Your Daily Rant

[Jammin'John]

I live on the Tug Hill !

Tug Hill, sometimes referred to as the Tug Hill Plateau, is an upland region in Upstate New York in the United States, famous for heavy winter snows.

tug hill plateau new york - Google Search

JJ

 

[Qship]

Rant on.
Picked my new Tiger up a week and a half ago. Did not take long to rack up the 800 kms(500 miles) for the break in service to be needed. Called last week to book the service and was told 21 Jun. That's over 3 weeks!!!!! Only an hour needed to do this.
Thought it was long wait earlier this spring when I had to get my T'bird fixed. This is one of the main reasons why I contemplated jumping brands when I wanted another/different bike. Annoyed with the only Triumph dealer in Atlantic Canada.
Went down Saturday and bought the oil filter(at the Triumph dealer)and bought the oil(Castrol 10W50 racing 4T) at a local store. Changed the oil myself as they said it would be alright to run it a few hundred kms over. NOT my new bike. One less thing they can charge me for. Need to find a local mechanic that is Triumph certified. Ha, ha. Good luck with that.
They need to hire more mechanics!
Rant off!

 

[Jammin'John]

Way cheaper to maintain and find stuff for my Jap bikes !

 

[DaveM]

That is a long wait for a service like that.

 

[shanered6]

Ye this seems to be getting more and more common ! ...... its all well and good setting up new dealers all over the world but if you havn't got enough Tec opps to do the servicing then you will end up with p***ed off customers .
I have a friend here who bought a new explorer 1200 a year ago and has just traded it for an Honda africa adventure , because he was sick of having to wait for services and spare parts from Triumph ! ...... it was his first triumph and as he put it ...... IT'LL BE MY LAST !! NEVER AGAIN WORST CUSTIMER SERVICE IVE EVER HAD !!!!!
TRiumph really need to start getting a grip on there customer service and spares distrabution as they are starting to get a name for poor service .

 

[ChrisAnglophile]

Ye this seems to be getting more and more common ! ...... its all well and good setting up new dealers all over the world but if you havn't got enough Tec opps to do the servicing then you will end up with p***ed off customers .
I have a friend here who bought a new explorer 1200 a year ago and has just traded it for an Honda africa adventure , because he was sick of having to wait for services and spare parts from Triumph ! ...... it was his first triumph and as he put it ...... IT'LL BE MY LAST !! NEVER AGAIN WORST CUSTIMER SERVICE IVE EVER HAD !!!!!
TRiumph really need to start getting a grip on there customer service and spares distrabution as they are starting to get a name for poor service .

I would not blame Triumph.
It will he the Importer in USA, who is not holding stock.
There are Laws about holding stock and for how many years.
When the bike industry in Australia, went through "Worlds best Practise" Business Sense, coming out of Business think Tanks.
Stock was seen as a BAD word, effecting Business Profits.
So the Accountants had all the stock over 5 years on the shelf, taken down to Eastern Creek Tip, Sydney. And with the Tax Department Federal Government Onsite, To sign off that it was all dumped in a Big Hole. Filled in and a Massive 80 ton Bulldozer, ran over all these engine part , wheel and , forks and Frames. The company which was 100% owned by the Company, got this Huge Tax Right Off, which mad it profitable to ....Wait for it....order spare parts , put them on the shelf for 5 years , then scrap and crush the parts for a Giant Tax Right Off and make a profit. So if you bought a second hand bike,, the spare parts have to be Ordered from Japan, Airfreighted over and then you get hit with two charges, one for the overpriced part and the second for freiu, so a $10 gasket , costs $25 plus $15 freight.

I won't mention which of the Big Jap Four, no idea , whether they scrap parts now, but the Law is they do have to keep inventory for 10 years now for Cars and Bikes.

So its the Importer, ho is to blame and what the inventory law are in each country.
Government her want to bring down the Age of Cars on the Road from present 10 years Average.
It use to be more.
New Zealand the average age of a Car is 20 years.

