a population of 22 million, that gives a market pool of 220,000... And all of whom earn an average of 30% more than your average Kiwi)

When you break it down like this, it really does seem bleak huh?

[Zamiam]

I get a little sick of those that bleat because people such as myself choose to shop offshore. Latest example should make it really clear why people like I do so: Part ex USA $US116 + $US32 postage = $US148 = $NZ185 or so. Will take 8-10 days to get here. US supplier replied overnight. $NZ price 350+ - 5 days later I'm still waiting for the NZ dealer to respond to my email / provide a price.

The reason I shop offshore is that it is generally around half the price AND I get service which the NZ dealers (and I have had the same experience from 2 different HD dealerships) don't seem to understand the meaning of.

[PeeJay]

Stock also has to be ordered many months in advance by distributors in line with production schedules. You just cannot order it any old time. Often the buy price is ''unfavourable'' when several months later the exchange rate shifts. Currency fluctuation has a habit of distorting prices significantly and if anyone thinks any of the distributors and dealers are making a killing they are VERY wrong.
What concerns me is how many ordinary everyday people are losing their jobs because of so much offshore buying of many goods, not only motorcycles, parts and accessories. I think everyone should have that on their conscience.

All of these "problems" exist in other parts of the world as well. NZ is not unique in this regard.
Your bleat
"ordinary everyday people are losing their jobs because of so much offshore buying"
is a bit rich coming from someone who imports parts for sale. Wheres your conscience?

There is very little in the way of a domestic motorcycle parts manufacturing industry in NZ, so when people import their own exhaust or ohlins or carburettor, the loss of jobs you are talking about are restricted to P&A Engineer/ Executive (storeman to you old people). And not many of them at that.
What you are suggesting (from previous posts) amounts to
the consumer should pay higher prices to create a job?

How about this to salve our collective conscience
The government should restrict the import of suspension components with enormous taxes, and use whats left (after administration costs) to foster a domestic suspension manufacturing business and keep "ordinary everyday people" in a job. Yes?
And this will be so successful they can apply the same model to everything else that gets imported.
Commie or what?

I really dont see your problem with self imported Ohlins
Surely the more Ohlins in the country the more potential work for you?
Why not welcome it?
Offer your setup services etc (paid)?
You would probably make more money setting the shock up than you made from selling the shock and doing a "free" setup.
Not having capital sitting on the shelf has to save you a few bob surely?

Instead your constant bleating about imports, the invective you heap on anyone who imports their own parts, has probably scared a fair amount of business away because anyone wanting an ohlins setup that they didnt purchase from you will take it elsewhere.
Who would want to turn up at your shop knowing that you think of them as a parasite for not buying from you in the first place?

This applies to others as well, not just you, I use you as an example because you stuck your head up!!

The whole importer/distributor/retailer model which made some sense 50 yrs ago, makes less sense nowadays because of the great advances in transport and communications.
Because we live on an island we have been held captive to this model for a bit longer than most but not any more.
Business' in NZ need to get with the program
Instead of bleating and whining, think about it, look outward instead of inward and take advantage of the opportunity.
ciao

[Robert Taylor]

All of these "problems" exist in other parts of the world as well. NZ is not unique in this regard.
Your bleat
"ordinary everyday people are losing their jobs because of so much offshore buying"
is a bit rich coming from someone who imports parts for sale. Wheres your conscience?

There is very little in the way of a domestic motorcycle parts manufacturing industry in NZ, so when people import their own exhaust or ohlins or carburettor, the loss of jobs you are talking about are restricted to P&A Engineer/ Executive (storeman to you old people). And not many of them at that.
What you are suggesting (from previous posts) amounts to
the consumer should pay higher prices to create a job?

How about this to salve our collective conscience
The government should restrict the import of suspension components with enormous taxes, and use whats left (after administration costs) to foster a domestic suspension manufacturing business and keep "ordinary everyday people" in a job. Yes?
And this will be so successful they can apply the same model to everything else that gets imported.
Commie or what?

I really dont see your problem with self imported Ohlins
Surely the more Ohlins in the country the more potential work for you?
Why not welcome it?
Offer your setup services etc (paid)?
You would probably make more money setting the shock up than you made from selling the shock and doing a "free" setup.
Not having capital sitting on the shelf has to save you a few bob surely?

Instead your constant bleating about imports, the invective you heap on anyone who imports their own parts, has probably scared a fair amount of business away because anyone wanting an ohlins setup that they didnt purchase from you will take it elsewhere.
Who would want to turn up at your shop knowing that you think of them as a parasite for not buying from you in the first place?

This applies to others as well, not just you, I use you as an example because you stuck your head up!!

The whole importer/distributor/retailer model which made some sense 50 yrs ago, makes less sense nowadays because of the great advances in transport and communications.
Because we live on an island we have been held captive to this model for a bit longer than most but not any more.
Business' in NZ need to get with the program
Instead of bleating and whining, think about it, look outward instead of inward and take advantage of the opportunity.
ciao

Bleating? No.

Pointing out the negative by products ( and there are many ) Yes, guilty.

With the programme. Yes

Employing people and providing subcontractors with work. Guilty

Obligingly helping people sort out their ''box sale'' suspension imports because the US reseller has no idea of our roading conditions. Guilty

Charging fairly even if we didnt sell. Guilty

Having full facilities, training and equipment to fully back up our product. Guilty

I think youd better pick another example, also my comments within this thread were not there to incite emotive invective. They were to illustrate negative by-products. Like many people Im concerned that we have high levels of unemployment and people struggling. That is conscience

[short-circuit]

Bleating? No.

BLAH BLAH BLAH Guilty

I think youd better pick another example, also my comments within this thread were not there to incite emotive invective. They were to illustrate negative by-products. Like many people Im concerned that my business is struggling. That is self interest

There y'are fixed it for ya

[thepom]

Originally Posted by Robert Taylor
Bleating? No.

BLAH BLAH BLAH Guilty

I think youd better pick another example, also my comments within this thread were not there to incite emotive invective. They were to illustrate negative by-products. Like many people Im concerned that my business is struggling. That is self interest
There y'are fixed it for ya


+1

[Robert Taylor]

Originally Posted by Robert Taylor
Bleating? No.

BLAH BLAH BLAH Guilty

I think youd better pick another example, also my comments within this thread were not there to incite emotive invective. They were to illustrate negative by-products. Like many people Im concerned that my business is struggling. That is self interest
There y'are fixed it for ya


+1

Struggling, no. One months work backed up, because we work bloody hard at it and adapt to the new realities. Concerned about those that are struggling yes, even though there are those who mock those that think beyond their own self interest

[YellowDog]

Struggling, no. One months work backed up, because we work bloody hard at it and adapt to the new realities. Concerned about those that are struggling yes, even though there are those who mock those that think beyond their own self interest

I not sure why CKT would be botherd by all this.

The guys who import the gear themselves have cost and lost you nothing at all.

They were not ever going to be your customers.

CKT offer a value added service and money well spent/invested.

I wouldn't go anywhere else and only a complete fool would risk their lives by scrimping on the required expertise.

It is not like buying a standard accessory, which is no more than commodity item.