| Author | Message | ||
     Ezblast |
LOL - thats just it - its in the middle of Cali - yet not another Buell dealership within 200 miles, and the HD dealerships are around 60 miles - go figure - there are a ton of great roads in this area and great weather to boot! Just wondering what happened to that American dream - to bad HD just caters to the rich, a dieing standard, that wants no new blood - sigh... GT - JBOTDS! EZ  | ||
| Glitch |
EZ, what me and New12r are doing is opening a regular ol' bike shop. We'll have to start it off as a side, but with lots of work, I believe we'll be successful. We won't be a Buell dealer, but, we can specialize in Buell, Vtwins and the like. We'll be the model of customer service. We won't be tied to the mothership either, so we get to make the rules. By not being only Buell, we'll have a broader customer base. Maybe you could look into something like that? | ||
| Woody1911a1 |
Hey EZ btw , i wasn't making fun of you passion for blasts , i admire it . love mine . but like Glitch said , why not be an independent shop . makes startup way more feasable . several indy shops near me . clothing , helmets , service and lots of quality used bikes . | ||
| Glitch |
Thumps 'R' Us? | ||
| Woody1911a1 |
Thumps 'R' Us yup just Blasts and 441 Victors lol | ||
| Glitch |
WHAT?! No Royal Enfield? | ||
| Jimidan |
Jlnance sez If you live in Atlanta, surely you realize that it is like a cultural oasis in vast desert. If you live in Stone Mtn, surely you realize that it is no Atlanta. I just looked on the map and Stone Mtn. is just outside the corporate limits of Atlanta...like what, 1 mile maybe? It is still well within the influence of this major metropolitan district. jimidan} | ||
| Glitch |
Let it go Jimidan, start yourself another thread, or get back to the topic. | ||
| Glitch |
I'll say it again, start yourself another thread, or get back to the topic. | ||
| Ezblast |
I am considering just that, still - ya know - I have not 1 but 2 possibilities involving MC shops - both look promising - one in way upper Ca and one smack dab in the middle - lol GT - JBOTDS! EZ | ||
| Glitch |
Start the one with the lowest risk, and when you're ready to expand, head over to the other place. A Thumper Emporium may just be what the West Coast needs. | ||
| Court |
>>>I checked into this once thinking it's what I would like to do. I did too. In fact, Scott Miller and Scott Habbegger of Buell Distribution even had a deal to get HD to underwrite some of the financing in a market they wanted to get into. Ain't happening . . . at least for a while and claims of "Stand alone Buell dealer" recently sured got a few feathers ruffled. Imagine that you've anted up a $1,000,000 of your own money, pledged personal assets as security and filled out all Bill Evers forms to get a HD dealership. Then, 6 months later, 2 miles down the road appears a Buell dealer with access to the HD P&A system H-Dnet and (the most confusing of all) Sportster engine parts. . . at least a lot of them. Tough deal to see as you may well imagine. Several years ago, probably like 15 now, HD responded to dealer interest by offering a way dealers could sell some stuff. . . at one time it was the local mall t-shirt outlets, at locations OTHER than the registered locations. These are known as ARO's or Alternate Retail Locations and there was some other language at one time. The idea is kinda neat but the numbers simply don't even come close to working at this time. By the way . . at the time I was speaking about above, Detroit, MI was the #1 sportbike market in the nation. . . and HD wanted in bad. There was TONS of disposable income earned by guys who really adhered to a "But American" mindset. . . Things, obviously, have changed. Atlanta, by the way, has ALWAYS been a hotbed of Buell activity, How many of you remember Alison? . . arguably the start of all the Buell excitement in Atlanta. Court | ||
| Sleez |
someone will no doubt correct me, but as i recall, there have been at least two previous stand alone buell dealers that are no longer functional as such. there was one in santa cruz and one in san francisco, both associated with their local HD dealerships if i am remembering right? and as far as i recall hearing, the santa cruz one no longer exists and i know the SF one is no longer a buell store, i think they moved the buells back to the main store and sell service and parts out of the satellite store. anyone??? oh yeah, there was also modesto, can't forget danny and crew, they sold buell and ducati, now no buell! and they too were associated, i believe, with the HD store up the street. | ||
| Jimidan |
The 3 most important factors determining the success of a business, especially a stand alone business, is location, location, location. Atlanta would be one of the better locations for a stand alone Buell store, because like Court sez, it has always been a hotbed of Buell activity. Now, there are a number of reasons why that is true, which I elucidated on in my previous post. They are very much "on topic", but whether you agree with them or not, is another matter. jimidan | ||
| Jayvee |
