Experiences with Experience BMW M/Cycles?

**Coldkiwi** · 4th May 2005, 18:09

Hi Guys,

We got a new engineer in our office from the UK who's looking to get on another Beemer like his R1200GS. Has anyone here had good/bad experiences with the Experience BMW shop in new market? I know there's a few BMW riders out there in Auckland so I'm keen to hear your thoughts!

Cheers!

**Quasievil** · 4th May 2005, 18:15

Originally Posted by Coldkiwi

Hi Guys,

We got a new engineer in our office from the UK who's looking to get on another Beemer like his R1200GS. Has anyone here had good/bad experiences with the Experience BMW shop in new market? I know there's a few BMW riders out there in Auckland so I'm keen to hear your thoughts!

Cheers!

Tell him to come to Hamilton Motorcycles, they are bloody brilliant. only 1 hour away and 3 minutes from some great open roads to test ride it (no Highways), I can accompany him to show him a good test route
Good stock their at the moment as well

**HDTboy** · 4th May 2005, 18:38

Experience BMW are great guys, but I would say that, they're part of the company I work for

Al · 4th May 2005, 20:40

I have had fantastic service from Experience, management is fantastic and everyone is extremely helpful.

Al

**Zapf** · 4th May 2005, 21:04

Experience is good. I had talked to them quite a bit when I was getting into bikes, and they spend time with me on trying gear and stuff. Although I haven't bought anything off them, they still keep providing great service. So I would recommend them 100%

**Motu** · 4th May 2005, 21:55

Originally Posted by Quasievil

Tell him to come to Hamilton Motorcycles, they are bloody brilliant. only 1 hour away and 3 minutes from some great open roads to test ride it (no Highways), I can accompany him to show him a good test route
Good stock their at the moment as well

You might like to borrow one of my bikes if he test rides a GS!

**Ixion** · 4th May 2005, 22:50

I've only bought parts from them. I've found them helpful and upfront. Chatted with a few of the guys there , seemed good, not too pushy, but not standoffish. Chief parts guy (can't remember his name but he's the tall skinny dude) is really good.

Suspect they're more at home dealing with older customers tha n the average bike shop.

Only bad thing about going there is the price of BMW parts ! But that's not their fault.

**Posh Tourer :P** · 5th May 2005, 05:16

Originally Posted by Ixion

I've only bought parts from them. I've found them helpful and upfront. Chatted with a few of the guys there , seemed good, not too pushy, but not standoffish. Chief parts guy (can't remember his name but he's the tall skinny dude) is really good.

Suspect they're more at home dealing with older customers tha n the average bike shop.

Only bad thing about going there is the price of BMW parts ! But that's not their fault.

The tall skinny guy in parts would be Neil Walsh. A few of the guys are Dad's friends, so i have also met a few of them. Never dealt with the shop, but they seem to get reasonable rep from what I hear.

LB · 5th May 2005, 05:40

.
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Yep, that's Neil in parts. A really nice bloke who knows shitloads about BM's.

Henry who runs the show is a real hoot - lovely guy. Used to work at Callenders in New Plymouth for years.

I understand they've got a mechanic who came out from the UK a couple of years ago who's very good with BM's.

(I used to ride BM's though never dealt with Experience other than to call in whenever we were in Auckland)

.
.

Al · 5th May 2005, 09:20

A bit more info, MD is Kent, his father is owner of Jerry Clayton BMW in takapuna, bought out from the partnership between him and the "original" Jerry Clayton (I suppose so...? do not profess to know all the facts).

Coffee is of the filter type and always available!

(no, I do not have any connection to the business at all, had a lot of good service from them!)

Al

**Coldkiwi** · 5th May 2005, 10:07

awesome guys! thanks heaps for the info. Its great to hear of another friendly and helpful bike shop out there.

I'll mention Hamilton M/cycles to my mate Quasi... i know you're on the take for them but i'll do it anyway

**Ixion** · 5th May 2005, 10:39

Originally Posted by Posh Tourer :P

The tall skinny guy in parts would be Neil Walsh. A few of the guys are Dad's friends, so i have also met a few of them. Never dealt with the shop, but they seem to get reasonable rep from what I hear.

Yeah, Neil, that's it. Good guy.

**geoffm** · 5th May 2005, 12:46

Originally Posted by Coldkiwi

Hi Guys,

We got a new engineer in our office from the UK who's looking to get on another Beemer like his R1200GS. Has anyone here had good/bad experiences with the Experience BMW shop in new market? I know there's a few BMW riders out there in Auckland so I'm keen to hear your thoughts!

Cheers!

Niel in the spare parts is a top bloke, and knows heaps. I have found the workshop to be good. Charge out rate is typical to slightly above average for workshop rates. I tend to use Lindesay Knight at Pukekohe for most of my bike work these days anyway. My old brick is pretty straightfoward to work on. The new ones have more electronic goodies that may require the BMW computer. There are workarounds for the special computer for my model.

I suggest looking overseas for parts - at least major ones. www.motobins.com (UK), www.siebenrock.de (germany - speak english and recommended) being 2. Parts are generally around 20-30% cheaper than the NZ prices and delivery times are much the smae, as BMW NZ does not keep much in the way of parts.
Look in the workshop manuals threads for slome links to BMW parts lists (for part numbers) and manuals
Ebay is another most excellent source of parts. I have a Corbin seat and Koni shock somewhere on the water between here and the USA.

**Ixion** · 5th May 2005, 12:54

Originally Posted by geoffm

..

I suggest looking overseas for parts - at least major ones. www.motobins.com (UK), www.siebenrock.de (germany - speak english and recommended) being 2. ..

The German site comes up with an "Under construction " page (In german!)