Is this the way biking is going?

[daytona-supersport]

Dealers. Hmm. A friend just recently Px'd his Harley 1200 sportster for a new bike. The trade in was in the showroom with a 2K mark up. It was sold within a couple of weeks. Ok any dealer is entitled to a profit but so many of them are just plain greedy.

[Throttled]

Hi I live in Glasgow with a population of just over a million , this year we are loosing a triumph dealer,Kawasaki dealer , a Yamaha dealership.also we have no bmw dealership in Glasgow.also can am have shut down. What is all about.i just hope company's like amazon are not going to branch into selling bikes, as there killing a lot of other bossiness .as living in Glasgow's west end near the university ,there's only now one book shop , very sad. Comments please of your part of the country.cheers al

Same as you, as you know. I see Kawasaki are continuing until later in the year before moving to Fenwick (maybe) which is 32 miles from me. BMW are now at East Kilbride which is 30 miles from me. We are left with Suzuki, Ducati, Honda, H-D and Royal Enfield. There is a huge rise in the number of UK/Chinese bike's available from multi dealerships; Sinnis/AJS/Hyosung/Zontes (AAA Paisley), Kymco (Ride On), WK/Zontes/Boatian/Lexmoto/Pulse(Portman Motors). From small acorns......

I think that shows a shift from the more expensive to cheaper bikes in a city that loved Lada like it now loves Dacia. Have you noticed just how many Dacia's there are on the roads already?

I think the future is multiple dealerships and that is when Yamaha and Triumph will return.

[Possu]

Dealers. Hmm. A friend just recently Px'd his Harley 1200 sportster for a new bike. The trade in was in the showroom with a 2K mark up. It was sold within a couple of weeks. Ok any dealer is entitled to a profit but so many of them are just plain greedy.

Just because it's marked up £2k that doesn't mean they'll make £2k profit.

Out of that £2k, they need to deduct costs for prep, valeting, any servicing that may be due and possibly a warranty. Say they take an offer of £500 less, all of the above can total another £500 which leaves a £1k profit out of which they'll then deduct salesman's commission and VAT. The remaining profit goes back in to the business and pays for decent showrooms etc. Note that not every bike has that sort of mark up and occassionally, some bikes make a loss or just break even when sold. Also note that if a bike does not sell within a few months, it depreciates as does every vehicle and is written down in value, that loss comes from the supposed £2k "profit".

[minkyhead]

i dunno we have some big dealers northwest ....
orrell superbikes ... preston superbikes ... kjm writington ... wigan yamaha ..... millenium at st helens is a huge shop benneli suzuki victory yamaha mv agusta kawasaki sym enfield ..bolton superbikes ... hunts honda manchester .... preston honda ... southport superbikes bmw chorley yamaha ... ...youles trumph ... manchester ducati ... manchester bmw ... robinsons rochdale ... preston harley the rocket centre blackburn ..even ccm bolton ..no shortage of iron down here theres loads of bikes (thumbs)

[rlkat]

It might be down to the fear of the referendum outcome...

It's not just Glasgow though, what bike shops are there in Manchester these day (the second city):
[ul]
[li]Hunts Honda[/li]
[li]Youles Triumph[/li]
[li]Williams BMW (which is in Trafford, not Manchester)[/li]
[li]Ducati Manchester (which is in Trafford, not Manchester)[/li]
[li]errrmmmm.... Wigan Yamaha[/li]
[/ul]
Not good. Not good at all.

Dave

You're wrong about Scotland. When Alex Salmond wins the referendum everything will be perfect! Infact he says that every person will get everything they ever wanted because Scotland is going to be the bestest & wealthiest country there's ever been. Social deprivation will be a thing of the past and you'll want for nothing in 'Salmond World'. They'll be a motorcycle showroom at the end of every street dishing out free motorcycles. We won't have to work so we can ride all day, filling up at free petrol stations where they change your tyres for free, where free servicing comes with a free blow job... yep, everything's going to be freakin' perfect!!!!

[Richard Simpson]

It might be down to the fear of the referendum outcome...

It's not just Glasgow though, what bike shops are there in Manchester these day (the second city):
[ul]
[li]Hunts Honda[/li]
[li]Youles Triumph[/li]
[li]Williams BMW (which is in Trafford, not Manchester)[/li]
[li]Ducati Manchester (which is in Trafford, not Manchester)[/li]
[li]errrmmmm.... Wigan Yamaha[/li]
[/ul]
Not good. Not good at all.

Dave

You're wrong about Scotland. When Alex Salmond wins the referendum everything will be perfect! Infact he says that every person will get everything they ever wanted because Scotland is going to be the bestest & wealthiest country there's ever been. Social deprivation will be a thing of the past and you'll want for nothing in 'Salmond World'. They'll be a motorcycle showroom at the end of every street dishing out free motorcycles. We won't have to work so we can ride all day, filling up at free petrol stations where they change your tyres for free, where free servicing comes with a free blow job... yep, everything's going to be freakin' perfect!!!!

the weather will improve also once the English yoke has been cast off!

[Richard Simpson]

When I worked at Three Cross Motorcycles in the late 1970s we were open every Sat & Sun and stayed open late on Summer weekdays, once the clocks changed.

We sold loads of bikes then.

[Richard Simpson]

Just the same in Salisbury.

The local Yam dealer only sells chineese 125's or endfields. BMW is 1.5 hours away.

Triumph is 40 mins away

Honda is an hour away but they don't have many in stock

Kawak...no idea where my local dealer is

KTM..no idea

Suzuki..40 mins away

Also in Salisbury if you want to buy a DVD or any music your only option is a supermarket..everything else has shutdown.

Mike

there's loads of dealers around Salisbury..Verwood for Crescent (KTM, Suzuki etc)

Three Cross nearby in Three Legged Cross, plus some other dealers on the same industrial estate.

Moto Corsa nr Shaftesbury, Buggad Bikes near Cranborne, the list goes on...

[jonny955]

Dealers. Hmm. A friend just recently Px'd his Harley 1200 sportster for a new bike. The trade in was in the showroom with a 2K mark up. It was sold within a couple of weeks. Ok any dealer is entitled to a profit but so many of them are just plain greedy.

Just because it's marked up £2k that doesn't mean they'll make £2k profit.

Out of that £2k, they need to deduct costs for prep, valeting, any servicing that may be due and possibly a warranty. Say they take an offer of £500 less, all of the above can total another £500 which leaves a £1k profit out of which they'll then deduct salesman's commission and VAT. The remaining profit goes back in to the business and pays for decent showrooms etc. Note that not every bike has that sort of mark up and occassionally, some bikes make a loss or just break even when sold. Also note that if a bike does not sell within a few months, it depreciates as does every vehicle and is written down in value, that loss comes from the supposed £2k "profit".

Good point and well made.

Jon

[SteveR]

I remember when riding in France 3 years ago, mate James had a problem with his Trumpet and he got a pointer from a Garage about a bike dealership a few miles up the road. Said dealership was an industrial estate about 5-6 miles from the local town, crammed with Dealers, all separately owned from what we could tell. Several premium brands ... and Triumph! Several Jap brands and inevitably HD

t seemed like the future, a bit like car emporiums outside larger towns.