Shopping DownUnder?
 

I'm curious to hear anyone's experience on this matter. Be interesting to hear if it is the same in the other states of OZ, the UK, Europe, or even the States. Or perhaps it's happened and I have turned into my father (grumpy old man) :D
Don't get me wrong this is not a whinge or complaint, just an observation. Particularly when retail businesses in Australia are consistently complaining about shoppers buying overseas.

Having bought my TEN about a month ago I've been researching mods, all the usual stuff, you know how it goes. Of course I end up here on XT660.com. What a great place this is. Have learned heaps.
So I end up replacing the OEM pipes, which of course then leads to the fuel mods, and now air filters.
What I'm finding is that it is easier and cheaper for me to purchase just about anything really, on the net rather than in my local shops. I find that overseas retailers also seem to be better at communication with the customer and their general knowledge of the products that they sell is better.

For example, I tried to get some DNA filters from my local Yam dealer. Yes he can get them from our Aussie importer.......but it will take 4 weeks and EXPENSIVE, also they were not really sure what I was talking about, even after showing them on the DNA website. And these guys sell Tenere's . But to be fair the majority of what they sell would be dirt bikes but even so... So I go home and hop on the net, place an order with BRspecialtuning. I receive a conformation email quickly that the order has been received and is being processed. Next day I receive another email, order has been dispatched, and I should receive the order between 5 and 15 days (I think). So far pretty good service and cheaper than buying it here, be interesting to see how long it takes for the delivery.
Now I really do want to support our local shops, even it is a bit more expensive. But more and more I find it harder to do.
Our local Touratech importer....I ordered a luggage rack for the Ten. First off I hear nothing for a while, then a phone call to say they're out of stock. They'll ship it out ASAP. Two weeks down the road I've heard nothing, hmmmm? An ETA would be nice.
It just seems to me that Australian businesses are dropping the ball somewhat. I consistently seem to get better service from overseas. Of course there are exceptions to the above, Kev here on XT660.com has been so helpful and patient,especially when one asks dumb questions! So I'm not generalizing by any means.
Perhaps you've purchased something from OZ and have had a good experience....I'd love to hear it. I hope it's not just me otherwise IT really has happened :ne1: :smile[2]:

Dont worry, not just you!

Found the same, its amazing getting parts from Germany and the UK is cheaper and quicker than getting from the eastern states!!!

I bought Zega pannier mounts from Touratec but from the states! In Aust Touratec wanted $120 per side plus postage from E to W. In the USA Touratec charge only $60 for the exact same product and you cant blame postage....everything comes from Germany in the first place!

I ended up getting two sets and paying postage from the US and still saved about $70?? How does that work?

Plenty of Aust suppliers are doing themselves out of business with pricegouging, the dealerships are the worst for it.

Matt.

Same here as well, I've stopped bothering using Yamaha dealers here unless I'm really desperate even then it's painful. My clutch cable snapped, only 1 available in all of Aus from Yamaha and took 5 days to get it :( Just checked out the price of Hyperpro spring sets here, unbelievable!!! they are nearly 200 bucks dearer here than buying them and having them shipped from Germany. As already said I would love to support local businesses but their pricing sucks :BSmeter:

It's the same in the UK too, particularly with Touratech products. Everything is 33% more expensive if bought from Touratech UK than Touratech DE. Take their seat for the Tenere as a typical example: �400 here and �300 (350 Euro) in Germany. It is even more baffling when the UK and Germany are both in the EU, which is "supposed" to be a common market?!

I could fly to Germany, buy a Zega Pro "+S" pannier system direct from the Touratech shop (�760/899 Euro), have a meal and a few beers, fly back home again and it would cost me less than getting it delivered from the UK distributor (�1025), plus I would have had a nice day out to boot! Work that one out...

Yep, it's sure is a lot more expensive Down under than back home.

After a big off on the Plenty Highway on the BMW GS(A), it turned out to be a third of the price to get the bits from the UK then it was to buy here in AUS. I know having the VAT (17.5%) taken off amounts up, but paying �500 instead of �1500 makes a big difference.

Not slagging off all the Aussie dealers, but most were pretty slack in getting back to me after emails and phone calls were sent/made.

Hmmm and I could almost guess some of the dealers / shops /suppliers that you are talking about ... but they do have to pay for those shiny new shops somehow :nana:

I've just brought some Yamaha heated grips for the XT1200 in from the States ... yes I would have rather supported my local guys but Yamaha Australia's price gouging policies make it extremely difficult :evil3:

Some items can be got locally at very reasonable prices (after allowing for freight and gst components) but hell some suppliers do have to understand the real meaning of the term "global economy" :115:

Amazingly that even allowing for some equally gross freight & postage costs from Europe and the States you can generally land parts faster and cheaper than local sources :hello2:

Haha, Pete you are exactly right. That is most definitely one of the shops I'm talking about but also my local one down the road. As for the new one I was expecting great things. All the more fool me! Great big fancy shop and its no better than the last one. I thought that there would be a greater range of products, but nope not a thing :022:
They could do with some serious competition!

