125-200cc whats happening to the industry

last week my sons rm85 ceased, split the cases new con rod kit required, so i decided to go through everything checking cleaning greasing etc.
long story short needed con rod kit and new swing arm bearings and bushes.
the parts i require will take two weeks ex japan, i cannot for the life of me understand how suzuki can have zero stock available on swing arm bushes and bearings throughout the entire continent.same story with local yam dealer who liquidated all the on shelf parts and got rid of their parts shop.i can get the husky parts i require usually within two days seems parts availability has done an about turn with the exotics offering better supply than the main stream big four.
anyhow keep up the good work husqvarna.

aftermarket..... also I can almost bet they are available your dealer is feeding you a story... I run a huge dealer and and bet I can have them in 2 dsays

My guess is they are waiting to get a big order together to save on shipping. That's what my local dealer does, and that's why my money goes to someone else.

to relieve your annoyance a bit.

I have to buy my sprockets/air filter/jets/ and all other parts for my bike either in America or Europe and send with the "good luck you get it post" to Cambodia

so your not the only one that has this situation.

Robert-Jan

He's right things have changed. I used to work at a honda/suzuki/kawasaki/ktm shop in the mid 90's. We used to have damn near every part for every bike in stock, even the guy that would come in looking for a bearing for his 1984 KLT200 atv. Now, that same shop stocks next to nothing and everything is ordered in. I guess lower overhead won over customer service.

With online parts websites, dealers can't afford to stock obscure or seldom needed parts on their shelves. Inventory sitting on your shelves for years kills your bottom line.

Because of the world economy, I guess that's the main reason for it..... But dealers should stock enough inventory to support the bikes they are selling... That's only fair to the customer who bought a bike and expects to be able to maintain it with OEM parts and have the ability to do that... Who the hell wants to wait a few weeks for basic parts ?? That means a few weeks they can't ride their bike... That's total crap and it's bad business as far as I'm concerned...

well to this point...we have $630,000 in inventory...most of which is crap from years prior...I fully believe we could and probably soon will do the same amount in sales...the point being "stocking" stuff for current bikes turns into old stuff real fast... I REAL dealer should order from just about every distributer daily... and almost everybody is 2 days away from parts...you come into our dealer on Monday or Tuesday you will have your parts by the weekend... Wednesday and your cutting it close.... it really just doesnt make sense to carry a bunch of current stuff that turns into old inventory...now you should stock high moving stuff(ie filters, plugs, brakes and such)..... I think a lot of people got spoiled in the 90s when the industry was doing great and any tom dick or harry could buy a dealer and do okay.... now you have to be smart and use your money wisely....

The industry must not be suffering too awfull bad...just the dealers that either didnt keep up with the times(internet) or were stretched too thin to retract when the economy took a dump could not recover....our parts dept does 10-25k a day in parts...we are a 9 line dealer but it shows people are still out there and spending the money...

Living in Australia can be like living in Cambodia sometimes. Getting parts can be very frustrating and always a serious hit in your wallet!

The argument can go both ways and each side has some validity in my eyes... A dealer can't be foolish with the amount of inventory they carry, yet they should stock the basic stuff so an average Joe can fix his bike .... If a customer has to go back to the dealer twice they have wasted their time and gas to get there.... And the reason I bring the point of going to the dealer was a case in point with my KTM.... I ordered a throttle cable set for my 03 EXC 250 F over the phone, when the parts got there they were for a two stroke... I drove 70 miles each way only to find out I got the wrong stuff because KTM in that year had an EXC 250 in a two stroke and a four stroke... I then had them bring up the parts on the computer so we could visually compare the parts.. They ordered them and I had to pay shipping to my house.....I sure as hell didn't save anything in this deal did I ?? I wound up not riding my bike for a few weeks and was pretty mad about it... Another time my kick starter fell off my bike on the trailer ride home from a hare scramble on a Sunday afternoon.... So on that Monday I order a new one and the mounting bolt and washer... The problem was they did not stock those parts.... Come on man a kick starter ?? This wasn't from a 1940 vintage bike... I finally get this a week and a half later... More lost time and more shipping fees because I wasn't driving 70 miles again.... My point here is dealers have to find a balance here or they will become a thing of the past for their parts business.. This is just my take on it and certainly not meant irk the dealers......

I see your point....but we dont stock a kickstarter for any of the KTMs....reason, 90% of the time we can get it in 2 days....BTW I good parts guys would have known there was a 250exc 2 stroke and a RFS that year and would have asked...and if my guys made that mistake I would have shipped it...easy way to solve that is get the KTM parts fiche on your Iphone or look the parts up online and call with part numbers....I ALWAYS HAVE AND ALWAYS WILL.... and if it is backordered and I have an order I find it....even if I have to pay close to retail and ship it... I do stuff like that ALL the time...had a customer with a 02 380 that the cases were no longer available AT ALL... I found a buddy with a pair (used) and didnt even charge a thing...let them handle the transaction and shipped him the cases along with the rest of his parts....

