Buying parts at the dealer

[Spyder]

As I really do hate to admit this, because I really want to be all about supporting my local businesses. The only thing I use the local stealerships for is trying on gear. I go and try on helmets, or jackets, etc. When I find what I like, I have typically went home and ordered it on line for a substantial cost savings. I did however by my jacket at the local stealer in Valpo. They had a pretty good sale going on. But, we were there to try on helmets for the wife. We bought her helmet there that day as well...

[greg78gs750]

I do the same thing at Babbitt's, which is in town for me. While their parts counter has gotten a bit better lately, I still know more about the old suzuki than any of the counter folks put together......

Why not both?

My local Suzuki dealer has an online storefront where I order most of my Suzuki bits. I have to pay 7% state sales tax, but I can skip shipping and pick up my goodies at the dealer. And slobber on some new bikes and gear while I'm there -- always a worthwhile trip.

https://www.onlinecycleparts.com/ is the online arm of Westfield Powersports, just north of Indianapolis. Fantastic service, too - always a prompt call if something's backordered or when my stuff shows up.

All the other online parts sellers are the same; a regular dealer that has put up an online storefront to sell parts at a discount. If you wander in and make the parts monkey wake up, you'll pay the full price. Do the work of ordering yourself, and you get the parts a lot cheaper.

As far as stock, it's quite true that dealers stock almost nothing. I never would have expected that switch to be in stock. Even oil filters, where two or three part numbers cover every Suzuki ever made, sometimes aren't in stock.

Dealers have to minimize inventory expenses as much as possible in order to survive; the only dealers left these days are the ones who run a VERY tight ship financially. You can't tie up hundreds of thousands of dollars in parts.

[rustybronco]

All the old parts personnel are getting out of the business. It isn't fun anymore. Now the shops are all understaffed by those who have little experience and are left to trial by fire.

On a lighter note. I look up all my parts online, cross reference them to the other manufactures part numbers and buy the best part I can at the lowest cost. People did it to me for years, now it's my turn.
I bought a UAC EX529444C expansion valve for the 300 for mear $7.55 plus shipping. The four orings were an additional $1.50. I also bought a closeout VC gasket for the Farmall at a budget busting $4.05 (Yay me!)

[Cipher]

you all bemoan the loss of a parts guy with in depth knowledge but the need for such depth is long gone. The old ordering and delivery systems have been superseded. No min wage person would need to learn the minute systems used for old bikes. Its ludicrous to expect they would. No money in selling an ocassional part to a curmudgeon who is too poor cheap or stupid to own a new bike.

[rustybronco]

Really? I suppose this minimum wage person should have any sort of clue when the cataloged is incorrect? I personally ran into incorrect catalogue's' just yesterday and I can guarantee most people would have never caught the error or have known how to get around it.

[bwringer]

I don't expect or need dealership counter people to know anything about my GS, nor would I trust their assertions if they claimed to. I mean, the bike is 35 years old; they really ought to use their brains for something more useful and likely. I'm the weirdo with the weird old bike. Understanding it is my responsibility.

I can say that the folks at my local dealer in Westfield (AKA OnlineCycleParts.com) are very good at using the systems and information they have available. We can see the same fiches and such, and I know a lot more about my bikes, but they can get information about backorders, inventory, and shipping times that's often useful, and a couple of times they've been very helpful about finding aftermarket alternatives for backordered OEM parts. Plus they're the first and only place I've EVER ordered parts of any kind that has actually called me when the parts show up. Great service.

If I do need some GS expertise, I'm lucky enough to live about 20 minutes away from Cycle Recycle II in downtown Indy. They stock and sell all sorts of aftermarket goodies, and have a huge inventory of used parts; they've pulled off some real miracles for me. The owner Rob is pretty much a walking encyclopedia on old Japanese bikes. I don't think he knows my name, but he knows me and my bikes, and that I know a lot of other GS riders.

[nejeff]

We supposedly have one genuine Suzuki dealer in town and they are a "multi brand" shop and I would never think of going there again, rather order oem parts from Parts Outlaw. Their service is not good and takes just as long to get them from Parts Outlaw and saves me a 25 minute trip.

