Hog sales still going strong
....and Ducati....
Yes, the ageing population does have some benefits to the motorcycle industry
Good to see the all year round and long distance riders are well catered for.
Bike Dealers - how many will go to the wall in 2011
- Thread starter JohnnyBoxer
- Start date
Good to see the all year round and long distance riders are well catered for.
BBB61
Registered user
Very true. The FJR1300 has been around since 2001 and hasn't been updated that much. Pricewise it compares with a K1300GT-SE which has a much better level of equipment. The 1400GTR is £1200 cheaper but has the traction control, heated grips and tyre pressure monitors as standard.
MarkN said:
No, not at all.
ExpatinIstanbul
Registered user
Here's an opportunity then. So many UKGSers appear to be experts on all things motorcycle related, so why not get this veritable encyclopedia of knowledge together and open a dealer? There are accountants, marketing specialists, retails specialists, advertising specialists, mechanics.....well every discipline needed really. The UK's biggest used BMW GS Shop. GSes are the biggest selling bike, so there should be plenty of used models to buy in, and as they're so popular they should shift relatively well. There could be an old man's airhead dept and an I've got more money than sense accessories section. ATT could make the deliveries in his Tonka Toy, Proff could sit in the corner telling the young'uns how to fix airheads, Steptoe could be head workshop wonk, Timolgra could be the gnarly old biker telling all and sundry how it ain't like it used to be and Nick Marshall head of sales. I'm telling you, it's doable.
Good to see the all year round and long distance riders are well catered for.
and what % of the biking population are they??? 5%???
and what % of the biking population are they??? 5%???
It's an irrelevent statistic to those of us who ride practically every day of the year. Not irrelevent to the industry of course.
More dealers, less dealers, more cheap clothing outlets, less cheap outlets. It doesn't make a jot of difference to most of us.
I blame Ebay
The Mogster
Guest
Dealers don't help themselves either, I find the customer service at a lot of them bloody dreadfull! ( don't get me started on 'On Yer Bike' in Alysburys service dept
)
When i was looking to get the GS i went round quite a lot of dealers, now bear in mind it was Dec/Jan... most of 'em couldn't give a toss, and had to dragged away from surfing the Interweb to bloody well serve me!
Hats off though to BMW in Hertford
, the salesman there spent ages explaining all the different options and had they had the right bike I would certainly have brought one from there.
)When i was looking to get the GS i went round quite a lot of dealers, now bear in mind it was Dec/Jan... most of 'em couldn't give a toss, and had to dragged away from surfing the Interweb to bloody well serve me!
Hats off though to BMW in Hertford
, the salesman there spent ages explaining all the different options and had they had the right bike I would certainly have brought one from there.
and what % of the biking population are they??? 5%???
Who gives a feck. . But they don't ride Hogs or ducatis.
Dealers don't help themselves either, I find the customer service at a lot of them bloody dreadfull! ( don't get me started on 'On Yer Bike' in Alysburys service dept
They replaced the body panel retaining wellnut theu pushed inside my airbox during a service for free! They even left the old one in there waiting to jump inside my engine and wreck it for no extra charge either.
Free Well nut
Free Engine Explosion
Possibly free death...
... all part of the service sir and f*** you very much for your business.
Be nice to think the dealers who give bad service would be the first to go, but I doubt it works like that.Dealers don't help themselves either, I find the customer service at a lot of them bloody dreadfull! ( don't get me started on 'On Yer Bike' in Alysburys service dept
When i was looking to get the GS i went round quite a lot of dealers, now bear in mind it was Dec/Jan... most of 'em couldn't give a toss, and had to dragged away from surfing the Interweb to bloody well serve me!
Hats off though to BMW in Hertford
I'm guessing Park Lane will be the last BMW dealer standing.
remined me which form of sophisticated transport was helped by the taxpayer through the recession recently
Actually, the scrappage system ( £2000 a car) was paid for 50% by the manufacturers ( the 1st £ 1000), and 50% through the VAT the govt was getting from the sale of new cars. It cost the taxpayer feck all!! Knowall.........
Actually, the scrappage system ( £2000 a car) was paid for 50% by the manufacturers ( the 1st £ 1000), and 50% through the VAT the govt was getting from the sale of new cars. It cost the taxpayer feck all!! Knowall.........
