What is with the dealer being so slow?

[andy1330]

What is with dealer taking a month to get anything done? Why are motorcycle supply chains so screwed up? How is it that I can drop my car (a euro trash fancy car no less) at my independent shop and get in back in 24-48 hours even if it's major work. Yet, it's been 28 days since I dropped my Spyder off at the dealer and they just now have all the parts they need to change out one gasket and no work done. I can't even rely on motorcycles being daily drivers for work cause the dealer service is damn slow. Doesn't matter if it's a Harley, a Spyder, a Honda, a BMW... The motorcycle supply chain needs a severe overhaul. And they all have the same dumb excuse... COVID my ! Motorcycle parts distributors can't work but automotive parts suppliers can? So sick of this over-engineered snowmobile with tires and it's terrible dealer network.

Can anyone explain legitimately why motorcycle (and especially CANAM) service is so slow? Is it that the manufacturers control the parts distribution and don't allow 3rd parties?

[Arion]

Andy, I don't know if this will meet your "legitimate" requirement, but several possibilities come to mind. Please accept that they're just possibilities are not meant to offend. They're merely observations accumulated over some 50+ years of riding in the U.S., Central America, Europe, and the Middle East.

First, unlike Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia where motorcycles are viewed as a legitimate means of transportation, in America only cars/trucks are seen as being essential to every day life while motorcycles are generally viewed as being recreational or, even worse, as toys. It follows that in the grand scheme of the personal transportation industry, motorcycles represent a virtually insignificant percentage of all the privately owned motorized vehicles on American roads which has a direct impact on the breadth and depth of parts sourcing and distribution networks. Thirdly, when a market is relatively small, stocking a large inventory of replacement parts at the local level can be financially problematic for motorcycle dealers, most of which likely qualify as "small businesses" without the access to funding and incentives available to large automobile dealerships. Over the past three years, Ford averaged about 900,000 F-150's sold per year. If you divide that by 365, it sells 2,486 F-150 trucks per day, every day. I doubt if any motorcycle manufacturer selling in the American market could hold a candle to such a sales statistic. Unfortunately, none of this will solve your immediate concerns overhaul the supply chain but it just may explain a bit of the "why."

I may remember incorrectly, but as I recall from our two week Spyder tour of Tucson three years ago, there are three Can Am dealers in the greater Tucson area. Are they all unreliable and slow to respond? Oh, another thought came to mind. During that two week trip, excluding our pair of Spyders, we was precisely one other Spyder.

[bikerchris1270]

What is with dealer taking a month to get anything done? Why are motorcycle supply chains so screwed up? How is it that I can drop my car (a euro trash fancy car no less) at my independent shop and get in back in 24-48 hours even if it's major work. Yet, it's been 28 days since I dropped my Spyder off at the dealer and they just now have all the parts they need to change out one gasket and no work done. I can't even rely on motorcycles being daily drivers for work cause the dealer service is damn slow. Doesn't matter if it's a Harley, a Spyder, a Honda, a BMW... The motorcycle supply chain needs a severe overhaul. And they all have the same dumb excuse... COVID my ! Motorcycle parts distributors can't work but automotive parts suppliers can? So sick of this over-engineered snowmobile with tires and it's terrible dealer network.

Can anyone explain legitimately why motorcycle (and especially CANAM) service is so slow? Is it that the manufacturers control the parts distribution and don't allow 3rd parties?

I took me a month to receive a pulley for my F3L.....it was the USPS fault.......it was supposed to be 3 day priority, took 33 days for it to arrive.

[ARtraveler]

It may be a combination of just plain poor customer service. The other possibility is the mail delivery system is getting more and more screwed up as time passes. Hardly any dealer carries parts these days. Getting them is a hassle because of Covid, etc.

I got in trouble for missing a payment due date by a major credit card. PS. I mailed the payment the same day I got the bill, three weeks before due date, and they still claim to have received the payment two days past due date. They did get a call, they killed the $70 in charges, $35 late fee, and $35 interest charged. I have paid them off, and they will now go to the I may use this card sometime in the next three years, status.

I don't like it when other forces are out there to ruin my good credit.

[bikerbillone]

Sure agree with you on Canam, but a good guess is that other dealers have their problems as well concerning service and parts. It is well known that HDs bottom line is suffering, they try all kinds of different gimmicks to stimulate sales including changing CEOs Why don't they (corporate) consider customer support? Just using HD as an example here, not cherry picking. I have to travel almost two hours to my Canam dealer to get the 15% discount and parts and labor, and the talk is, a good tech. Before I bought I quizzed the GM if I have to leave my machine for a fix, he promised a loaner for as long as it took. Of course, I don't have that in writing, so who knows?

[JayBros]

IMO, Andy, what we have to recognize is trying to diagnose the problem is comparing apples to oranges. We've grown accustomed to quick service from automobile dealerships because of two things, the contract(s) they have with manufacturers and because of the way auto/truck sales work the service side of the dealership is a major profit center. A manufacturer can literally kill a bad dealership. OTOH, with motorcycle and other recreational vehicle/watercraft manufacturers, the agreements with dealerships are structured more in the dealerships favor; the manufacturers have to convince the dealerships to sell and service their products. And, as others have said, whether they're two or three wheelers they are RECREATIONAL despite the fact that some riders rely upon them for daily transportation. When you then factor in the cost of hiring and training reliable personnel, the recreational vehicle dealerships have major expenses and a limited personnel pool to attract good employees, and that just adds to the problem.

[Bangorbob]

It's sad that this has to happen. BUT-it's not only customer service with motorcycles. It's customer service in general is bad. I'm not saying ALL, but most. I hope I don't have to take mine in as it is almost a 1 1/2 hr drive, which means my wife has to follow in another vehicle.

