"You Tenere riders are a different breed"

[LousyPups]

Same here. When I picked mine up the salesman had the delivery check list to go through with me. I showed him how everything worked, since he had no clue, and we checked off the items as I "instructed" him. It helped that I had downloaded an owners manual to look through while we waited for the delayed deliveries.

 

[HoebSTer]

Hiring an educated knowledgable sales person requires a higher level of pay (outside of commission), which means less profit for the owner. Thats what I boil it down to at times. It doesn't make sense in many ways!!

 

[troll]

Isn't it always about profit in retail... ::024::

 

[Old Git Ray]

I guess I must have the odd dealer out. He, Colin Saunders of Saunders M/Cs Knebworth, Herts, UK. Was very knowledgeable about the bike.
He attended Yamahas pre introduction review and was so inpressed, he bought one the same time as me. A long pre-order thing last year like the Americans went through this year.

I guess we in the UK have the advantage of very few cruisers and quads to comete with.

 

[Checkswrecks]

The 5? sales guys at our local dealer cover Harley, Yamaha, Ducati, and BMW. Set the BMW stuff aside, as that line insists on segregation and they gave it it's own sales guy who knows each bike intimately. Most of the dealer sales are in the Harley line and the other 4? know the history and details of those fairly well, then they split who has the Yamaha and Ducati bikes. By my count, that is:


32 Harley models (7 family lines)
20-ish Yamaha models (7 family lines) even without the quads, jetskis, etc
14 Ducati models (6 family lines)
For a total of 66 individual models!


I've definitely talked to a lot of sales guys who don't know or care about anything beyond the best sellers or the couple of models that they personally like. But I do understand when the guys who at least try have to look up answers.

 

[Buckeye56]

I think a part of the problem is we have transitioned from family owned, single brand dealers who are/were enthusiasts, to mega shops carrying multiple brands and a sales force that could just as well being selling crap at Best Buy, etc. I certainly saw the level of support, knowledge, etc drop off in the C-bus area when a couple of large dealerships opened back in the 80s. It has not been the same since and seems to be getting progressively worse as time goes on. That said, the dealer I bought my Tenere from, Mid-Ohio Suzuki, sells 4 different brands but they have been in business for a long time. It probably has more to do with the owner's business philosophy than anything else.

 

[keeponriding]

Or, does it have to do with the customer base?

Why be the guy selling apples when customers only want to buy oranges?

Since I walked into the dealership on the first day (mind you, I had no dealer rapport...didn't like the one I had been dealing with, they were ok, but I just didn't have a warm,fuzzy) I knew what I wanted t9o buy and just needed someone to order it for me....the dealer had a poster of the ST and that was all he knew. To that point, he really did not know anything about ADV bikes (strange as he was also a Suzuki dealer).

It seemed 90% of the bikes he sold were cruisers and dirt....one FJR....so I'm prone to think he just didn't have the market to want/need to invest in that knowledge. Now that he's rolled 3 and stocking one on the floor, he's changing his mind.

Oddly enough...in our town, the BMW dealer is combined with the H-D store....I don't get a warm and fuzzy there either....

 

[HoebSTer]

One good size dealer locally carried Ducati, Suzuki, and Yamaha and just narrowed it down to Ducati only, since they are the bikes that are selling. Even the owner of the small dealership where I bought my Tenere whom bought one too, just doesn't have the time to ride it as much as he would like to. With this, he doesn't follow this "ADV" crowd much since he is always busy. Business is just too "lean" running for him.

 

[elizilla]

The problem with motorcycle dealers, at least around here, is that the industry is seasonal. If you love motorcycling, and especially if you're the kind of enthusiast that we are, why would you want to work in a motorcycle shop? You could never get the time off to take long rides, except during the season when you don't want to take long rides. Ever. And it's really hard to make a living during the slow season. So you're overbusy during the times you would want to do what you love, and underpaid and bored during the times when you can't do what you love. You don't even get to go to the local bike sniffing events, because you're working when they happen. ::010::

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't work in the industry. I like motorcycling, so I want to actually do some of it.

I'm glad someone does it, though, so I try not to hate on them too much even when they don't keep up as well as I do. They are in a tough spot.

 

[Tremor38]

The problem with motorcycle dealers, at least around here, is that the industry is seasonal. If you love motorcycling, and especially if you're the kind of enthusiast that we are, why would you want to work in a motorcycle shop? You could never get the time off to take long rides, except during the season when you don't want to take long rides. Ever. And it's really hard to make a living during the slow season. So you're overbusy during the times you would want to do what you love, and underpaid and bored during the times when you can't do what you love. You don't even get to go to the local bike sniffing events, because you're working when they happen. ::010::

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't work in the industry. I like motorcycling, so I want to actually do some of it.

I'm glad someone does it, though, so I try not to hate on them too much even when they don't keep up as well as I do. They are in a tough spot.

Agree whole-heartedly. I friend of mine who is also the dealer whom I bought my KLX from loves motorcycles and was once the #1 ranked 250MX rider in Northern Japan. Since he took over the dealership from his father, his opportunities to ride have become sparse. Once in a great while, he organizes group rides with friends and customers as well as occasionally officiating/horsing around at local MX tracks. That's almost like not riding compared to how much time he used to spend in the saddle. I always make it a point to share any ride pics with him and talk about the either old bikes or the latest tech. I brought the Tenere by his shop shortly after I bought it, and noticed his mother was working the counter. I said "hey are you busy," then handed him the key. He took off for about 20min and came back with big grin on his face. Once it's in your blood, it never leaves!

 

[Checkswrecks]

...I don't know about you, but I wouldn't work in the industry. I like motorcycling, so I want to actually do some of it.

Totally agree. I grew up with airplanes and I still enjoy working on them and hanging with the airplane crowd, but at this point the real fun for me is not in the actual aviating.


My daughter was on her college equestrian team and still absolutely loves to ride. It's become her mental escape for a few hours each weekend. She's now in grad school and has repeatedly said the same as you when I've asked her about giving lessons, since she could control her schedule and needs the money.