9½ Reasons Motorcycle Shops Are Closing That Have Nothing To Do With Sales

[adri]

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The difference is the work you put in, you benefit from. Someone working hard for someone else does not benefit them at all.

You and @Lightcycle 's subsequent posts are both spot on.

The risks are high. We fly way too close to the sun. Sometimes it's beautiful (just wrapped up my third annual month-long motorcycle ride across Italy, I probably couldn't do this as an employee somewhere). Sometimes we get absolutely burned far more than an employee somewhere would.

That's the game. That's why some people would rather invest 50 years building other people's dreams, than invest 5 years building their own dream.

It's just a shame that so many factors are making it harder than ever to make those dreams a reality in the motorcycle world, even when we ignore sales trends.

 

[adri]

Back in HD's glory days Deely would have shops send staff members out on field trips to buy HD T-shirts so that Deely's lawyer could send out cease and desist letters.

Hi there. Former Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada employee here!

Fun fact, when I got hired for Deeley, there was a fairly tenured woman in the company who, among other responsibilities, was in charge of bringing down any unauthorized use of the "bar and shield" (Harley's logo).

So get this, for like five years, I have a little motorcycle blog. I have HD logos on the site the entire time. No one cares.

No one at Harley-Davidson Canada knew I existed until one day in 2013 I get introduced to someone at their marketing team and they let me borrow a Breakout for a week to review. Cool. I have HD logos on the site the entire time. No one cares.

They forget I exist for another year until 2014 when they hire me. Hurray.

Within the first month I am informed I must remove all Harley-Davidson logos from my blog because I am not authorized to use it lol.

So there I was, working for Harley-Davidson, able to have the logos of other brands on my site... except for the one I worked for. Harley logic.

 

[Jampy00]

Hi there. Former Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada employee here!

Fun fact, when I got hired for Deeley, there was a fairly tenured woman in the company who, among other responsibilities, was in charge of bringing down any unauthorized use of the "bar and shield" (Harley's logo).

So get this, for like five years, I have a little motorcycle blog. I have HD logos on the site the entire time. No one cares.

No one at Harley-Davidson Canada knew I existed until one day in 2013 I get introduced to someone at their marketing team and they let me borrow a Breakout for a week to review. Cool. I have HD logos on the site the entire time. No one cares.

They forget I exist for another year until 2014 when they hire me. Hurray.

Within the first month I am informed I must remove all Harley-Davidson logos from my blog because I am not authorized to use it lol.

So there I was, working for Harley-Davidson, able to have the logos of other brands on my site... except for the one I worked for. Harley logic.

That's ridiculous and makes perfect sense for HD.

 

[MCT]

If you are a smaller retailer in Canada for many products you are stuck buying stock from wholesalers that have a monopoly on the Canadian market. They call it a protected market.
You are prevented from importing the goods from other markets due to red tape issues like label language or Canadian certification on a identical product.
Our government is complicit in this but the small business voice though organizations like the CFIB do not have near the resources of big business to sway the government and legislation.
If you want to develop some real hate of government bureaucracy, indifference and incompetence run a small business for a couple of decades.

Other than food, that is exactly why I shop in the US. I let my wallet do the talking.

My definition of Canadian business: we want to start up our business Friday and retire Monday. MSRP, the S stands for "Suggested", not "Fixed". The fact that business here can have sales at up to 70% off tells me a lot, profits must be high. Just look at any flyer.

Strange that the two countries I travel in with such huge % discounts are Canada and Australia, both under the stinking British rule mentality. And that applies to their governments and the UK as well. Grossly bloated governments.

 

[nobbie48]

Have you investigated options just outside the city limits such as Ajax, Whitby etc. ? Toronto is a lost cause unless you build low cost housing or Transit lanes. They have no interest in supporting small businesses.

The emboldened "you" is the taxpayer. Middle income, struggling with a mortgage is being asked to bail out others while losing productivity at work.

 

[nobbie48]

Thanks, and fair enough! I'll try to be brief and not repeat myself too much.

Truth be told when I was looking to setup a proper shop a few years ago with my own retail location, the biggest barrier to entry wasn't (insert laundry list of things mentioned in the video). For me, because I live and own a home in Toronto, the biggest hurdle was getting a space zoned for automotive.

The price per sq./ft on spaces still zoned for automotive in the city are insane because of (insert list of reasons mentioned in the video). It's a dream-killer.

Try auto body where work-in-progress can fill a parking space for a month awaiting approvals and parts.

A friend had a repair shop with a bearable lease but the place got sold and a clause in the lease was a new owner could raise the rent. It happened and he moved. Then it happened again.

Want to raise the rent? Sell the property to your cousin. Five years later he sells it back.

 

[xrljoel]

If you are a smaller retailer in Canada for many products you are stuck buying stock from wholesalers that have a monopoly on the Canadian market. They call it a protected market.
You are prevented from importing the goods from other markets due to red tape issues like label language or Canadian certification on a identical product.
Our government is complicit in this but the small business voice though organizations like the CFIB do not have near the resources of big business to sway the government and legislation.
If you want to develop some real hate of government bureaucracy, indifference and incompetence run a small business for a couple of decades.

The whole "Canadian Distributor" racket accounts for much of the pricing AND service issues in Canada.

Years ago I fancied some Touratech stuff and placed an order with their US seller. I received an email that a Canadian Distributor had recently been activated so they couldn't sell it to me. I searched out the Canadian place, and inquired as to the products. I can't remember how long it took to receive a response, but as opposed to being available and ready to ship the items would now take 6-8 weeks and the price was about 30% higher than the US when converted to CDN. I have lived happily ever after without those products.

I have a touratech, KTM branded phone holder on my 1090 and broke one of the plastic bits that holds the corner of the phone. I contacted Touratech Canada and was told that the MIGHT be able to get the parts eventually, but had no idea when or how much it would cost.