So how did the government recoup the lost VAT
Oh, VAT on EVERYTHING went up, Fuel duty went up
- still no free lunches in our Utopia Can't wait to see this years council tax rise, mine has gone up nearly 50% over last 6-7 years, as my pay had slowly declined, overtime dried up
Well at least all the benefit scroungers got a cheap car by trading in their death-mobiles and taking finance they will never pay back, probably all flogged the cars by now to buy more crack and are back in 20 year old Rovers.
Actually, the scrappage system ( £2000 a car) was paid for 50% by the manufacturers ( the 1st £ 1000), and 50% through the VAT the govt was getting from the sale of new cars. It cost the taxpayer feck all!! Knowall.........
Really
I dont think so, the goverment happily collected the VAT from the sale of motorcycles therefore supported car dealers by not collecting VAT which they collected of every other business therefore it cost the taxpayer who is now having to make up the shortfall 100 million was the figure banded about, and the car manufactures happily discounted £1k of the list price, as it was a few grand more than what they were discounting them before the scheme
When I was 18 I bought a new Kawasaki Z250 and when I was 19 I bought a new Suzuki Katana 1100. Not much chance of my two sons buying new bikes at the same age. My 19 year old son is making do with a old Fazer 600. Older son at 21 might have liked a new bike but cost comparison is crazy. A new R1 is about £12,500 I think. We got him a new car under the scrappage scheme for a net £5,500 with all the bells and whistles.
I think if a 19 year old walked into a dealer to buy a new superbike the dealer would probably ignore them. The average age of new bike buyers must go up every year. Its the same people buying bikes today that bought them in the 80s and 90s. We are dying out in the long term!
I almost feel sorry for the local yamaha dealer. We went in there yesterday and he had rows of new bikes in his recently extended showroom. Not exactly a queue of customers lining up to spend £12,500 on any of the 3 new R1s he had. I bought a new one a few years ago when the list price was £8,999 and I paid considerably less than that. How the hell do they expect to shift them now in a recession at that price?
I think if a 19 year old walked into a dealer to buy a new superbike the dealer would probably ignore them. The average age of new bike buyers must go up every year. Its the same people buying bikes today that bought them in the 80s and 90s. We are dying out in the long term!
I almost feel sorry for the local yamaha dealer. We went in there yesterday and he had rows of new bikes in his recently extended showroom. Not exactly a queue of customers lining up to spend £12,500 on any of the 3 new R1s he had. I bought a new one a few years ago when the list price was £8,999 and I paid considerably less than that. How the hell do they expect to shift them now in a recession at that price?
BBB61
Registered user
If they took their bike test at 17 then they could be riding a superbike at 19 once their two years of being restricted to 33bhp has finished. The insurance might be interesting though
Wheel power in raynes park used to be a kawasaki dealer.
When i last had a chat to the owner he told me that kawasaki wanted him to sell the bikes at cost price and to make his living from the servicing
. and he'd been a kawasaki dealer for eons...
Needless to say he told them what they could do and he shut down the shop selling kawasakis and now has the one shop dealing in aprillia , vespa and piaggio.
When i last had a chat to the owner he told me that kawasaki wanted him to sell the bikes at cost price and to make his living from the servicing
. and he'd been a kawasaki dealer for eons...Needless to say he told them what they could do and he shut down the shop selling kawasakis and now has the one shop dealing in aprillia , vespa and piaggio.
Most Honda main dealers (now all co- sited with Honda car dealers), have a policy where test rides are only permitted if the punter is over 25 years old. Bike dealers are their own worst enemies. Corporate executives will eventually make a hard nosed unsentimental decision and large engined road bikes will be but a memory.
Deleted account 231002001
Registered user
There are a couple of dealers around here that should go to the wall.
Taunton has always been crap for bike dealers with V&J being the only one for years and boy are they shite. The last decent bike dealer here
was back in the early 80's when we had Taunton Kawasaki Centre with Bob Quick and Shaun Simons in the workshops and Jane in the parts.
Taunton has always been crap for bike dealers with V&J being the only one for years and boy are they shite. The last decent bike dealer here
was back in the early 80's when we had Taunton Kawasaki Centre with Bob Quick and Shaun Simons in the workshops and Jane in the parts.
