--- 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