The non dealer shops are hit and mostly miss, sometimes they actually have what you need but often times they order from Z1 just like we all do and tack 15% on. Had a couple shops botch tire installs so got me a tire machine and order rubber online. The one local shop that had Suzuki shims on hand closed up so that's over. Outside an occasional accessory or helmet buy it's hard to justify shopping locally here.

I sure don't want every local motorcycle shop to fold up but with the service many of them provide it's hard to justify shopping with them.

[ColoradoGS850L]

Why not both?

My local Suzuki dealer has an online storefront where I order most of my Suzuki bits. I have to pay 7% state sales tax, but I can skip shipping and pick up my goodies at the dealer. And slobber on some new bikes and gear while I'm there -- always a worthwhile trip.

https://www.onlinecycleparts.com/ is the online arm of Westfield Powersports, just north of Indianapolis. Fantastic service, too - always a prompt call if something's backordered or when my stuff shows up.

All the other online parts sellers are the same; a regular dealer that has put up an online storefront to sell parts at a discount. If you wander in and make the parts monkey wake up, you'll pay the full price. Do the work of ordering yourself, and you get the parts a lot cheaper.

As far as stock, it's quite true that dealers stock almost nothing. I never would have expected that switch to be in stock. Even oil filters, where two or three part numbers cover every Suzuki ever made, sometimes aren't in stock.

Dealers have to minimize inventory expenses as much as possible in order to survive; the only dealers left these days are the ones who run a VERY tight ship financially. You can't tie up hundreds of thousands of dollars in parts.

bwringer, how are they (by they I mean onlinecycleparts.com/) for shipping in your experience? They seem to have good stock, but their shipping costs seem high. I was looking to order a couple little o-rings/washers for the bolts on my new petcock along with the bolts and shipping was going to be around $25.

[bwringer]

bwringer, how are they (by they I mean onlinecycleparts.com/) for shipping in your experience? They seem to have good stock, but their shipping costs seem high. I was looking to order a couple little o-rings/washers for the bolts on my new petcock along with the bolts and shipping was going to be around $25.

I gotta admit, I honestly have no idea how their shipping costs work; I always go pick my stuff up.

But I do know that many places have ways of calculating shipping that end up pretty high. You might email and ask if it'll really cost $25 to send you a couple of little things. They might have a minimum order amount or something like that, too, where orders under $20 or $50 trigger ridiculous shipping.

Honestly, you will probably be better off heading to your local dealership and ordering there. There are also some free or discounted shipping codes from other dealers that pop up here sometimes.

Like every other online OEM parts dealer, Online Cycle Parts (Westfield Powersports) does NOT actually stock Suzuki parts -- they order the stuff from Suzuki, same as any other supplier. In other words, NO ONE actually stocks OEM Suzuki parts; they order from Suzuki, they get the stuff, then they sort it out, repackage, and ship to you.

Ordinary mortals are not allowed to order directly from Suzuki; dealing with us whiny customers is the dealer's job and one way they make money.

Online Cycle Parts/Westfield almost always gets parts from Suzuki in three business days, which is pretty darn good. If I order on Monday or early Tuesday, I'll usually get the call on Friday. If I were having them ship to me, then add whatever the shipping time would be.

If you're in California, there are suppliers like BikeBandit who are close enough to Suzuki's west coast warehouse to get their stuff the next day. But it still takes a day or so to sort, repackage and ship to you, plus shipping from out there. (Don't actually order from BikeBandit; their prices suck and they use a doofy, confusing system of hiding the real part numbers.)

In your case, you seem to be up in the mountains a long way from the nearest Suzuki dealer, so it might be worth poking around the websites of a few of the in-state dealers and looking for online parts ordering, checking their shipping policies, etc.

For example, Fay Myers in Denver: http://shop.faymyers.com/fiche_select.asp

There are probably others that might have better prices or lower shipping in-state; even if you don't need much right now, it's worth doing a little research and finding a source. Or if you're in Denver regularly, you might even be able to go pick up your stuff and slobber on some new bikes...

[ColoradoGS850L]

I just ordered the bolts/gaskets for my petcock from Fay Myers and shipping was half of what Online Cycle Parts estimated. Thanks for the write-up! I've been on flea-bay mostly for my parts, but options are always a plus.

[alke46]

You might also want to check out rockymountainatvmc.com I have used them frequently and they have a location in Salt Lake City if memory serves me. Anyway, they do have some stuff in stock and are pretty quick with shipping. At least that's been my experience.