woz wrote:
To be honest I think whoever runs a Buell should be worried because if the main dealers are shutting down and parts becoming harder to get hold of, more independants will stop supplying or move to a different marque.
What I would like you all to do is to support your local independant parts supplier/dealer and stop chasing the cheapest prices unless this is your local.
Sounds great. Show me those independent dealers in Germany. There ain't none.
And where from should these get their parts from, if not from H-D? So how would they be cheaper then? And it's not "chasing the cheapest prices", it's chasing a 2 or 3 times higher price compared to the U.S - even after I paid a tremendous extra charge for (individual) shipping. No one will be able to convince me, that mass shipping and stockkeeping will raise the same costs, so German prices are nothing else than a rip off. The situation would be completely different if U.S prices would be somehow comparable. This is a completely H-D internal problem, ignoring the fact that customers are capable to use the internet for research and ordering. And, as usual, white collar idiot CEOs always react the same way: let's kick the customer, he deserves it, as he is cheap (won't want to pay our prices) and stupid (buys our product, that little blockhead, hahaha...).
The situation inside the EC/EEC is somewhat different to that in the U.S., because of the latest block exemption regulations (
http://ec.europa.eu/competition/sectors ... ation.html), which (at least in Germany) bind the manufacturers to provide spare parts, techical information and tools to independent workshops. In theory, at least.
Those few who sell used parts are wreckers, and are even more overprized than H-D. Status of spare parts is often more than questionable, if I see some descriptions and the accompanied pictures.
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