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BMW Dealerships


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I test rode an S1000RR the other day while my brother in-law was buying an F800GS. WOW, what a bike, but way too power in a small area of the rpm range - for me.

 

Anyway, that was the third time I have been to a BMW dealership (all 3 different locations), and they have all been very clean, and the staff has always been extremely helpful, without being pushy. I know their bikes are expensive, but not only can you test ride almost any bike, but they treat you with the utmost respect. I have not had good luck in the Honda and other dealerships, as sometimes they are downright rude, sometimes pushy, and sometimes they don't even bother to come up to me.

 

The other dealerships should take note.............

 

 

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There are so many shops/outlets, not just for bikes, that don't realize they are in the service industry.

It is all about giving the customer what they want, while giving them a good experience.

There is a large retailer here called Motorcycle Accessory Supermarket.

They've been around for donkey's years, and it's where I bought all my riding gear and accessories when I first started riding in the early 80's.

Last few times I've been there I have been very disappointed.

I took my wife there to get new gloves, after she had tried a few pairs I told her to try all of them to see what fitted the best.

The bloke at the counter just threw them at her and said "for god's sake mate, they're just gloves, they're all the same". We left.

The next time I wanted to buy a specific weight fork oil.

Another bloke came over and asked me what bike I had, when I told him he said I needed 10 weight.

I explained to him that 10 weight means nothing, and you need to go by viscosity index, and I knew exactly what viscosity I wanted, as my forks were far from stock and highly modofied.

I also had a chart with viscosity index for every oil available, so was checking it against what they stocked.

He looked at me and raised his voice to tell me "it's a VFR mate, they need 10 weight".

I asked if he had listened to anything I had just said.

He told me, "forget it mate, get whatever you want, you just can't help people" and left.

So did I.

They're not even cheap, so I can't see what they offer.

 

 

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I always found it weird I could go to a Ducati or Aprilia shop and ride anything, even Hardley will let you test ride, but not a Japanese bike. I was about 22 last time I tried in an Aprilia dealer and they didn't even hesitate to let me ride anything I wanted. I guess maybe the different demographics might make it a little less risky for the European and Hardley dealers, but it still stands that to buy a Japanese bike, you have to do so without having ridden it.


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Not going to defend a dealership but a logic that I’ve seen them use is, since most of these bikes almost sell themselves, why go to the effort of “trying” to sell something that in a few days will be bought by someone who already knows what they want. This also applies to pricing, if the vehicle is a good selling unit, the likelihood of getting any cost break, incentive or other discount, is usually less or non-existent.

 

Another thing to consider is the theft of certain make/models may dictate the lack of demo rides. I saw an article recently that showed motorcycle theft per manufacturer and the top of the list was Honda, followed by the other Japanese makers, with HD as the fifth in the top 5. https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/top-10-motorcycle-theft-statistics-for-2017#page-2  Although I’m not sure how many bikes get stolen during a “test ride” but I have seen a small collection of driver’s license on the wall of a few dealership sales offices!

 

With that being said, between the few dealerships that I frequent, Newport Ducati gets the prize for being friendly, helpful and pretty much customer service centric. Although to be fair to the other two (HB Honda and OC Honda), I’m usually only going there for parts. The Ducati dealer was the only place where I sought out a test ride (2017 Supersport). However, when I did ask about a test ride of the Africa Twin at HB Honda, the salesman said I’m sure we can arrange one if/when you think you’re ready to buy. (Being honest with him, I mentioned that I was interested in the bike but not quite ready to buy at this time)

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12 hours ago, VFROZ said:

There are so many shops/outlets, not just for bikes, that don't realize they are in the service industry.

It is all about giving the customer what they want, while giving them a good experience.

There is a large retailer here called Motorcycle Accessory Supermarket.

They've been around for donkey's years, and it's where I bought all my riding gear and accessories when I first started riding in the early 80's.

Last few times I've been there I have been very disappointed.

 

 

VFROZ, funny you should mention that...

 

A year ago I visited Australia for the first time, and happened to walk by the Motorcycle Accessory Supermarket in Sydney, just south of Hyde Park. Of course I went in, and was very impressed by the selection, and the passion for bikes on the part of the staff (and all the VR46 posters). My wife and I ended up chatting with the manager for half an hour. I didn't make a purchase, but I do recall walking out the door very impressed.

 

Maybe the bar is just set very low here in the U.S.--we have Cycle Gear stores, but they might at best have 20% of the inventory I saw at the MAS in Sydney, and half of that is their house brand. They are merging with Revzilla, so maybe they will improve, but I would kill for something like a MAS near where I live! 

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12 hours ago, VFROZ said:

There are so many shops/outlets, not just for bikes, that don't realize they are in the service industry.

In the last few years, I have had to remind many a people.............."You do realize you are in the SERVICE industry"

 

As age is creeping up on me, I notice I value customer service above everything else, including price. I will gladly pay a bit more for excellent help. When I do get it, I make sure to let the salesman and manager know that they did an exceptional job, and that's why I am a customer.

 

Funny how rarely I get to do that.........

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To top it off, when I do get attention in a Honda store, they don't know anything at all about VFR's.  They sit on the floor until they mark the price down to the value buyers place on them, then they give them away just to get rid of them.  Motorcycle sales are down 6% for the year 2016.  Look at the Harley sales decline.  It's part generational changes and part being the fact that too many people's assets were affected (wiped out in many cases) in an election that took place in 2008.  People are still suffering from tha or learned the value of saving money and living without toys.  Any dealership that carries 4 wheelers will tell you they sell more of them and they require more shop maintenance.  Motorcycles are an afterthought in many dealerships.  

 

As far as BMW dealerships, they are night and day different from Japanese dealerships.  BMW probably requires more from their dealers.     

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I think that was the problem with the two new bikes I bought. The first was a 599, 06 model leftover in June 07. I came in and said that it's what I wanted, the salesman didn't know anything about it and wanted to sell me an FZ06 instead. I had to insist that I'd done my own research and weighed my options and wanted the 599. He rode it home for me and was surprised to like it. It wasn't quite as bad when I got the VFR, I asked for the price, they gave it to me, and I came back a day or two later to finish the sale (or maybe it was a week, not long). The bike was tucked in the back, nobody really knew anything about it, nobody really seemed to care to sell it.

 

To be fair, I think they're more of a Yamaha dealer, but I'd think anyone wanting to buy anything would make them happy. The European dealerships I walked into sold several makes as well, but didn't seem to prefer I buy one or the other. The other Japanese dealers I've talked to were pretty much the same as the first (really, like car dealers, don't know what they're talking about and happy to make things up or whatever they have to do to talk something up), save for one giant place that basically said "here's our price, take it or leave it, have a nice day" after I sought someone out for a Ninja 650.

 

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Selling bikes is easy.

 

The majority of customers who walk through the door already know what they’re interested in and have done a fair amount of research. The shop I worked in required a credit check, copy of your driver’s license, and a signed insurance waiver. You were welcome to ride anything you liked. The bike would sell itself. Either you like it or you don’t. 

 

Also, we carried “cheat sheets” that had the pertinent pricing numbers for every model. We were allowed to make deals on the floor, without all the haggling BS many dealerships make people go through with a sales Mgr. 

 

The easier it is is on the customer, the more bikes the dealer will sell. 

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