Sad News - MotoSport

[Arnie]

I recently passed on advice to Ribbert about a tire supplier in the US who would send tires to Australia for $30/pr shipping.  Klavdy had put me on to them and I did get a set of tires (Michelin PR2s) delivered to my door at a total cost of A$320.-- for the pair!!

Afterwards, I took a look just to see their current tire pricing and their search box returned a
"We don't seem to have any of that item in stock"

So, I sent a query asking about this as I just didn't believe a motorcycle shop of any kind would have 0 tire stock, even in February.  Their reply is below.

" Unfortunately we no longer ship oversized items internationally. We have had a big spike in cost dealing with this and elected to stop. We realize it limits what you can get from us and apologize for any frustration caused.

Glen
Contact Center Specialist
www.motosport.com "

I don't know if they have ceased shipping tires due to cost (as they claim) or what I consider more likely, pressure from the Australian motorcycle tire importer/distributors on the parent companies who have probably told MotoSport that they will not supply them if they continue to sell tires internationally.

I urge all of you to contact them and tell them how upset and angry you are at their change of policy

Arnie

[movenon]

That's interesting. Here in the states I have tried on occasion to get parts out of the UK and they will not ship here.. Not everything, just certain stuff.
IF its as you suspect then why can't we/us/RPM etc. buy from dealers (they ship free to us) and as private individuals send them over to you? I have no idea how much they charge for shipping from here to you. Randy at RPM probably has all the shipping information on tap that anyone would want to know.

Today I received a Michelin PR3 and it arrived as a bare tire with a piece of cardboard wrapped around it with the address's on it. No fancy boxing. I paided 153.00 USD for a 180 55 17 delivered to my front door. It was on sale a bit. Normal price seems to be 165-170.00.
George

[FJmonkey]

You got cardboard? I got tape and a label....

[markmartin]

I've received one, and have shipped two MC tires wrapped in plastic wrap / Saran wrap / Cling Wrap, just wrapped around the perimeter like an ace bandage.  It works, it makes it easy to grab the tire, and doesn't add any weight to the tire for shipping.  Put the shipping address under the cling wrap, and it's protected and waterproof to boot.

[movenon]

I might add that I ordered my tire from "Leatherup.com", the tire was shipped from Western Power Sports (there warehouse is only 10 miles from here). I think a lot of on-line dealers do not actually stock much of anything. Some have a token store front or dealership. When you order something they have it drop shipped to you from there wholesaler.
"Motorsports" might have an account with a wholesaler in OZ or closer than the US and they just take the order and have it shipped from there. 30.00 USD is pretty cheap to actually send 2 tires from the US to OZ. Perhaps the wholesaler they are or were using to cover that area of the world has problems, or the "deal" isn't holding up for Motorsports. I have some knowledge of how it works with Western Power Sports as I have had friends that have worked for them over the years and this isn't the first time I have ordered on line and received my item from WPS warehouse in Boise.
George

[crzyjarmans]

I just purchased new tires for my FJ, and the shop owner told me that the price on tires have gone up so much, Tires he use to sell for $120. he now has to pay that price for the same tire, forcing him to raise his rate on tire's