laughlin laff-in / shootings nklr

[Devon Jarvis]

Is it too much to ask that an authorized dealer stock common consumeables, for current models that they sell? Both of the authorized Kawi dealers in town don't stock so much as a clutch cable or an air filter for a KLR. I was looking for a speedometer cable, and the only place in town that has one isn't even a Kawi dealer (Cycle therapy on west 38th, I go there istead of the place I bought the bike ten blocks north). I spoke to someone at Kawasaki USA, who agreed that the situation was lamentable and would open a complaint file regarding it. But there is no requirement for spare parts inventory in the dealer contract that Kawasaki and the dealers sign. The last four bikes I've had were Yamahas, and I have never had problems getting things like cables, filters etc. I had better luck getting parts for my 24-year-old SR500, and that was discontinued in the US in '81. Devon A15

[guytal1]

> Both of the authorized Kawi dealers in town don't stock so much as a > clutch cable or an air filter for a KLR.

My dealer didn't even have a gas tank screw in stock. I have to sit idle for a week while they order the stupid thing. Seems Kawasaki in their infinite wisdom made the screw non-standard so you have to buy the OEM. Guy

[Gord Mounce]

Actually - as my Saturday job involves working at a dealership I feel I need to defend the shop on this one.... How many KLR gas tank screws do you think a Kawi dealer sells in a year? Probably about one every seven years actually. As someone pointed out; the parts guy takes the order, the order guy orders the part, the receiving guy puts it away and calls you, then you pick it up from the parts guy and finally pay for it at the cashier, they haven't made a cent off it anyway. Any decent sized shop is carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars in parts. I work at the biggest shop in Canada, which makes it the fourth biggest in North America. (yes, we have demos.) There's almost 100 employees, 8 product lines, and a fortune of parts on the shelves. The parts in stock are there because there is a sales history of these parts -- they have proven over time that they move. The fact is, the parts guy at the dealership gets yelled at all day long because the part they absolutely `should' have isn't in stock. Sometimes it is the dealership's fault, and they get caught short on everyday staples like 21 inch tubes. However, when I worked in parts I was chewed out because `I' didn't have an R6 clip-on, a starter for an `82 Gold Wing, left saddlebag lid for a BMW K1200LT and a hundred other parts that any dealership looking for bankruptcy would have on the shelves. Most shops carry what they think or know will move, and use the majority of their cash on hand to buy big in accessories to get a better deal from the wholesalers. (There's much more money in accessories anyway.) If we do have a part in stock I get bitched at cuz it's too expensive. As for bad advice at the dealer - there's plenty of it. You can have a bunch of top people on hand, but if you have one misinformed employee the shop looks stupid because of it. Bike shop jobs, for the most part, don't pay enough to retain good, knowledgeable staff, so there's a high turnover rate. Guys like me who have been riding for 17 years, including everything from pro-level roadracing to sport/long-distance touring to dual-purpose riding are rare, and most of us don't stick around because we have real jobs that don't involve having to listen to dumbasses with Vulcan 800s who don't listen to good advice even when they ask for it.... Speaking of advice -- it's bad advice that you can't ride your klr with just one screw holding the tank on. Go for a ride already! Anyway - just wanted to take a sec to let you guys know what it's like to be on the other side of the counter. gord

[mnron2002]

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "Gord Mounce" wrote:

> Actually - as my Saturday job involves working at a dealership I

feel I need

> to defend the shop on this one.... > > How many KLR gas tank screws do you think a Kawi dealer sells in a

year?

> Probably about one every seven years actually. As someone pointed

out; the

> parts guy takes the order, the order guy orders the part, the

receiving guy

> puts it away and calls you, then you pick it up from the parts guy

and

> finally pay for it at the cashier, they haven't made a cent off it

anyway.

> > Any decent sized shop is carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars

in parts.