[Madison Sully]

I'm going to disagree with those suggesting service is poor due to the product being 'recreational' or a 'toy'.
Reason being, the dealership is a business whether it sells cars and trucks or Spyders and snow machines.
Poor service leads ultimately to the business going out of business.
As far as I know, motorcycle dealerships and service places are and were allowed to continue to do business under the same conditions as auto dealers and service places.
I can state this as fact with regard to scooter dealerships, and would have a hard time thinking a Vespa is considered higher priority than any other motorcycle.

No, to my eyes this is simply poor service.
And it's part of why I do all my own work.
I would prefer my "waiting" time be "wrenching" time.

[Madison Sully]

When you then factor in the cost of hiring and training reliable personnel, the recreational vehicle dealerships have major expenses and a limited personnel pool to attract good employees, and that just adds to the problem.

This. Right here. Consider along these lines; the vehicle dealerships have major expenses (so do auto dealers) and a limited personnel pool (so do auto dealers).
Extend that logic just a bit. What makes 'recreational vehicle' dealerships different from auto dealerships, that results in some difficulty in paying the bills and hiring good people?

It's the clientele. It's "US". "WE" aren't willing to buy enough of those vehicles, and pay enough for their maintenance, that the dealerships can thrive with well paid, knowledgeable employees. There either aren't enough of us, the manufacturers' vehicles aren't popular enough, or those that have them are not willing to pay more.

Myself included. Is what it is.

[larryd]

I took me a month to receive a pulley for my F3L.....it was the USPS fault.......it was supposed to be 3 day priority, took 33 days for it to arrive.

Quote from ARtraveler:
"I got in trouble for missing a payment due date by a major credit card. PS. I mailed the payment the same day I got the bill, three weeks before due date, and they still claim to have received the payment two days past due date. They did get a call, they killed the $70 in charges, $35 late fee, and $35 interest charged. I have paid them off, and they will now go to the I may use this card sometime in the next three years, status."

I'm also in this same situation along with everyone else since the new Post Office General Appointee...

[JP58]

In the USA car and motorcycle dealers do not carry parts on hand. Just maintainance parts. They can't afford to stock parts. The main difference is there are hundreds of large car and truck parts houses stocked fully in the USA. You get parts same day or overnight. Most motorcycle parts have to come from the factory which can take weeks to get. Also look how few recreational dealerships there are compared to auto and truck. In my area we have 1 Harley dealer and 2 dealers that carry all brands cycles and ATVs. That is alot to repair. Motorcycle dealers also have fewer techs than auto dealers have. We have over 200 auto and truck dealerships with a population of less than 300,000. And that is not counting the hundreds of independent shops. So you can see why its easier to get a car fixed faster.

[2dogs]

There you go, JP58 nailed it.

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

And they all have the same dumb excuse... COVID my ! Motorcycle parts distributors can't work but automotive parts suppliers can? So sick of this over-engineered snowmobile with tires and it's terrible dealer network.

Can anyone explain legitimately why motorcycle (and especially CANAM) service is so slow? Is it that the manufacturers control the parts distribution and don't allow 3rd parties?

I suspect you have not noticed how Covid has affected supply lines all over the place. Even Wally World has empty shelves due to tight supplies. Costco shelves don't look empty but that's only because they rearrange existing inventory to fill the empty spaces where the products they should have, but don't, would be.

As far as few third party parts suppliers goes, that is controlled by market size. When the auto world consumes a hundred thousand times more brake pads than does the m/c world, guess where the third party guys are going to focus their efforts.

[Plarimer]

I am having trouble getting a very small body panels for my 2016 RT. First the wrong part came in. Then now for five weeks I have not received the panel. I got the typical, shop shut downs and slow downs during the winter, Covid and the weather that has been occurring in the Midwest. I’ve never had this problem with my Harley’s nor my gold wings. Now this doesn’t mean I don’t love my Spyder, But I would think there’s enough of them out there now where a better delivery service could be had. I’m glad it’s not I’ll have to have part so my trike doesn’t have to sit for several weeks or months. Just ranting I guess.

[MONK]

It may be a combination of just plain poor customer service. The other possibility is the mail delivery system is getting more and more screwed up as time passes. Hardly any dealer carries parts these days. Getting them is a hassle because of Covid, etc.

I got in trouble for missing a payment due date by a major credit card. PS. I mailed the payment the same day I got the bill, three weeks before due date, and they still claim to have received the payment two days past due date. They did get a call, they killed the $70 in charges, $35 late fee, and $35 interest charged. I have paid them off, and they will now go to the I may use this card sometime in the next three years, status.

I don't like it when other forces are out there to ruin my good credit.

I've learned to associate my bank account with my credit cards. That way I can make online payments. I understand the risks but 1) I save on stamps, 2) I don't worry about someone stealing my outgoing mail and 3) if my payment is late, it's 99% of the time my fault.

...which means my wife has to follow in another vehicle.

Count yourself blessed that you have someone who can trail you to the shop. I just got my 3k mile service at the dealer where I purchased the bike (about an hour away). They charged me $310. I only went there as I didn't have to drop it off. If I had been able to drop off the bike, I could have gone to the dealer that sold me my 1st RT about 20 minutes away and been out the door for less than $250.

[RayBJ]

I agree with JP58. I've owned a few different MC brands and getting parts (other than maint.) was always a delay. Triumph was ~1 week usually, Kawasaki a little less, Aprilia closer to 2 weeks. From my experience, the Rice-burners' parts tend to be shorter waits because of the higher population of bikes compared to Euro-bikes. I don't blame the dealers for parts delays but I agree there's not enough techs for quick repair turn-arounds. I learned to live with crap I can't change but if the dealer is the bottleneck (or a Richard), I vote with my feet and move on to the next dealer.