Oz Local manufacturing

[Ted]

With all the doom and gloom about manufacturing and the economy, you'd think people would lift their game. Went to the Kawasaki shop yesterday to source some seals for rear brake, when I told the parts guy 1981 he just looked at me stupid and said "nah mate, we dont carry anything that far back" wasnt even interested in making a phone call, needless to say I didnt ask about the fork springs for the same bike. Went home rang up a site in America, "yes sir we will have them in stock, will just check" gone for a minute, "sorry about the delay sir, we have them in stock and can ship today" Say no more, no wonder we are ratshit.

Ken Baker #54

Big mistake. Never tell the parts guy what it's for. Just quote part numbers. He doesn't need to know and doesn't care anyway. If he or the manufacturer doesn't have it ask him to check every dealer OZ wide for it. Yamaha have that service and will write down contact details for you.

 In the manuals and technical doco on the front page of the forum is all the part numbers and diagrams you will ever need.

[Mike52]

I often waste my time going from shop to shop in this town trying to buy something.
The last search was for a Garmin GPS mount.
There are 7 shops listed as selling Garmin in this town.
Never did get what I wanted , one shop said that they sold Garmin stuff but did not stock it , another shop said that the had sold one last month and had not bothered restocking..
I have now taken to saying " just remember that I came to you first and now I'me going home to buy it off Ebay ".

[kdx Geoff]

" just remember that I came to you first and now I'me going home to buy it off Ebay ".

l like that Mick.

When l visit the local Kawasaki dealer to try for parts, they have to get the parts fish out as my models are not in their computer, anyway the last time owner said 'have we actually sold you anything yet ?' (they had) They're probably not going to have it in stock even if its available but l try to keep the money in town. It made me feel that even looking for air cooled kdx parts was a waste of his time !  At least the parts blokes aren't like that.

lm going to try the part number next time Ted.

You don't just buy parts at bike shops.





   

[FourstrokeForever]

None of the bike shops that I have tried can be bothered looking for parts for obsolete bikes, even if you have purchased a new bike from them and shit loads of tyres.... They're just not interested. It's amazing how quick they will tell you that the part you want is no longer available though. Even when you tell them you can get it off the "net", they tell you "you best get it from there then"! So what is it with having the "dead stock" fishes that ALL dealers can use then?
Service in this once great country has hit an all time low. Not just in bike shops, but near on every shop you go to. It's like anything you ask for is a pain in the arse. Even at the local bakery where they see you 3 or 4 times a week. The person at the counter of the local IGA will stand staring at you while they talk to their boyfriend on the ode cologne. At least you know when you walk into coles or woolies, you aren't going to get any service.
I've only ever had the displeasure of owning one brand new car in my life. Yep, it was a Holden. A 5.7 litre VY one tonner when they first came out. I was fencing at the time and when I realised that the car could not carry anything above 600kg safely, I went to the dealer and complained, with a load on the back to demonstrate. The headlights were pointing to the sky. I was told I shouldn't have ordered the steel tray as that reduced the carrying capacity..... WTF. Cut a long story short, I got some of the load helper springs from the local auto parts shop, and when I was fitting them, I had to take the lower mounting plate off to fit the load helpers. What did I see under the leaf springs?  "Made in Taiwan". I thought, no wonder it won't carry a load. Then I had clutch problems. It wouldn't pull a 6'x4' trailer of gravel up a steep driveway. I was told by the dealer that I was over loading the car. I asked to put in a warranty claim anyway as the car was useless to me as it was . Reluctantly, the dealer did it. 2 weeks later, a new clutch was fitted. Then 5th gear started whining. Another warranty claim. Yep, got a new gearbox. Another month or so, 6th gear shit itself when I was driving home with nothing on the back and an empty trailer. Back to the dealer again with my tales of woe, only to be told that I bought the wrong vehicle for the job....I should of got a Rodeo! I had to argue to get him to put in a warranty claim for me. Anyway, the 2nd new gearbox got fitted and I sold the car. It didn't even have 30 thousand K's on it! Only god knows what else would of gone wrong if I kept it.
 I will NEVER buy another new car, of any make. My experience left me with a very bitter taste in my mouth. I wonder how many more people are out there that can relate to my story? Probably more than the car industry will ever admit to.

[Ted]

In 1988 I bought a VT 5ltr SS. Of the 13 weeks I had it 7 of those were spent in the shop. When I enquired why it had so many issues he said its the first of a new model. I said that Holden are celebrating 50 years of making cars and still can't make them. He just shrugged his shoulders. Sold it for 15K less than I paid for it. Absolute garbage.

I now drive Subaru. Fantastic cars and service.