> I work at the biggest shop in Canada, which makes it the fourth

biggest in

> North America. (yes, we have demos.) There's almost 100 employees,

8

> product lines, and a fortune of parts on the shelves. The parts in

stock are

> there because there is a sales history of these parts -- they have

proven

> over time that they move. The fact is, the parts guy at the

dealership gets

> yelled at all day long because the part they absolutely `should'

have isn't

> in stock. Sometimes it is the dealership's fault, and they get

caught short

> on everyday staples like 21 inch tubes. However, when I worked in

parts I

> was chewed out because `I' didn't have an R6 clip-on, a starter for

an `82

> Gold Wing, left saddlebag lid for a BMW K1200LT and a hundred other

parts

> that any dealership looking for bankruptcy would have on the

shelves. Most

> shops carry what they think or know will move, and use the majority

of their

> cash on hand to buy big in accessories to get a better deal from the > wholesalers. (There's much more money in accessories anyway.) If

we do have

> a part in stock I get bitched at cuz it's too expensive. > > As for bad advice at the dealer - there's plenty of it. You can

have a bunch

> of top people on hand, but if you have one misinformed employee the

shop

> looks stupid because of it. Bike shop jobs, for the most part,

don't pay

> enough to retain good, knowledgeable staff, so there's a high

turnover rate.

> Guys like me who have been riding for 17 years, including

everything from

> pro-level roadracing to sport/long-distance touring to dual-purpose

riding

> are rare, and most of us don't stick around because we have real

jobs that

> don't involve having to listen to dumbasses with Vulcan 800s who

don't

> listen to good advice even when they ask for it.... > > Speaking of advice -- it's bad advice that you can't ride your klr

with just

> one screw holding the tank on. Go for a ride already! > > Anyway - just wanted to take a sec to let you guys know what it's

like to be

> on the other side of the counter. >

Gord, thanks for the "view from the other side". Most of us know all of this as we've been involved with the industry for a while, usually as consumers. Reading this list, it's very obvious to most that we are an "educated consumer" as well. It's good for those not-in-the- know to ask these questions and for folks like yourself to help educate us all. Remember folks, there are good dealers as well. Support them and let the bad ones die a natural death by income starvation. Just my $.02 worth.... MNRon

> gord

[guytal1]

> How many KLR gas tank screws do you think a Kawi dealer sells in > a year? Probably about one every seven years actually. As someone > pointed out; the parts guy takes the order, the order guy orders > the part, the receiving guy puts it away and calls you, then you > pick it up from the parts guy and finally pay for it at the > cashier, they haven't made a cent off it anyway.

You just brought up an even better point - why would I need to go through a dealer and 4-5 people who all need to get paid just to get a screw that costs maybe 2c to manufacture and I end up paying $2 for it? Maybe the bigger issue here is the inefficiency built into the dealer system. Why should I not be able to just order directly from the manufacturer or distributor and save myself and the dealer a lot of hassle? I can understand if we're talking about volume orders, but in this case the dealer will order the same number of items I would order on my own, so what's the point? Guy KLR650 A13

[btl6847]

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "mnron2002" wrote:

> --- In DSN_klr650@y..., "btl6847" wrote: > > --- In DSN_klr650@y..., "Stuart Mumford" wrote: > > > Herr Bill dictated: > > > Hey, how 'bout them Angels beatin the Mongols in the Vegas

series?

> > > Pretty good publicity for motorcyclists all over, huh? I am

sure

> > > we'll all benefit from that one. > > > ----------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > Indeed. I was thinking about marketing some bulletproof chaps / > > black > > > leather vests. > > > What a scene that must have been. 6 bikers shooting it out, and > > 1500 lawyers > > > and hairdressers diving for cover. > > > > > > 31 days until Moab M-16 Meltdown. > > > > > > CA Stu > > > LMAO!- > > Hey. I'll talk Jake into making a M-16 mount for the KLR. Mount > left > > side so you can contol throttle while defending against 1%ers.

Camo

> > bike and gun, nobody notices until too late. Man, I need to go to > > sleep... > > > > Brian > > Brian, sure you're not asleep now and dreaming??? > > MNRon

Your right. Jake would never do M-16 mount. He'd opt for long range rifle. Never get close to the oil spills. One hand operation of throttle might cause a slip, loss of control... Brian