And that goes more to my point....more than stocking stuff and trying to play the what do we stock and not stock...CUSTOMER SERVICE is #1....make sure you get peoples stuff right and timely...and they will come back... we dont make people drive twice...we do make them pay up front because people were waiting forever to come get their stuff.... CC over the phone and make sure you get what bike they have and exactly what they want... if not come ask...my guys are not the best with KTM...each guy has his "niche"...got a crotch rocket guy, a bike guy, and a couch guy...and if they have a problem with a KTM come get me...period if they dont they will get reemed...lol

I try to do business with my local motorcycle dealer even though they aren't Husky dealers. I believe in keeping my money in my local community as much as possible.(plus they match internet prices)

I had a conversation with the local sales manager and he related to me how many less units they sell compared to pre-resession days (dirt bikes, street bikes, 4 wheelers and utility vehicles). He claims his numbers have dropped to about 1/4 if what they were and that he has struggled with trying to keep jobs for employees and streamline parts and reduce inventory to what is selling. I have no doubt it's a hard line to find because you can't sell what you don't have but if someone walks in and you tell them you can order it they are thinking "duh, so can I but I came here to buy one not order one".

In my area the local sale of dirt bikes is almost nonexistent primarily because there are less places to ride due to land owners fearing lawsuits. This overcrowds the public land causing trail erosion and different groups to start fighting to exclude the group they are not in. (mountain bikes, 4 wheelers, horse riders, hikers ect.)

IMO they are faced with some tough challenges, it's survival of the fittest time and the dealers with the most resources are going to get a big head start when the tide changes.

i agree with not stockking obscure parts but the rm85 is one of the most popular entry level motocross bikes and there must be thousands out there being ridden, to have no stock of the bearings and bushes throughout all australia is crazy.perhaps i should have gone on line but thought i would do the right thing and get genuine from the local dealer.

Point taken.... And you seem to be a dealer who really cares about his customers.... Guess that's all I can add to this....

If a dealer isn't stocking at least the basics, then they aren't helping themselves or their customers. If they're only ordering in parts as customers order them, then they are un-needed in the food chain, as the customer can do that him/herself online. On that same token, every rider should be at least stocking extra parts such as wear items; brake pads, extra filters, sprockets etc. in their own garage, then replacing them as soon as the last one is intalled. That way the bike doesn't sit un-necessarily 'cause they're 'waiting for parts'.
The exception is oddball stuff such as breaking a wheel hub, or transmission gear etc.

Still, even with all that, many customers appear to have, um 'creative' maintenance practices and need to replace parts un-necessarily cause they didn't know, were too lazy, or couldn't be bothered with maintaining their bike properly. Those are often the same guys that wait til Friday nite, or Saturday morning to find that they need new wheel bearings or suspension bearings, or?. Then, they get mad cause the dealer didn't have them in stock & they couldn't go riding on Sunday. Whose fault is that?
Kept properly maintained, some items like suspension needle bearings will never wear out.

Whose fault is it that the kick starter fell off cause the fastener wasn't loctited/safety wired?
Whose fault is it when a throttle cable breaks on a 9 year old bike?
The dealer, cause they didn't have it in stock, or the owner cause they didn't replace a known wear item on a specified shedule, or follow well known and documented maintenance procedures for certain bike parts/fasteners?
Not trying to cast stones here, only asking the question...........

Dirt bikes are high maintenance items & it seems to me there is a balance of responsibilities on the part of both the customer/rider and the dealer.................

Well said and point taken..... In my case it's a bike I inherited and should have paid a lot closer attention.... And with my new Husky, I'm all over that bike when I'm done riding it.... That goes from cleaning it up and going over it with wrenches... Lucky for me my Husky dealer has a lot of the common stuff in stock... I know this because Ive known Bob for a lot of years.....

Here are a few items that I've tried to get from local dealers.
Drain plug, KTM 85. Very common item for KTMs to break
Spark plug, XR650R- I thought they were screwing with me on this one. How does a dealership not have a sparkplug?
fuel line-yes, the local dealer doesn't stock fuel line. I was told that the service dept has it, but I would have to pay their rates to get it. I laughed and walked out.
428 master link, 3 dealerships 2 didn't have it and I hung the phone up on #3 when I hit 2 minutes on hold.

Of course, I've called for other parts as well, but these are a few of the common items I couldn't believe they didn't have.

In Aus we are seeing the result of everyone ordering from rmatv ect. On most items the american price is same as the cost price to retailers here, bike shops closing everywhere....