Here is a recent article from The Busted Chronicle...post up your opinion of it...

QUOTE:
This online community is hot!

The internet is rapidly becoming the place to connect and communicate. It’s also a great place for commerce – or is it?

Not if you talk to the after market shops it’s not. And it’s definitely not a great place for commerce if you are a Canadian Parts warehouse.

Money is tight for everyone these days and so the great hunt begins for “cheap” parts. It usually starts by customer phoning his local shop. Asking a ton of questions, getting a part number, and wasting the partsman’s time because buddy goes on the internet and buys on e-bay or from some internet parts houses.

This same customer will then go back to his local shop complaining that the part he bought doesn’t fit or work properly and is offended when the shop says – ”so what do you want me to do, you didn’t buy it here I can’t help you”

Internet parts companies can be a sketchy thing for a number of reasons. Now, I’m not totally versed in this, but I believe it goes something like this: First are perfect parts… they have passed all inspections with flying colors. These get sold by the manufacturer to the parts houses that warehouse. 2nd’s and thirds generally have cosmetic flaws and 4ths can have fatal flaws. 2nds, thirds and fourths are what generally get bought up by the internet companies.

Now I’m not saying that ALL internet parts houses are bad ones, but I’m saying you have to exercise a lot of caution.

A lot of these internet companies have NO RETURNS policy – so if you buy it and it doesn’t fit or work right – yah good luck with that!

For a lot of shops, the small profit they make on parts pays the heat or the electric bill. They are seeing such a decrease in sales that between the MOT, the Insurance Bureau of Canada and the Internet – we may not have many independent custom shops left here in Canada. It’s a tough world out there, so we little people have to stick together.

The next time you go to your local bike shop looking for a door prize or sponsorship, ask yourself this question:
Have I as a customer done my part to earn the support of this shop?

If you are a person who has called a shop, picked their brains and then bought on the internet – go to the internet company and ask them to sponsor your community event.

I believe in supporting the local guy , but remember , the online sales that you may make contribute to your local economy.
As a business owner and always looking to expand to online sales I know that the person that brings my products lives in my city. They buy there gas in my city. They work with people that pick orders , work the front end , process orders , etc etc etc work in my city.

As far as parts that are not of the same quality as the shops , I would have to differ.There may be some suppliers like that. I know for a fact that parts ordered for a shop , and online sales for the most part , are the same. They have a catalogue you order from. say Custom Chrome ( who is in huge financial troubles) has a shop in your area they sell to. A little shop that does online sales as well gets the same products offered to them BUT , most big companies have a minimum price things can be offered for online. If you violate this....... you would get a warning......and if you continue you may loose your account.

I've bought engines online that I've found shipped , brokerage etc etc the engine was delivered right to my city for approx $3200.00 or so and the cost to buy it locally was like $4255.00 or so plus tax........ that was a no brainer !!

The shop doing online sales sends work to your local area in the long run.........

I also disagree on the part quality issue.
As far as bugging the parts guy, there are so many sites online that have detailed schematics for most bikes that it's more convenient to look it up for myself and order by part #.
I think that most bike dealers have such a healthy markup that it's fairly easy for the online guys to come in a tad lower.
As for saving 1055 bucks, that's huge. And a simple decision for sure.

The local dealer will still be the shopping/service place for a high percentage of buyers from what I have seen.
Heck, I bet a lot of riders get their oil changed at the dealer.

The part quality thing depends on who you order from, some of the blowout shops online do use 2nd run parts that didn't meet spec or the dealers etc.

Reputable places like Dennis Kirk, Parts Canada aren't the places I'm talking about.

Wow, that's kinda dirty if they don't label them as seconds.
I guess since it is the internet people feel kinda protected from disgruntled customers.

The only stuff I buy local (and its rare) are helmets and "some" items of clothing. Mainly because I need to try them on.

I have tried a few times to buy locally... I ask what their price is on say some V&H pipes and they say $850... I go to Cruiser Customizing and they are there for $300US.

I would be willing to pay a "small" premium for being able to support local shops... but I prefer to save my donations for the local charities.


Had to buy some tires last year... asked for some quotes on Metzlers... damn near fell off my chair when I heard the cost and the install price.

I rode to the US, got the tires there and installed and rode back. If you add the cost of gas, food, and a night at a hotel to the tire and istall price it STILL came out cheaper... and that was just for 2 tires!

Sure their is a risk if you buy from no-name shops online... but places like Dennis Kirk or (my fav) Cruiser Customizing... never a problem. And I have spent no less then $10,000 for my bikes since 2003. Local people are missing out on some revenues I tell ya...

I agree with you.

However, I always check local first and if the difference is negligable, I buy locally.

For example, I bought a V&H 4 into 1 system a couple seasons back and I ordered it locally because I would have only saved about $40 bucks (on roughly $600) and that was only if I didn't get chargd border costs via the shipper - then it would have turned out the same.

trapper_canada wrote:

QUOTE:

Had to buy some tires last year... asked for some quotes on Metzlers... damn near fell off my chair when I heard the cost and the install price.

Around how much did they quote you? I want to put Metzlers on this fall, but I am worried about the costs involved. I am thinking of doing the install myself, it doesn't look that hard. I always wanted a set of tire spoons anyways
OK, I only found out what they were a few weeks back. LOL

Daniel_r wrote:

QUOTE:

Had to buy some tires last year... asked for some quotes on Metzlers... damn near fell off my chair when I heard the cost and the install price.

Around how much did they quote you? I want to put Metzlers on this fall, but I am worried about the costs involved. I am thinking of doing the install myself, it doesn't look that hard. I always wanted a set of tire spoons anyways
OK, I only found out what they were a few weeks back. LOL[/quote]

Like most anything it is all about having the tools.

Breaking the bead on the old tire is one of the hardest parts. I heart a 2x4 on the rubber and using a car to slowly drive on it works... lol

Teflon spray is critical to put on the rim before using the spoons to get the new rubber on.

Balancing is not hard... we used a broom handle and put the tire between two tables.

I bot the tires at...hmmm...where did I get them... maybe it was mawonline? Geez... swherever it was...it was cheapest.. lol

I read about the 2x4 too. Seems the way to go for sure.
My tires or wheels aren't balanced now and I have read that they use the static balance for race bikes. Good enough for them at those speeds...

Way to go on the DIY.