The chance of a lifetime: You are asked to start a bike shop. How should it be done?

[Headbanger]

If I can pick up on one thing there that I dont think you will disagree with. There is a lot of ''information'' available on the internet, but what percentage is good information and what percentage is not good? Thats a very real danger and anyone gullible may suffer from the cynical but not incorrect view that ''everything you read on the internet is correct''

i hear the term ''researching the net'' used often. Just dealing in my specialist trade ( and the knowledge and experience Ive personally accumulated ) if individuals read and believed a lot of the ''suspension cures'' posted on here by 5 minute experts theyd be up the creek without a paddle

In my opinion suspension is a black art best left to the experts, and that expertise is worth paying for.

In my experience on dirtbikes I only ever managed to make things worse with my tinkering and was never able to get it back to how it was. Also wasted huge dollars buying shocks off others (other riders that is) that supposedly knew their stuff with the end result being a bike that was near unridable.

No way in hell am I about to touch the suspension on my road bike.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Reasonable workshop rates would be a good start. None of this $80+ per hour bullshit. It's good if there are actually staff at the shop as well when it's open. I've been to a bike shop several times before when they were open, and not a staff member or customer in sight for at 15 minutes. I could have walked off with a nice Ducati and no one would have been there to stop me.

Crapsblots. without even looking at your location I knew

[HenryDorsetCase]

Yup. Therein lies the biggest internet buying factor - GST.

Those buying small items for personal use on the internet are seldom slapped with GST at the border. Those same items bought in your local bike shop attract 12.5% GST (soon to be increased to 15% by your precious National government).

Those demanding the same price in the shops as they can get from huge overseas warehouses, are generally too dumb to understand such inequities.

Market forces? Yeah, right...

political sniping aside, in my experience the biggest issues with internet purchase are getting what you actually ordered, and freight cost. GST is the PITA that is the icing on the cake.

As my "Fuck you" to the Arai distributors in NZ taught me. Oh yes. Plus side: I have the helmet I wanted (from Peter Stevens in Melbourne) and all it cost me was 1.25X what the same helmet (but, crucially with different graphics) would have cost me here. Its far too expensive (and new and shiny) for me ever to use now. Itsa lovely ornament sitting in my study here.

[mattian]

If I owned a bike shop I would be open both days on the weekend. Being the only bike shop open on Sundays for a full day would make you the busiest bike shop around and it would probably be your busiest day of the week.

[Headbanger]

If I owned a bikeshop, I'd run it into the ground.

Don't know shit about running a bike shop, But thanks to the internet I can talk shit to people that actually do.

Lucky for them.

Lmfao.


Oh yeah, sweet sweet Bourbon.

[Robert Taylor]

Personally I don't want a shop to be flexible on price, it suggests the shop is overcharging customers who dont ask for a discount does it not? I also don't like to ask for a discount anyway, like what makes me so special that I should be able to get it less than list price? If a shop advertises they are flexible on price then yeh, I'll ask but I havent seen one that does.

What Im actually saying is its deleting the dealer and retail margin out of the equation , and this is becoming neccessary to meet the internet sales head on.

As I said before, increase the charge out rate to compensate, workshop jobs will still cost about the same as the parts will be cheaper, and you'll get more sales at a lower profit margin which should be about the same as less sales at a higher profit margin. Of course I don't actually know what the margins/economies of scale are, but thats how I see it working anyway.

Thats fine in so much as you have fully skilled, trained, experienced and highly attentive mechanics. Therein lies the problem with too many shops

[Conquiztador]

Robert, PLEASE read the first post I made again:

This place is filled with what a bike shop owner wants: CUSTOMERS!

We have all visited the places that get it soo fucking wrong. So wrong in fact that we will never go back!

Many of us (me included) have started threads re useless cunts not doing what we want.

Let's here tell the shop owners, and the ones who are planning to open one, what we, their customers, really expect!

What do you expect, want, prefer?
What do you hate?
What makes a good... no, a PERFECT shop?

And try to be serious here. After all, I recon that if someone on here is running a shop/planning to run one, he would love to know...

That was simple enough I thought. Tell us what you would do!

Initially you did not get it, you just kept on going down same track as always.
So I posted this:

Hi Robert. You are not helping here... Can you please stay out from this thread.

So you came back with one more same same:

There was no intention to hijack the thread as such, so Ill say my piece and be done with it. that...

I thought: Done!

But fuck me dead! You still have not got what this thread is on about! (And there are a couple others. One that is a dork in best of times so who cares...)
You go on and on and on and fucking on with the same record! 12 postings with same broken record!

I disagree, as much as its ''inconvenient'' to dare mention the realities of operating costs etc. My own business model ( and this thread is NOT about me ) is largely giving my customers .... after 35 years I do actually get it...In my own case a... come to us direct and...We are flexible.... That rests okay with me...Either way I want to....off our expense in....Did I mention that I dont work a...We like all... we dont enjoy... we have to forward order...My business has very...I understand...personally I like...and I think...we achieve ...Im lucky in... Ive got...But when I see...then Im going to say....

You could have fooled me....

And re your comment: "If you want to prove a point why dont you start up a motorcycle shop?????" Childish comment. That is what my kids used to tell me when I told them to do a better job of their homework: "Do it your self then..." We have now gotten over that. They have realised that I am not saying it to hurt them or to tell them that they are useless (because they are far from it). I do it to help, to make them see that "good enough" is not what it is about. And so I work with them. Only your best will do! My intention with this thread was to get the Roberts of this world to see what customers want. But clearly he already knows it...

