Motorcycles shop arn`t what they use to be.

[Hoony]

I too used to go to Taylors in Dandy (Brad was probably the best spares guy in Melb and Daniel was great too) i shortly after the takeover and had some motul g/box oil, some young flunkie behind the counter asked what bike i had and i told him CR500 he then asked some roadbike dickwinder and the guy didn't even know what a honda CR was and i told him i had what i wanted and if he didn't know then it didn't matter. the next time i rang though a parts order with honda part numbers to be told i had to pay a deposit on a $20 order of oil seals. Brad never asked for that as he knew me. now i don't know where to go for OEM stuff.

[geoff22]

Yep - very similar Hoony. They couldnt answer my questions and said the only way to know was to order the part in but I would have to pay for it in advance (about $20) and then I would know - Great - told em not to bother.

My christmas wish would be to have my old favourite yamaha dealers still doing Yamaha -

Stafford Yamaha
Mick Hone
Geoff Taylor

Great shops, great service, great passion

[maico police]

Motorcycle Land in Ballarat are still a good bike shop.
Matt who runs it is a young guy and he has an awfully nice '88 CR500 sitting on the mezzanine floor to salvinate over when you walk in. They've been chasing hard to find Yamaha parts for me for years now and Dennis one of the spares guys has been around Honda dealerships for years now.

It's a two-way street all this. A lot of shops get sick of people sniffing around for prices and complaining about them when they don't like what they hear. They make their money from New bikes (not so much) riding gear, accessories, stupid hats and don't want to be paying their guys for a whole hour chasing up something they might make five bucks on.
Most places want a deposit and it's not the guy behind the jump's fault for asking for it. His boss has no doubt told him that's the way it is because they're sick of getting stuck with parts that people don't pick up (after they've found something cheaper on eBay).

[SPANISH ARMADA]

Couldn't agree more on that Mont I use rightline Yamaha in kyabram for all my bits and pieces for Yamaha and because as u say they don't make a lot out chasing near obselete parts I buy my michys there and I get a good deal front and rear $184 fitted and the service is great never a problem and no deposit to pay at any time cheers

[GMC]

I wonder what some of you guys remember of the old days.
Bike shops I frequented weren’t warehouses for every part for every model. I remember having to order parts by Tuesday to be sure I had them for the weekend.
I rang K & J’s so many times that despite the fact I have hardly been in there for a couple of decades I still remember his phone No off by heart.
The fact that any shop is willing to get the part in for you I believe is a good thing.

[oldfart]

 
 Sevos of the past .... good old fashioned service. 

[shorelinemc]

any one who dosnt ask for a deposit on model specific parts is basiclly just stupid.i have most probaly around 5$-6000.00 worth of parts here that have been ordered and never picked up and i cant send back to the relevent brand.hate having to ask for a deposit but people order stuff then see one cheaper on ebay etc not thinking that i have had to outlay for the part and courier and get stuck with it

[Viper79]

My local power equipment/lawnmower shop won't even book in a repair without a deposit.

[SUZUKI311]

I recall a certain Suzuki/Kawaski dealer in my area who was notorious for not ordering parts when requested, and then blaming all sorts of outrageous scenarios for why your parts werent there. THe best one i heard was "The container fell of the ship, and your parts were in it." Everything was always "Ön backorder". Eventually started using metro dealers who got the parts to me in no time. Yep the good old days werent that good around here for that.

[GD66]

Don't see a stock lineup like this in too many shops nowadays either !
Pinks of Harrow, 1950.

[Tim754]

Shite GD66!!! They obviously must have filled em with oil outside after they were sold....

[Nathan S]

I recall a certain Suzuki/Kawaski dealer in my area who was notorious for not ordering parts when requested, and then blaming all sorts of outrageous scenarios for why your parts werent there. THe best one i heard was "The container fell of the ship, and your parts were in it." Everything was always "Ön backorder". Eventually started using metro dealers who got the parts to me in no time. Yep the good old days werent that good around here for that.

Yeah - the (long since gone) Honda/Yamaha dealer in Nowra was a classic for that. Basically they were permenantly on stop supply with either brand's distributor - so one month would be fine for Honda and nothing from Yamaha, the next month would be the opposite.

-----

Workshops can demand a deposit far more effectively than retail outlets.

It drives me nuts when you're asked for a deposit on something that's supposed to be in stock:
"I'm after a [name your part]"
"Nah, sorry mate - usually got them, sold the last one earlier in the week"
"Oh, OK. When will you have them back in?"
"Oh mate, you'd have to come down and leave a deposit if you want us to get one in for ya!".

The other one as some bearings from my local (to work) car parts place - despite me clearly identifying myself and my place of work (my work does a fair bit of business with them, and they give us all trade discount), he insisted on me coming over to pay a deposit on $30 worth of bearings that were in stock in one of their other stores...
OK, whatever - it's a pain, but not the end of the world.
When I get there, it took a fair bit of effort to convince the bloke that I want to pay the full amount, and that leaving a $5 deposit instead, achieved nothing for either of us...

[GMC]

My local power equipment/lawnmower shop won't even book in a repair without a deposit.

Yeah, Iv'e got a couple of repair jobs been sitting here for years too.

[mainline]

My local power equipment/lawnmower shop won't even book in a repair without a deposit.

Yeah, Iv'e got a couple of repair jobs been sitting here for years too.

Aren't you legally able to sell goods that you've repaired and that haven't been paid for? I think it's 6 months from memory.

[paco]

broken hill [broke and ill]is a funny place.I bought a kdx 200 and went to the kawasaki dealer to see if I could get a manual for it."No they dont make those",I was told by the bloke behind the counter.I said "you would think they would make a manual for it",I replied."No they dont make kdx 200'",I wondered what I had rode up on.p