Dealership experience...

[NORTY]

I've been known to frequent various motorcycle dealerships during this and last century. Occasionally, I'll be approached by someone whom has little (or no) riding experience. Or, they have lots of dirtbike experience, but zero street bike experience. Anyway, I know the sales staff would love to sell them the most expensive road burner they have on the floor at the time. So, I always ask,"What motorcycle experience do you have, and be truthful." Based on this, I'll guide them to an appropriate moto. If they are a noobie, then I try to guide them to the "pre-owned corral" of bikes. I also tell the customer that this is only their first bike, not their last bike. (Sales staff likes this.) Obviously, if they haven't had any instruction, I tell them that's the first thing before getting a bike.

I live in an area that has A LOT of Marines with a pocket full of dangerous duty pay...

Ok, so here's the question...

If you were approached inside a dealership, by a new rider, would you offer assistance/guidance in the "appropriateness" of a bike? What about gear?

And, did you ever get "pushback" from the sales staff in doing so?

Anyone?

[Shadow Shack]

We have RideNow dealerships here (formerly Arizona Motorsports Group), the few times I've set foot in one --- and this was before the name change --- I was the only knowledgeable person on the property...and that extended into their service bay as well. Seriously, there was never a single person that could answer any basic questions about any bike they sold, they even had to seek out managers just to get a price because they couldn't figure out how to match a stock number to a price tag on their cheat sheets (after all, it would just make so much more sense to hang a tag off the handlebars). The kicker? They wouldn't hire me because I was overqualified. Or maybe it was just plain qualified, I forget which. Suffice it to say, if one were to gather the combined motorcycle knowledge of the entire staff --- including management --- and shoved it up a gnat's ass, it would look like a BB lodged in the side of a boxcar. So, yeah...I have offered such guidance before. And for that I was blacklisted from the entire NV & AZ chain of AZ Motorsports Group (currently RideNow) dealerships.
















To which I can only say "Oh, darn...woe is me."

[Trials]

I have to control the urge to say anything when I hear some of the things people are told in a corporate style bike dealership or at bike shows, fortunately some small dealerships still exist up here where you can deal with the guy who owns the shop, rides regularly or even races. Sad part is those people usually lack the distributor support from big brand name manufacturers, they sell bikes like Beta or TRS instead where they can deal with smaller suppliers still keen on building business.

What new riders need more then anything is a riding partner with some street experience and a little instruction on keeping their bikes serviced.

[NORTY]

What new riders need more then anything is a riding partner with some street experience and a little instruction on keeping their bikes serviced.

Trials, if you’re ever looking for a tagline, this is it.
Welldone.


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