I will give a plug though, MotoradGarage have been awesome with supply and cost!!
Got all my sw motech gear, pegs, centre stand and crash bars cheaper and easier than importing!!!
Matt

Hi Macca, are they offering some type of discount, because I have just compared prices on the SW motech centre stand $279 + shipping from Motoradgarage or $213 including shipping from OTR

I had to explain to my local dud Yam dealers what DNA filters are! And where they could order them from for me. Thought I'd buy locally but these guys don't have a clue about their own brand of bikes and particularly any performance mods for them. :thebirdman:

I told them i had an XT660R and they looked at me weird... "Oh, the Tenere?" No mate... not the Tenere... check your own company's catalog. I could go on... changing dog-bone links; fuelling issues when i was starting out; setting the CO1 levels, exhaust options, etc... they didn't know what I was even talking about - just blank stares. I even jumped on their computer to show them how to buy in a speedo healer. I'm done with 'em. Certainly don't trust them to service my bike when it seems like they have never seen one.

All I can say is thank goodness for XT660.com and Kev! I'd still be in the dark without the forum.

Can't remember what I paid, but I'm in Perth and didn't need postage just walked in!!
Matt

Well 7 days later my parcel with my DNA filters has arrived ( well done BR special tuning) All in excellent condition. Not bad service at all me thinks. Now I have my filters, my fuel mods, hopefully I won't stuff it up. Be interesting to see the difference.

and import duty / GST / importers mark up..
aswell as pay staff so yer fellow country men
can put food on the table for there kids & a roof
over there head..
unlike the faceless web sites that in a lot of cases
have very few over heads...
most of the bike shops don't have the sort of mark
up most seem to think they do... Here in NZ anything
thats privately imported under $400 NZ is free of GST
& import duty ,that makes it dam hard for the local dealers to compete...

I do buy from overseas aswell if the part is unobtainable
localy or over prised...
but I would rather see my $ go into the local merry go round
if at all possable...

Pete, couldn't agree more with the above. I'll do the same if I can, but the thing that really gets me is the lack of service. But you raise an interesting point. Importers have they become defunct in a Global Economy?

Aussie Dealers
 

Hey - I'm the first to want to buy local and support the local guys but in the end if I'm saving $200 then I'm going elsewhere.. Have you tried asking them if they'll price match or "do a deal?" You'll be surprised that a lot of the time they will do a deal. Especially if they have it in stock.

On the subject of "knowledge" in all fairness .. No Yammy salesman is going to know everything about every bike and they cannot compete with the combined power of the Internet.

Yes they do have to pay for their shiny dealerships and their staff and expenses just like most retailers.. Try give them a go and negotiate...

Cheers

Could someone add a contact for Germany or the USA,
I priced parts at the local Yamaha dealer last weekend, I thought bloody hell, that's expensive.
Keep in mind, many USA outlets wont ship to customers that are not in the states.

Hi Moz,
There is http://www.off-the-road.de, some people seem to like them, others not. I haven't dealt with them myself.
As for the US, it depends on what you are after. They don't have the Tennere in the US, so bits and pieces for that are pretty much non existent. Not sure if they have the rest of the XT range. There is a UK Yam supplier whose name escapes me, but if you do a Google search it usually comes up. See how you go.

Precisely the same experience with DNA filters as described above.. hell I even tried to do the right thing (buy in Melbourne) but the roadblocks were frequent (wait 4 weeks, must order at a dealer, dealer clueless & unhelpful).
Gave up, went home and got it online easier, cheaper and within 10 days.

Please don't give me the poor dealer high overhead rubbish, price is not the central issue (for me anyway) - it is an inefficient supply chain & complete lack of interest in any sort of service making it attractive to not have to go near a bike shop!

The added bonus that it is also cheaper just makes it compelling to shop online.

Depressing really but most of my motorbike spending dollars go to the US, UK and Germany these days.

All my small bits and pieces l buy from my local bike shop where l purchased the bike.
Things like oil filters, the occasional air filter, oils seals for the hubs, oil, leavers, chain and sprockets and even cush rubbers (lots of cush rubbers grrrr ) I paid through the nose for the first few things then the prices dropped dramatically. Now l give them part numbers and don't need to give a deposit. Even when l don't collect things for months afterwards. Sometimes l order things just to make sure it's in stock next time l want one ha ha ha.
But all the big stuff it's OTR. One stop shop. DNA Greece was cheap and prompt.

Perth W.A.

Rod, have you tried Kev's mod for the cush rubbers? Simple and effective!

Another thing��..tried to buy a replacement seat for a DR650. Shouldn't be hard I thought. Rang around, no joy. Rang the distributor for the seat we were after���3 weeks at best. When you read reviews of the Australian distributor, 2 months was not uncommon :sad11:
So back online, had the seat within a week! And substantially cheaper. I tried to buy it here, but what do you have to do? Get down on your hands and knees and beg??

I've bought ALL my stuff from Europe, simply can't beat price,delivery time and communication, sorry to say, I don't even consider buying locally ( Australia) any more. I hit the net first!

I needed pillion pegs and bought some, used from ebay UK for around $100.
I needed the button heads to fit them. I always feel ill at ease asking the local Yammy dealer.. here we go again..

Not sure I blame them, the constant price check and don't buy, try things on and go and shop online etc etc. I'm surprised theyr'e still kickin'.

Anyhow, into the dealer and they wanted $11 ea. I'm not normally a tight arse but when they added time to arrive I baulked.

Delivered from Qld dealer, $9.50. Delivered US dealer $6, ebay $3ea ..

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/231161288...84.m1439.l2649