| Author |
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Court
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 02, 2015 - 09:06 am: | 
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>>>>If I wanted those parts, I would have to go physically to the dealer, tell them what I want, pay them, and they would order it.
My local dealer also required an IN PERSON visit to use a credit card . . correct . . . in the age of "1-clck" they wouldn't accept a credit card over the phone.
At one time . . . . and my original plan and proposals . . . there was a vision of having the parts panel online . . owners having accounts and being able to "click and have on the way" any part in the catalog.
The dealers account would automatically be credited based on zip code and it was the total win-win-win solution. Totally sent Harley-Davidson folks into a tizzy and some were pissed off that I actually kept the videos from the M.I.T. presentation when we rolled it out to a select few folks . . who later killed it. |
Fmaxwell
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 02, 2015 - 09:14 am: |
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Oddball wrote: "At first, maybe they can't fully cover that need but it doesn't mean they wouldn't eventually.
And I might eventually get a pilot's license, but until/unless I do, I should not be offering to fly people anywhere.
Oddball wrote: What if the AX was made to be as durable and reliable as an ak?"
If any salesman ever tells you that an adventure bike is so durable and reliable that you don't need to worry about the availability of parts and service, run out of that dealership as fast as your feets can take you.
Oddball wrote: "What if it was easy to diagnose and fix as well as the ability of owners to order from anywhere in the world they needed and get parts quickly shipped to get back on their "adventure"?"
It would be called a "Ural" and would make forty-some horsepower. |
Finedaddy1
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 02, 2015 - 09:42 am: |
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COURT - "the dealers account would automatically be credited based on zip code an it was the total win-win solution"
This is too fool proof!!! I can't understand why no one is doing this, then my harley mentality kicks in and says "we want people to see and touch our MIA POW apparel". |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 02, 2015 - 10:26 am: |
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What if every part had a QR code stamped on it, and there was an EBR smart phone app that would scan them, tell you cost and time to arrival from the closest warehouse, had a link to a wiki page that shows where it goes, what it does, and how to test it, and let you click "buy now" to have it on the way to your door? |
Court
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 02, 2015 - 10:39 am: |
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>>>"buy now" to have it on the way to your door?
And the YouTube . . "how to" instructions for many items. **EDIT**
** which already exist for almost all operations performed on the 1190.
(Message edited by court on September 02, 2015) |
Airbozo
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 02, 2015 - 12:31 pm: |
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The last few posts remind me of a project that I was working on with HD when I was at Silicon Graphics.
We had these shiny new O2's with THE best video and graphics performance for the money (at the time) and we were trying to figure out where else we could market them (besides live video for porn stars), and since HD used SGI systems from the design all the way to exhaust tuning, we had a great idea for them.
We would digitize all the parts manuals for all the bikes (which was already mostly done) and then install a couple of them at each dealer so folks could step up and either search for the part by name or number or even be presented with a full 3d model of your bike where you could click on a button and watch the engine disassemble so you could drill down to things like piston rings, click on it, enter your details for payment (and it even allowed accounts for "one click ordering"). The part in question would be delivered directly to your door. No interaction with the staff required. That ultimately was the demise of the project. We even had prototypes of the system running on web servers that allowed you to order from the comfort of your couch (once the internet actually caught up with the technology, which wouldn't happen for several more years). There was also the ability to attach "How To" videos to the digital manuals (they used my sportster to create the brake pad replacement demo video to show this feature)
We even suggested putting them on the parts counters for use only by employees, but were told their staff would never use them.
Fast forward to present time (almost 20 years later) and their employees are still using paper parts books to lookup part numbers before getting on the computer to see if the part is in stock or even available. |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 02, 2015 - 01:33 pm: |
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Those SGI machines were da-bomb! And, hypothetically speaking, if a big medical equipment provider wanted to sell single vendor maintenance contracts which would require them to service competitors machines, and said competing vendors used SGI machines for their MRI machines, they may or may not have been moronically simple to break into so they can be repaired.
And one may or may not be able to have an AWFUL lot of fun in a room at 2 am with an MRI machine and a paperclip or piece of aluminum when the adults aren't supervising.  |
Oddball
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 02, 2015 - 02:42 pm: |
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The Court signal is seen in the sky. A box quickly placed in his hands. Hangar doors open. "Prepare to launch Helo"
Later at the court signal's origin. "Look, up in the sky, it's bird, it's a plane, it's the court-copter."
Bah-nah nah-nah nah-nah nah-nah,
Court-man.....
Looks like i stirred up the string.
Fmaxwell,
How far in the boonies are you thinking coverage should be? A condition where a dealer is always within a 30 minute drive? Yes the first owners that undertake such a 'round the world adventure would be pioneers for the brand and perhaps need to be a bit hardier, resourceful etc. It appears Court and others have already conceived the thing i was thinking of. With the current speed of delivery anywhere in the world (within limits i imagine) a quick internet order and overnight shipping and someone could be back underway the next day. Probably an expensive option but do-able.
I don't think even the great BMW has that claim the world over. I have seen posting from their owners stuck in places waiting days or more for something as simple as that antenna ring that goes around the ignition. Owners started buying and carrying a spare for if or when theirs went down.
Ok, i'm usually a critical one when looking at products and their flaws. Maybe i drank some old Court kool-aid. Never should have trusted that guy in the pitcher costume. "Oh-Yeah"
Since talk of the AX and future dealer network is hypothetical on here at this point it seemed fine to give a hopeful idea of good for everyone. Yes it probably won't be as great as one hopes but until they underwhelm or disappoint in those cases i'll give them the benefit of the doubt. |
Ebrfan
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 02, 2015 - 08:27 pm: |
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Court, is that an 'copter an Air2 unit your flying? (Not too many companies do that work as you know.) They pulled in ropes for us building a new 345kv line from N. Dakota to Minnesota last year. |
Davegess
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 02, 2015 - 09:25 pm: |
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Anything is possible if you have enough money. Hope Belfar has a lot. |
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