Let the dealer search for the part numbers and get paid for it and he can take the hit when he gets the wrong part. He treats me good and I treat him the same. I get 10% discount without asking.

 

My dealer sucks, so local isn't so great for me. They charge full retail on all new bikes. They charge higher than retail on used bikes. Parts are full 100%, never a discount. They just cancelled their reward program. They also charge over 100% for motorclothes, gear, etc. They aren't too nice and friendly when I'm there, either. F local....

 

At mine a few weeks ago I went on a ride, when my security light (also a DTC warning) came on I decided to turn back since I had no idea what it was and didn't want to get further and further from home. Stopped in and explained the issue with the parts/service guy who coincidentally had sold me the new speedo - he went out, looked at the code stored and the behavior of the bike and since service was real busy he went and pulled out the manual and we looked up what turned out to be a signal issue. Not critical and I decided then I needed to get the electrical manual also as well as a new bulb just in case - so they helped me out, sold a manual in the process and as it turns out it looks like nothing more that water where it shouldn't have been. I can't say for sure I'd have got the same from another employee or not - but this one is a good one that when he couldn't help one way, found another way to do what he could.

 

To me, there is a differece between "salespeople" and "customer service" and I am the latter of the two. I don't talk people into purchases, I don't up sell for the sake of commission, and I try to be honest and look out for the benefit of the customer. This will suit us both best in the long run as I will have a life long client, as opposed to a one time customer and they'll know they can trust me to help them with thief needs. I have a motto in my job, "I will bend over backward for my clients, but I won't bend over forward!"

It's a two way street. If I try to offer the best shopping experience that they've ever had and keep my prices more than reasonably competitive, I can just do me and let my competition either try and keep up or otherwise put themselves out of business.

I don't get why there has been this upswing in dealership bashing, but I'll tell you this much: when everyone puts their local dealers out of business by leaching from them product knowledge, information, part numbers, and "checking stuff out" in person, just to go buy it online, we'll all be screwed when we need that one little no brainer part but we have to wait a week to be back on the road because we all have to order everything from Surdyke! These locals will go under just from overhead operating costs alone. Not to mention the benefit of having a human being in front of you to ask questions face to face, which has an inherent value all of its own

I get it, a bargain is a bargain, and who doesn't like to save money? But how many of you, for example, would want to be a machanic that gives a free estimate on a car repair, only to have the "customer" call some undocumented worker to come in, do a half-*** job, charge 20% less than what you'd charge to do the job right in the first place, then have them come back to you and whine that some "illegal ripped them off!?"

I deal with a parallel situation on no less than weekly basis, and this is ultimately what a lot of you guys are boasting about. I just don't know what ever happened to paying a respectable price for a quality product. Driving the price down until there is no profit only puts local people out of work, drives more manufacturing overseas, and hurt us all in the long run.

Sorry for the rant, I am just on the recieving end of this way too often by people who don't even give me the chance to give them the best service they've ever had because they were too busy chasing a few bucks in savings.

***edit, I don't work at an HD dealership, I work at a local family-owned music store that's been around 81 years. We are about a mile away from the big chain in music retail. I guess that makes me the indy and them an HD dealership. It's sad that my company survived the great depression, but was almost run out of business by the internet and big box companies undercutting in order to woo away customers.***

 

Service, quality repair, and hard parts are three very different things. If you just need a part and can wait, if it's a lot of money, get it online. If you're the type of person that needs someone to work on your bikes, then be nice to, and frequent your indy shop.

 

XjldX, you've summed it up very well. The only part you didn't mention is how all the "buy it online" people expect top wages for whatever they do and full compensation for whatever they do and would be offended by the suggestion they work for minimum wage or work free one day a week or any other thing that discounted their work the way they want to discount the local dealer. Better yet, let's figure out an alternative source so we can ignore them all together and cause them to have no work at all. It should be fine if we show them the same amount of concern for their occupation as they show others shouldn't it? After all, we all know they are overpaid and worth no more than at most 80% of what they get (their msrp). Right? Good luck to you and your family in your business.

 

I order online then have an H-D mech I know do the install under the table in his garage. I'm a real cheap SOB! lol

 

I asked both my local HD parts guys (owned by same people) about getting a discount on parts vs buying at 20% off online and the response at both places was, "Nope!"

 

I've found that sometimes whether a local 'bricks and mortar' store will work with you can be just a matter of your approach ...

When I was living in Virginia, I developed a pretty good relationship with a local dealer's parts and service guys ...

One of the guys I met when he was working a part-time job as a bouncer ... when I was at the dealer for a visit, I'd spend some time and chat ... got to know most of the guys pretty well ...

I would kind of bounce ideas off them ... and if there was a big purchase I was contemplating, my friend Bobby might volunteer 'we're having a 15% off sale next Saturday' ... or something ...

On one occasion, they had a sale where you drew a ticket and it gave a percentage discount up to 30% off ... well, I drew a 5% off ticket ... when I showed it to Bobby, he said he could do better than that ... ended up giving me 20% off ...

I've also been able to work with a few other guys at other dealers, who in a similar manner, would help me get to where the price difference between the discount price (once shipping was factored in) was not too far off the local price after sales tax ...

I am sensitive to the fact that the store still has to pay their overhead and keep the doors open ... that is also true however of Surdyke, Lakeshore HD, Newcastle (Zanotti), etc ...

Because the retail mark up is so great, they can still make money by discounting ... after all, the dealerships have sales periodically when they discount their retail prices ...

 

it always is cheaper.. by ordering the parts, you skip the middle man,or several middle men.. a lot of times, you can order parts cheaper then the dealer cost.