Ideas/feedback - What do you want?

[rac3r]

Okay so I've been offered the opportunity to start/run a small motorcycle dealership for someone and by that I mean purely sales of bikes/kit/parts. Now I'm not totally convinced it's the best business to start in today's world BUT I would like to ask you guys/girls what would you want from such a store? what would make you want to go back? Obviously I know what I would want but I thought I'd get a wider perspective on the whole thing

I'd love to make it purely second hand dukes with a focus on Monsters but I have a feeling that may be a little too focused. I've just been spoken to about this today so I'm still researching quite a bit and thinking if it's worth it

[He11cat]

In this day and age little bike places are dropping like flies the only things seeming to do ok is the little moped places.

Unless your right high end like Made in Italy , you'd never survive on second hand Dukes!
They are really specialist.

Diversity is better , you'd make more money selling poxy Blandits !!
Focusing on monster sales only would be slitting your own throat!!
I personally in this climate wouldn't do it sorry unless I won Euro Millions and could have high end stuff and pay some top notch Mechanics to work for me :)

[He11cat]

Oh I'd like a decent tea coffee facility :) not a klix PAC coffee vending machine :)

[rac3r]

I see what you're saying and if it was me I wouldn't do it. The guy that's funding it wants to run it along side his car dealership (Bentley's, Porsches, etc) as a sort of extra income. So as long as he is getting some income he's not bothered. I was thinking instead of being brand focussed I could focus on particular types of bike? Sports/nakeds and 125's

Or a coffee shop that has a few bikes for sale :D

[Blah blah]

I see what you're saying and if it was me I wouldn't do it. The guy that's funding it wants to run it along side his car dealership (Bentley's, Porsches, etc) as a sort of extra income. So as long as he is getting some income he's not bothered. I was thinking instead of being brand focussed I could focus on particular types of bike? Sports/nakeds and 125's

Or a coffee shop that has a few bikes for sale :D

For what it's worth, here's my 2p...

If he's into new top end, then it'd probably make sense to go the same sort of way with expensive toys, old brit stuff, good cafe racers, classic Vespas plus modern marques, Ducatis, MVs, Harleys, etc etc. and keep away from the little common stuff. If you're buying a 911, it's unlikely that you'd want a 10 year old 600 bandit or a Chinese 125 as well.

Alternatively if you've got loads of contacts, you could almost consider a 'finding' service to keep 'em happy.

[He11cat]

If he is high end then yup you need to be however ... You need to really know your stuff and have a bloody decent pool of money .. That or you sell bikes for others on commision basis .
But then most second hand bikes come with 3 months warrenty so what do you do then?
Alot of really good high end bikes often come from abroad as well.
Where they have not been subjected to our crappy climate.. ( same goes for alot of the good old VW aircooled).

High end is pretty specialist.

[rac3r]

Good points guys, thanks for the replies :thumbsup:

[Nottsbiker]

I might be tempted with retro stuff like 90's superbikes as there seems to be a lot of interest in them,.and magazines like practical sportsbikes are very popular now with the average biker age increasing.

I'd like to see 0W01's and RC30's in mint condition alongside the likes of 996R's :-)