I worked 2 blocks away from the Dudley Perkins dealership for over 25 years, and popped over there regularly. They just moved to Colma/South San Francisco couple months ago. They always had a Buell or 2 but never really seemed to be into them much. It was in front of Mars Custom Cycles (now defunct) 1 block the other way, where I first saw the yellow S1 that hooked me on Buell. That guy at one time was trying to market a Buell-ish sport-bike based on a big twin engine. He did complete one, but don't know if they ever sold any. I just can't recall anything like a stand alone Buell dealer in San Francisco. I would have thought I would have noticed. Dudley's does have one of them Alternate Retail Locations ("boutiques") down at Fisherman's Wharf tourist spot. Sure curious to me why I don't see that many Buells around. | ||
| S2pengy |
Alison was a great asset at Earls, for sure and very much missed by me... One of the reasons not mentioned for Atlanta to work well with Buells is the closeness to the mountains for some of the best riding around. I have observed that most Buell dealers that work well also have good mountainous and or curvey riding areas close by. But there are alot of good riding areas that have no Dealer.. | ||
| Davegess |
One issue for a "stand alone" would be volume. With only 10,000 bikes made each year one would have to move a pretty serious percentage of that total to pay the rent. I would think you need to sell a 100 bikes a month to make it. I can't see a store with only Buell being able to survive at this time but then I am just guessing. | ||
| Sleez |
Jayvee, the old main store on Van Ness, and the service/parts store at 66 Page st. the store on page st. used to be the buell only store for awhile, now the whole kit and caboodle has moved to S. SF | ||
| Ezblast |
Yes and DP sucks! A stand alone store could still do general repairs, maint., etc on other bikes, and specialize on Buells - thus having the best of both worlds - lol - as other stores in the Bay area do. GT - JBOTDS! EZ | ||
| Anonymous |
USA Top 10 Buell dealer sales 75 72 64 59 55 54 53 51 50 46 Assume 10,000 retail price per bike, Average sales units for Top 10 dealer from above is 59 bikes each, there is NO WAY a dealer can sustain themselves on 600K of revenue a year. Building rent, Employees, Equipment, Training, Liability, Utilities, not to mention that they actually have to buy the bikes and hold them in inventory. | ||
| Glitch |
I am just guessing. Isn't that supposed to be Gessing? | ||
| Anonymous |
Other anony's statement is not correct, and is a very small part of the dealer business picture. Actually, dealers survive on much more than the sales of new bikes. Sales of used bikes, gear and service are what make shops make it. Now this may not be true of H-D dealers who make money on everything and are very wealthy. But it is the world of most motorcycle dealers. Actually there are quite a few shops that make a nice living for their owners who don't even have any new brand franchise. | ||
| Woody1911a1 |
well , does a dealership have to be 10,000 sq ft and have 30 employees ? nooo my local Triumph dealership has been in buisness for about 10 years . total space less than 2,000 sq ft . employees one part time mechanic plus the owner . nice little showroom with one of each bike always in stock and the whole line of Triumph clothing and accesories(which is actually quite extensive ). can't imagine he sells more than 50 a year but he was showing me the plans for the new house he's building so i could give him an estimate on the kitchen and he certainly isn't hurting if he can afford to spend 400k building a new house . | ||
| Court |
>>>Actually there are quite a few shops that make a nice living for their owners who don't even have any new brand franchise. That's an accurate statement as a perusal of the Dealernews Top Dealers supports. In fact, back in 1995 when TEAM BUELL idea was being scripted, one of the area captains ran a Top Dealership that had NO NEW product. . . just DAMN good service that folks came from near and far for. It's a question involving numbers, it's not entirely a question of numbers.....unlike the frickin' homework I am suppose to be doing here in the library Court (Er, should I be anonymous too. . . I'm feeling a bit left out!) | ||
| Madduck |
Court, Merely posting as anonymus will not hide your impeccable style and deft turn of phrase. Some people are just hard to disguise. Sort of the same problem Ferris ride tales would have or Rockets red flares. | ||
| Rainman |
Rockets red flares...that sounds like a song cue... | ||
| Jimidan |
Anony said: USA Top 10 Buell dealer sales 75 72 64 59 55 54 53 51 50 46 And who are the top 10 Buell selling stores? Thanks.} | ||
| Ezblast |
Wrong! - lol | ||
| Naustin |
I called my nearest "Pegasus" dealer today for a quote on tires for my S3. I won't do any business with my local shop, and this "Pegasus" shop is only about 100 miles away. Anyway, they quoted me $640 bucks.  I put 4 tires on my car 2 weeks ago for $350. Then he told me that that the tires are $150 and $190 a piece (which I though was a little high), but I thought OK - so that's still $300 in labor - just to change my tires?! And they said it would only take an hour!!  I'm sorry, but I'm not paying $300/hour for anybody's time. Well, whatever. Suffice it to say, I'm not going to the "Pegasus" dealer either. With labor rates like that, they're probably making more money on the service work than on selling bikes. | ||
| Pammy |
Naustin, I think you should call again. Someone surely misquoted(egregiously). But you certainly cannot change tires (on the bike) in 1 hour. There are a few factors that go in to developing a time table for working on a bike(or any vehicle). Once you have the tool in hand and touching the bike is NOT where the clock starts. |
