Doing some jetting changes today on my 650 and needed a jet that I didn't have. Could find them on ebay but would be 3 to 4 weeks wait. It takes about half an hour to get all the bits off and the carb out, so I was not going to be putting it back to take out again in a few weeks time. On my other bike and to the Honda shop. They made me coffee while we looked through the jet box, found what I needed (cost about 2/3rd more than ebay) and home to fit. Perfect! With out the local shop being there I would still be waiting for something from O/S.
I have never had a problem with the bike shops here I got my tyres thru the Hardly dealer and they fitted them on the spot when they came in ...Ive taken wheels in and had tyres removed while I wait ....and always been helpful with parts etc. The Yammy dealer Ive always had exemplary service from the parts guy The first rego check they picked up the bike in their van (as it wasnt running well enough to ride) , inspected it and dropped in back within a few hours. Second time I rode it in ...asked for an inspection ..... all done on the spot with no hassle The Kwakka dealer ....well the boss just wants to talk about bikes for hours (old Jap ones as Murdo can attest to)
I went to MCAS in the city the other day to pick up some oil and have a look at some other stuff. I asked a few questions about some jackets and some luggage and the guy that served me knew his range pretty well. I thanked the manager for the good service I'd received and we got to talking about the internet and it's impact on his business. He started telling me about the number of people that would come in and try gear on to get their size then tell him they weren't actually buying anything as they could get it cheaper on line. He also had guys come in to try to exchange jackets and pants that didn't fit that they had bought on line, arguing that they should be able to do this as MCAS must have "some sort of deal" with the manufacturers to allow them to swap the sizes around. I do buy on line for some things but in general I like to see what I'm buying and I like the security of knowing if there's any hassles I can go to an actual shop and get it sorted out.
Some people have unrealistic expectations. I went to MCAS to pickup pants, boots, helmet. They gave me a 10% discount without me even asking, they were very helpful and had solid advice. Reminded me to keep the receipt if I needed to bring anything back
I have had mixed experiences. A local suzuki dealer who is absolutely hopeless, but a yamaha dealer that went the extra mile. I think we could debate for ages about the buying in shop vs online thing - you pay a bit more for a shop but the convenience and service are often the reason why you are paying that little extra. With that said, we were getting ripped off for years with things like motorcycle boots/jackets. When I could source them from the US at a bad exchange rate for 50% of the price something was seriously wrong. But these days I find the prices are much more competitive, so someone must have picked up on it.
