Sad News

[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.

Arnie

[X-Ray]

Yep, I agree with what you suspect Arnie. The Australian M/cycle spares market has got to be protected at all costs, how dare we try to get something cheaper from overseas. Don't get me started on helmets, the HJC IS-16 I want to get is $200.00 delivered from the US, $399.00 -$430.00 in the shops here. But hang on, I'm not allowed to use the EXACT SAME overseas bought helmet on the roads here because it doesn't have the 5 tick approval, right? They are EXACTLY the same helmet, except the Aust one has en extra test applied, a glittery sticker and then the bike shops rip us blind.

I'm sick of this sh%t!!

PS, my daughters love your avatar, they say it is cute.

[Arnie]

I have a fairly long-winded file that I got from Klavdy about helmets and legality here.
Bottom line is that there is NO ONE who can certify helmets therefore any certified (anywhere) helmet is legal and the AS1698 sticker is not required.  I'll dig it up and re-post or search here for it.

Re: my Avatar, I (photo) shot that bird at Harvey Bay a few years ago. :-)  I've got some other frames of it she might like too.

Yep, I agree with what you suspect Arnie. The Australian M/cycle spares market has got to be protected at all costs, how dare we try to get something cheaper from overseas. Don't get me started on helmets, the HJC IS-16 I want to get is $200.00 delivered from the US, $399.00 -$430.00 in the shops here. But hang on, I'm not allowed to use the EXACT SAME overseas bought helmet on the roads here because it doesn't have the 5 tick approval, right? They are EXACTLY the same helmet, except the Aust one has en extra test applied, a glittery sticker and then the bike shops rip us blind.

I'm sick of this sh%t!!

PS, my daughters love your avatar, they say it is cute.

[ken65]

gday, just to tell of an experience or 2 with a local yamaha dealer down my way, needed a few things for my xj, ordered some side cover grommits, have to pay up front, turns out they were the wrong ones, but it was my fault, no refund. A bit later i went in to buy/order a tappet cover gasket, $91 ,i couldnt believe it,i told him i can them for $26(genuine) delivered from the states. So he says i'll GIVE it to for trade, that was around $80  . When i said no wonder people get there stuff on the net he went on how we should support aussie business etc,(thats why i went there) they also have support us i remarked, anyway after a bit of 2 and froing i will never go back there, i rarely buy anything in australia now and i most likely spend a grand or more a year on parts, ive only got X amount of dollars to spend.. they dont care,this turkey all but blamed me for the GFC,  thats my 2 bobs worth anyway,   ken

[X-Ray]

I hear you Ken. I go to Randy for bits if he has them, but if not, for any Yamaha (especially my mate across the road with his GTS1000), then JP-Parts.com is great. He recently needed a new mirror for his rare as crap "concept" Yamaha, locals wanted $375.00 for it, we got it for $175.00 delivered from JP. Big difference.

[ken65]

a couple of years ago i restored an old rd350lc, every nut and bolt, i think i would of spent close to a grand alone on postage from the UK and the US for parts, still much cheaper than here, never do it again though , only a few weeks ago i got some cables for an old triumph, i measured the outer and inner lengths to make dead sure of what i needed to get, gave him the measurements over the phone, yeah mate no worries, went and collected, both wrong,neither would fit, ended up getting the right ones over the net, cost himself a potentially good customer.  The only downside is the waiting for parts to turn up from O/S .

[baldy3853]

Never buy anything here for my bikes it all comes out of the U.S. I'm prepared to wait ( the last time I bought something here they said I had to wait 6 weeks for it to be delivered from Japan) the savings are just too much to do it any other way, if the Stealers here were a little less likely to take your arm when you enter their store or your 1st born child I might cross their threshold, these bastids steal from us blind, I understand the need to pay wages, holidays sick leave and superannuation, rent and all the other little things but when the price is 3 times as much they can get stuffed!!! If we did the same thing they would call it robbery and we would spend time behind bars!!! so F@@@ them all!!! 
Baldy

[ken65]

good on ya baldy, my exact thoughts, cant wait to catch up with SEQ contingent, have already meet harvy, a few to go.,  ken

[Timbo-1]

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.

Arnie

Dead right Arnie, so have been using Jake Wilson in the USA...http://www.jakewilson.com/
Have five tyres coming at the moment, two rear tyres and one front for FJR, one front for FJ and one rear for my DR 500. Total was $588 and $95 for freight. Takes about ten days to arrive, can't go wrong..
Have a look at the web site..
Cheers Timbo.

[Arnie]

Timbo,

Thanks for the recommendation.  I'll give them a try on my next tire purchase.

Cheers,
Arnie

[mr blackstock]

G'day,

Awhile back I had to refurbish my FJ1100's rear shock linkages.  I decided to keep an excell table and record the costings as I went about researching where and how much.

I was amazed at the differences between shops.



It is worth remembering that with the cheaper places, you can end up waiting a long time for the stock to sent, only to be sent an email 2 months later saying they are out of stock.  Whereas the more expensive you go, the chances are very good they have it in stock ready to go.

These days I only phone the dealership if I want a laugh.

cheers, Gareth

[Arnie]

Gareth,  You said, "It is worth remembering that with the cheaper places, you can end up waiting a long time for the stock to sent, only to be sent an email 2 months later saying they are out of stock.  Whereas the more expensive you go, the chances are very good they have it in stock ready to go.

These days I only phone the dealership if I want a laugh."

I don't understand.  Are you saying..... The dealership had the highest prices therefore they have stock ?
We know that's not true.  Then you say the dealership makes you laugh. 
Huh??  You have a strange sense of humor, mate.

Shame your table doesn't include prices and delivery times from either Randy or Vic.

Arnie

[mr blackstock]

Hello,

I will qualify what i said.  With the cheaper places, either "boats" or part shark, I got the impression that those companies represent a larger group of suppliers who hold their inventory listing on one site, ie: part shark.  When you place an order with part shark, they request the part from one of the suppliers, when it arrives they send it to you.  This way you have dozens of companies being able to have their inventory easily accessed through the one "portal" site, like part shark.  However, if one of the companies fails to update their inventory, they cannot fulfill a request for a part, this is when you get the "out of stock" email months later.

With a dealership on the other hand, in my experience, if they have the part on the computer it is in stock.  I cannot remember a time when I have ordered a part only to be told it was "not in stock"

The dealership is good for a laugh because they will quote me a part that is ridiculously priced, then i go get it cheaper via the net.

I left a few companies off my table because the differences in prices between them were minor, and the table as I have put it in the post is just to illustrate a point.

Hope that clarifies a few things.

cheers, Gareth