I don't want to start a bike shop. I have a career in another area that I am happy with. And when I need some help from a bike shop I will go to one. But if they do not help I go to another until I find one that I like. Sofar there is one that stands heads above the others in HB. And the price has nothing to do with it.

[Katman]

It's my thread and I'll cry if I want to

[Conquiztador]

A couple of things to you;
1. Do NEVER post a something dorky you have written as someone elses quote.
2. Please ring that bell as you clearly need your meds again.

[Kiri]

OK, so I thought this is a good thread to (finally) put out there what i'd personally (no agenda - mostly) like to see in a bike shop.
so here we go:
1. customer service (being treated like a regular, even if I'm not, and as 'one of the guys' is always nice)
2. diversity of product (if I ask for something I expect options and advice about the best product)
3. same deal for everyone (hog owners get 10% off, I want that too - god knows I spend enough)
Operating costs aside, I'd like 'service'.
That's all.
Thanks for the oppotunity to add my opinion

[Robert Taylor]

Robert, PLEASE read the first post I made again:


That was simple enough I thought. Tell us what you would do!

Initially you did not get it, you just kept on going down same track as always.
So I posted this:


So you came back with one more same same:


I thought: Done!

But fuck me dead! You still have not got what this thread is on about! (And there are a couple others. One that is a dork in best of times so who cares...)
You go on and on and on and fucking on with the same record! 12 postings with same broken record!



You could have fooled me....

And re your comment: "If you want to prove a point why dont you start up a motorcycle shop?????" Childish comment. That is what my kids used to tell me when I told them to do a better job of their homework: "Do it your self then..." We have now gotten over that. They have realised that I am not saying it to hurt them or to tell them that they are useless (because they are far from it). I do it to help, to make them see that "good enough" is not what it is about. And so I work with them. Only your best will do! My intention with this thread was to get the Roberts of this world to see what customers want. But clearly he already knows it...

I don't want to start a bike shop. I have a career in another area that I am happy with. And when I need some help from a bike shop I will go to one. But if they do not help I go to another until I find one that I like. Sofar there is one that stands heads above the others in HB. And the price has nothing to do with it.

If you read through my posts ( which I dont wish to further clarify ) you will see that in my case I have reacted to the market and in fact we do a lot of things that our customers are very happy with, and attracts further customers. We provide an enormous amount of added value, information and attend racing activity and complimentary promotional / bike set up all over the country. As far as doing business we are pretty much 24 / 7. But that does take a toll. IN MY FIELD I CAN LAY CLAIM TO VERY MUCH KNOWING WHAT MY CUSTOMERS WANT, so long as Im not going to go bust doing so. Im also very much aware of the discontent that many motorcyclists have with service in the industry, but it would be unfair to label the whole industry as useless.
As I have said there are a lot of ''I wish'' comments that I agree with. Those that I dont agree with are because they are just downright stupid and economically disastrous.
The reality is that bike shops and especially those with leading franchises are actually ( and this is brutal ) ''serfs'' to the distributors and those distributors are in turn dictated to by the factories. So its by no means down to the bike shops themselves.
I have only had the intention of providing a industry insight, from the perspective of having been in retail, wholesale and dealing DIRECTLY with factories, including YMC.

[Robert Taylor]

Actually what Im trying to also say is that the system is a juggernaut and that starts with the manufacturer and then their distribution network right through to the dealer. This is common practice throughout the world in many or most industries.

Everyone wants to deal with knowledgable and friendly people who can provide service and parts quickly and at reasonable cost. Good parts people and good mechanics are especially VERY difficult to come by.

A wish list is great and Id agree with maybe 70% or more of it. But without wishing to in any way be negative it depends on having the right people. There is THE ONE BIGGEST PROBLEM.

[Muppet]

If you read through my posts ( which I dont wish to further clarify ) you will see that in my case I have reacted to the market and in fact we do a lot of things that our customers are very happy with, and attracts further customers. We provide an enormous amount of added value, information and attend racing activity and complimentary promotional / bike set up all over the country. As far as doing business we are pretty much 24 / 7. But that does take a toll. IN MY FIELD I CAN LAY CLAIM TO VERY MUCH KNOWING WHAT MY CUSTOMERS WANT, so long as Im not going to go bust doing so. Im also very much aware of the discontent that many motorcyclists have with service in the industry, but it would be unfair to label the whole industry as useless.
As I have said there are a lot of ''I wish'' comments that I agree with. Those that I dont agree with are because they are just downright stupid and economically disastrous.
The reality is that bike shops and especially those with leading franchises are actually ( and this is brutal ) ''serfs'' to the distributors and those distributors are in turn dictated to by the factories. So its by no means down to the bike shops themselves.
I have only had the intention of providing a industry insight, from the perspective of having been in retail, wholesale and dealing DIRECTLY with factories, including YMC.

Well Robert I emailed you with some recommendations regarding my zx12r's suspension, which if anyone has ever ridden one will know, it's hard in the rear and soft up front. You promptly replied with a concise and easy to understand synopsis of the bikes suspension characteristics (btw I don't have a degree and had to look up many of the big words in this reply). What I'm saying is you're a good bastard!

[Headbanger]

Good bastard that Robert may be, I believe that what Conq was referring to was the thread was a simple question aimed at customers, not a soapbox for industry players.

Keyword, Customers, wants.

That said, I'll shut the hell up.Lmfao.

[Jantar]

Reasonable workshop rates would be a good start. None of this $80+ per hour bullshit. .....

A charge out rate of $80 means the mechanic is recieving around $30 per hour. I would be suspicious of a mechanic who is prepared to work for less than that. Alternatively the shop is not charging enough to meet overheads and I would question how long they will remain in business to back up their service.