Bike shop closures

[vgcspares]

Central Districts May 08
East City June 08
Masterton July 08
Motoxtreme July 08
Phil Turnbull September 08
Motoworld Powersports January 09
Honda Otago March 09

so it grows

Add super cross cycles in Hamilton to that list, (and there are one or two others that are very shaky as well).
Expect the list to at least double, even triple by Jan 2010.

story goes an oldie and a biggie just went phut (no names til it's proven)

Jeez can't wait till this is all over, but if memory serves the last recession faded away so gradually people didn't realise it was all over until houses started going up again

[Bonez]

Conversely we got a new bike shop last year. The two man shop that deals in scooters is having a boom time. ANZA took over selling Hyosungs. AFCs showroom was pretty bare last time I was in, so must be shifting stock.

Almost forgot. On the radio station I listen to at work there's at least one ad per hour pushing a particular m/c outfit in Bulls.

[AllanB]

Dam shame.

There is a NEW Suzuki dealer just opening in Christchurch

I've no issue with $60 an hour provided it's a genuine charge for genuine work done.

I do not believe the ACC content of rego will make any difference - instead of buying 12 months worth people will spread it over 2-3 payments per annum.


Trademe - lots of bikes up there - this often happens at this time of year when it gets cooler, however looking at some of the pricing there are people needing $ pronto.

[MPY]

And there's another "new" shop in Christchurch too.
Motoworks (Airoh, TM Racing etc...) has opened a new shop on 413 Tuam St.

[vgcspares]

on the plus side again there's Alpha Motorcycles & Accessories in Auckland which opened recently and does Moto-Morini

so no it's not all doom and gloom (just kind of wish the gloom bit would sod off)

[tri boy]

Big Bikes might be the next cab off the rank.
Feel gutted for Allan, Grant, Nicky, Neil, and the whole team.
Hopefully some way of keeping the doors open can be found. Those people who have had the pleasure of dealing with the team might want to do some Xmas shopping there, as $$ talk.
Anybody looking to get their Ducati serviced by an excellent mechanic should contact Neil. He knows his trade well, and is the most honest mechanic I have had the pleasure to work with in the past.

[AllanB]

Canterbury Rides (BMW, Yamaha & MV) went under in Christchurch a month or so ago.

Yamaha has been picked up by Trevor Pierce which is good - finally a dealer who is passionate about the brand, Yamaha has been a sad sod in Christchurch for too many years.

BMW has gone to the BMW car dealer opposite Rolling Thunder. I'll be interested to see how this goes.

[paulmac:Me]

Almost forgot. On the radio station I listen to at work there's at least one ad per hour pushing a particular m/c outfit in Bulls.

Trucks picked up their stock a few weeks ago !!

[Viscount Montgomery]

Motorcycling is fucked now. The cost is too high. Tyres, chains, oil, accessories, spare parts, all fucked. Regos, warrants, fucked. Tickets, fucked. Workshop prices, fucked.

Big, fast bikes are now just the preserve of the hi-rollers and smug elite. That's the gucci/Versace/latte/ohlins crowd. The snooty Ms Amanda-harper-Worthingtons of this world, buying $500 designer sandals to wear at "The beach-house at the barrier" over weekends. Whilst hubby spends thousands lavishing his shed full of gleaming new motorcycles with "only the best" accessories and hyped up decoration.

The hi-rollers rule the world of motorcycling these days. For all the other poor slobs out there, best you all forget about motorcycling from now on. It's going to be all over soon enough... You've had your day, sell up, join the AA and move on.

Submit and join the cagers, you know you'll have to. Try and be content with the memories of what it used to be like with the wind in your face on two wheels. You've all got to realize that freedom is not a right anymore. We can afford the luxury of enjoyment/fun no longer. Only the elite few are entitled. Greed is good.

[tri boy]

Or, do what m/cyclists have been doing for nigh on 100yrs. Fix up old bikes as cheaply as possible, and enjoy the lifestyle on a 80's Cb900, Gt750, Gs750 etc.
Flash Harry's were never the real riders. Those with a bit of dirt/grease under their finger nails, and an old leather jacket or army surplus coat know more about the thrill than Nigel Nomates on his 2010 1000RRR, with matching jock strap and dildo thrasher.
Lets get back to the real game.

[Dirty Heathen]

The retail market has been hit hard not just by the recession but trademe has had a a lot to do with it as well guys who rent a shop have a lot over heads simply cannot compete with prices that person selling the same item from home can.
Big places like HN NL all the big appliance stores still do well simply easy fiance.

Plus any global company is very hard if your small business to be competitive with them as well as they buy in bulk and get big discounts.

retail is definitely one of the hardest business to have.

[quickbuck]

Trucks picked up their stock a few weeks ago !!

Make that some.
Let's just say it is a "Re-Structure".

[mctshirt]

Does anyone think the recent increase of the ACC levy fee (aka Rego) is having a effect on peoples bugets and so out goes thr bike, or maybe the recession or is it both?

A buyer's budget will remain exactly the same. How they spend the budget will become more discretionary. A bike with 12 months rego will become more appealing than the same with one month (or no) rego. On road costs will become a significant proportion of the budget effectively driving the price of the bike itself down. This means the seller will feel the hit which is not good news for a motorcycle shop. Another effect is the money spent each year on rego bites into disposable income meaning time between updates will lengthen affecting seller turnover. Reality is it won't make much difference to a buyer (unlesss you want to do a trade-in) but the seller has suddenly lost a good chunk of their market price. If you're a retailer selling new factory bikes on an already slim margin you're in trouble. The recession won't last forever.

[nallac]

It's going to be all over soon enough... You've had your day, sell up, join the AA and move on.

Submit and join the cagers, you know you'll have to..

Never........

[Viscount Montgomery]

Or, do what m/cyclists have been doing for nigh on 100yrs. Fix up old bikes as cheaply as possible, and enjoy the lifestyle on a 80's Cb900, Gt750, Gs750 etc.
Flash Harry's were never the real riders. Those with a bit of dirt/grease under their finger nails, and an old leather jacket or army surplus coat know more about the thrill than Nigel Nomates on his 2010 1000RRR, with matching jock strap and dildo thrasher.
Lets get back to the real game.

Wow, a versace jockstrap in CBR colours with matching ohlins dildo thrasher. We can only dream of being that cool.

sigh.. I'm gonna have to stick with old post classic musclebikes, tricked & modded in the backyard, kiwi style.

Despite what the frowning 'don't do it yourself' brigade thinks