As far as work vehicles go you cannot go past Iveco Daily. 40 K service intervals instead of every 5K for the Japs. 200,000 K's in 5 years without any problems. Much more comfortable and easily more powerful than anything in its class. Just recently towed a fully loaded 5 bike trailer weighing two tonnes to Grafton from Sydney in just under 6 hours. 36 hours driving time Sydney to Perth. They are a good thing.

[oldfart]

Ted .... are you saying the oil and filters  gets changed at 40,000klm intervals

[FourstrokeForever]

In 1988 I bought a VT 5ltr SS. Of the 13 weeks I had it 7 of those were spent in the shop. When I enquired why it had so many issues he said its the first of a new model. I said that Holden are celebrating 50 years of making cars and still can't make them. He just shrugged his shoulders. Sold it for 15K less than I paid for it. Absolute garbage.

I now drive Subaru. Fantastic cars and service.

As far as work vehicles go you cannot go past Iveco Daily. 40 K service intervals instead of every 5K for the Japs. 200,000 K's in 5 years without any problems. Much more comfortable and easily more powerful than anything in its class. Just recently towed a fully loaded 5 bike trailer weighing two tonnes to Grafton from Sydney in just under 6 hours. 36 hours driving time Sydney to Perth. They are a good thing.

Yeah, I had an Iveco daily 40C13 model when I was operating my bike transport business. I used to average around 6000k's every 9-10 days, always with bikes in the back and a 6 bike trailer behind. It was a fantastic little truck. Never missed a beat in the 4 years I owned it. And it was comfortable with plenty of leg room, unlike the Mercedes sprinter tray back. It would sit on 100kmh all day long and pull a decent clip going up hills as well. As a matter of fact, I had to keep an eye on the speedo so it didn't get away on me. When I got home, it was my race bike transporter and I slept in the back. Me and a mate drove it over to Narrogin WA for WAVMX 15th year anniversary, fully loaded with bikes, spares and enough gear for 3 blokes. Never missed a beat. Great little trucks.

[Ted]

Ted .... are you saying the oil and filters  gets changed at 40,000klm intervals

That's correct. Iveco Daily service intervals are every 40 thousand kilometers . Approx $800 a pop

Unlike the Isuzu I had before it. Service every 5 thousand at approx $700 a pop. Do the maths.

[FourstrokeForever]

I did my own services with my Iveco. I changed the oil and filters every 10,000km's. Pretty much after every big trip. Better to have clean oil than to stretch it out to becoming no better than chip oil. The only time I went to a dealer was when I had to replace the diff and gearbox oils after driving through floods. That needed the Iveco approved oils that are used to continue with the warranty. Replacing the working end of the brake system, pads and discs, was the most I ever spent on the little truck. $800 and I was all set with new brakes. They are four wheel discs so I thought that was reasonable seeing as I didn't have to get my hands dirty. If I didn't make the truck carry so much weight every where I went, the brakes probably would of lasted a lot longer than 200,000 k's.

[Mike52]

Just read in todays paper [ may not be correct ] that the workers at GMH Australia were paid $50 per hr to work on the line.
I am wondering why people getting paid $20 per hr and washing toilets for a living have been  subsidizing these guys , and others that I won't mention at this time.
Recipe for a future civil disturbance I rekon.

[topari]

The GMH workers also pay about 3 Million per year in union fees. The last 6 years saw the unions well represented in Government. If the electorate continue to support the Government we may see a lot of adjustments in Australia. However, WorkChoices apparently was not well received. I'm not confident. The new candidate for Rudd's seat is an expert in IR and employment law. Just the type of person we could do without.

[AjayVMX]

Toyota is a gonner too.

[jerry]

My neighbour used to work for Denso. Tells me friend there says Toyota out in New Year.

[matcho mick]

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/holden-the-car-makers-australian-exit-is-a-good-thing-20131214-2zdvv.html#ixzz2nX5MAJQG

[Nathan S]

Are those wage figures correct? Or more lies, designed to demonise Holden, its workers and "unions"?
They seem highly unlikely to me...

There's a bloke on another forum who says he's recently taken a redundancy from Holden. 4-weeks pay for taking the redundancy, and 3 weeks pay for every year of service. He also claims that most blokes are paid around $800/week.
So you'd need to have worked there for hundreds of years to get the reported "typical" $300k~500k redundancy payout...

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More generally, the car industry is not that important by itself. But it is significan because it is a reliable indicator of the health of a country's manufacturing sector.
Ford and Holden (and Toyota?) not making cars in Australia IS a big deal - not because we need new Falcadores, but because their absence shows that our manufacturing sector is up shit creek.

Manufacturing is very important because it adds a lot of value, and employs a wide range of skill levels (professionals through to unskilled labor).

There are a number of reasons why the car industry is heavily subsidised across the globe. Let us not forget what the US government did for GM in the wake of the GFC...

I predicted an Australian recession within six months of the election. This may well be what precipitates it.