So I emailed Germany. I received a response in a few hours telling me that they could supply the parts free but shipping to Canada would be expensive. Fortunately I went to Holland this summer and was able to have them dropped at my cousin's for free.

Somewhere in this thread someone noted that operating a business in Canada can make you hate and distrust government. That's a freakin' understatement! There are SO MANY bureaucratic hurdles; unevenly applied rules and regulations, unjustifiable fees and levies, nonsensical processes (in their unnecessary complexity/existence), at best indifferent civil servants (and at worst actively hostile) that growing a business in Canada is a herculean feat.

 

[MCT]

The whole "Canadian Distributor" racket accounts for much of the pricing AND service issues in Canada.

And why do we need a distributor in Canada for a population of nothing? Extra middlemen and added expense.

Let me tell you about Service in Canada vs the USA. I bought a Speed Air air compressor and shortly thereafter and just out of warranty the pressure/relay switch failed on it (faulty part). In Canada it was ~$95, in the US ~$27 and since I was blowing through Chicago on my way to the EAA in Oshkosh, I decided to buy it there. I told the guy at the counter what happened, gave him my Scotibank Visa and although it took a while, he came back, had me sign a piece of paper and off I went...it was FREE.

Years ago I fancied some Touratech stuff and placed an order with their US seller. I received an email that a Canadian Distributor had recently been activated so they couldn't sell it to me.

Which is why I place my order that get shipped to a US address. Plus shipping is either free or a fraction of what it would be to Canada.

Somewhere in this thread someone noted that operating a business in Canada can make you hate and distrust government. That's a freakin' understatement! There are SO MANY bureaucratic hurdles; unevenly applied rules and regulations, unjustifiable fees and levies, nonsensical processes (in their unnecessary complexity/existence), at best indifferent civil servants (and at worst actively hostile) that growing a business in Canada is a herculean feat.

Well that is for Canadian business to sort out, but since most Canadians are rich and suckers, they just pay the price.

 

[adri]

And why do we need a distributor in Canada for a population of nothing? Extra middlemen and added expense.

Having worked for several Canadian motorcycle and automotive industry distributors, maybe I'm a little biased here, but it really depends.

Look at the cost of parts from motorcycle manufacturers that have Canadian outfits vs the ones where the parts are first shipped and sold to the US, and then re-shipped and sold to the dealer in Canada. Oh yay, more shipping, more duties, more down time, and it's still going through a middle man anyway. Just the middle man is based in the US instead of in Canada... Remind me what have we gained here??

Now imagine what that looks like if instead of parts we're talking about the entire motorcycle. Now imagine it's a car. See where I'm going with this?

Sometimes, on some scales, on some items, a Canadian distributor totally does make sense, sometimes it totally doesn't...

The one universal is that, when something goes wrong, I want the person helping me seeing me as someone from his home town, not as a nothing from nowhere. To a lot of american corps, we are a population of nothings from nowhere, and that's why having someone who we matter to, should matters to us.

 

[adri]

That's ridiculous and makes perfect sense for HD.

Well said ^ lol

 

[nobbie48]

The whole "Canadian Distributor" racket accounts for much of the pricing AND service issues in Canada.

Years ago I fancied some Touratech stuff and placed an order with their US seller. I received an email that a Canadian Distributor had recently been activated so they couldn't sell it to me. I searched out the Canadian place, and inquired as to the products. I can't remember how long it took to receive a response, but as opposed to being available and ready to ship the items would now take 6-8 weeks and the price was about 30% higher than the US when converted to CDN. I have lived happily ever after without those products.

I have a touratech, KTM branded phone holder on my 1090 and broke one of the plastic bits that holds the corner of the phone. I contacted Touratech Canada and was told that the MIGHT be able to get the parts eventually, but had no idea when or how much it would cost.

So I emailed Germany. I received a response in a few hours telling me that they could supply the parts free but shipping to Canada would be expensive. Fortunately I went to Holland this summer and was able to have them dropped at my cousin's for free.

Somewhere in this thread someone noted that operating a business in Canada can make you hate and distrust government. That's a freakin' understatement! There are SO MANY bureaucratic hurdles; unevenly applied rules and regulations, unjustifiable fees and levies, nonsensical processes (in their unnecessary complexity/existence), at best indifferent civil servants (and at worst actively hostile) that growing a business in Canada is a herculean feat.

CRA = Can't Run Anything

 

[MCT]

Having worked for several Canadian motorcycle and automotive industry distributors, maybe I'm a little biased here, but it really depends.

Look at the cost of parts from motorcycle manufacturers that have Canadian outfits vs the ones where the parts are first shipped and sold to the US, and then re-shipped and sold to the dealer in Canada. Oh yay, more shipping, more duties, more down time, and it's still going through a middle man anyway. Just the middle man is based in the US instead of in Canada... Remind me what have we gained here??

Now imagine what that looks like if instead of parts we're talking about the entire motorcycle. Now imagine it's a car. See where I'm going with this?

Sometimes, on some scales, on some items, a Canadian distributor totally does make sense, sometimes it totally doesn't...

The one universal is that, when something goes wrong, I want the person helping me seeing me as someone from his home town, not as a nothing from nowhere. To a lot of american corps, we are a population of nothings from nowhere, and that's why having someone who we matter to, should matters to us.

Exactly where I shop where it makes sense, usually in the US. Most of the time I never get charged HST. I buy gas there and go out to a luncheon buffet for less. Sort of a day out and saving money. Of course for some of us, the drive is not worth it.

As for middlemen, I need a new deck after 29 years. I have always done everything myself because I do not see the point of paying some business owner driving around to all his sites in an $80K pick-up truck if he is not swinging a hammer.

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