Chris

 

[CarlS]

In the US inventory is taxable be it clothing on a rack or spare parts in a warehouse.

 

[shanered6]

Im in the uk ! .... there should be no problem for parts here ..... but there is and customers seem to be having to wait for servicing all the time and the reason given is always .... we're waiting for parts !!!

 

[DaveM]

Shane I am surprised to hear you guys have issues with parts and servicing as I thought if anyplace it would be tops by you. I don't think we even have a Triumph dealer in my area anymore and I think the closest one is now around 1000km or 621miles away.

So if I were in for a new bike now I don't think it would be a Triumph and I would just go back to Honda as you find these dealers on every block

 

[Rocky]

The only Triumph dealer in this province either lost or gave up the franchise two years ago. The closest one now is in the neighbouring province and is close to three hours away using the four-lane highway.
My T100 has never needed any service that I couldn't do myself. When I need tires I take the wheels to a local Honda dealer.

 

[shanered6]

the nearest triumph dealer to me is glasgow and thats 250 miles away .... so even here in the uk the dealers are few and far between in the sticks you have to be in a big town or city to have a dealer .

 

[Jammin'John]

That is strange that in the UK you don't have dealers near you. I'm in New York State. My dealer is 22 miles away.

JJ

 

[ChrisAnglophile]

Rant on.
Picked my new Tiger up a week and a half ago. Did not take long to rack up the 800 kms(500 miles) for the break in service to be needed. Called last week to book the service and was told 21 Jun. That's over 3 weeks!!!!! Only an hour needed to do this.
Thought it was long wait earlier this spring when I had to get my T'bird fixed. This is one of the main reasons why I contemplated jumping brands when I wanted another/different bike. Annoyed with the only Triumph dealer in Atlantic Canada.
Went down Saturday and bought the oil filter(at the Triumph dealer)and bought the oil(Castrol 10W50 racing 4T) at a local store. Changed the oil myself as they said it would be alright to run it a few hundred kms over. NOT my new bike. One less thing they can charge me for. Need to find a local mechanic that is Triumph certified. Ha, ha. Good luck with that.
They need to hire more mechanics!
Rant off!

We Really have picked the Golden Egg for Wagging the Tail of the Dog, when service and parts gets involved.

First Point is Tax on Stock.
Stock it seems in most places is taxed as Profits , reinvested. Tax has to be Paid.
Then the Dealer or Importer, claims a cost to the business of keeping that stock, YEARLY...DEPRECIATION!.
Then Every year he adds a INFLATION RESALE PRICE to the Parts in Stock , or whatever the R.R.P. is by the Importer.
Then when the Depreciation gets to Zero , after 5 or 10 years , He sends it to the Tip.
The Creative Account , puts a value on it , something like , present cost to buy on it , and claims a of set against profit,
Instant Success.

Second Point.

Why are there so few dealers and Why are they going Bust.
Its got to have something to do with.
Margin on Bike Sales to small , or Slow Sales.
Or cost of keeping floor stock.
Or. Is the word not out there that Triumphs are the best bike to have.
Or
Harleys are the Home Brand.
Or
Cost of Running any business is to high or Not Profitable.
Or
Rents are too high , kids don't buy bikes like the 1960' s and 70's .

Or
labours to high cost ,
Or.

After 9 / 11, and the G.F.C. Crash, kids have no Money.

And there just is no spare money for keeping Spares or Employing Mechanics and Competent Staff.
Because its Cheaper on Line...which means , the profit machines not there, to prop up the business.

Thirdly.
Its a World wide thing ,

Or fourthly,
Is it not an important part of Triumphs Business.
I'm with Rocky, do your own maintenance.
But that's not the way anymore.. People are busy, and that and they don't want to , is what we trust others to do.

Fourthly.

What's the Resale Value of a Triumph, I would think it would be better than a Japanese.
But is it as Good as a Harley Davidson.

Chris

 

[Jammin'John]

Resale sucks for Triumphs.

JJ

 

[ChrisAnglophile]

the nearest triumph dealer to me is glasgow and thats 250 miles away .... so even here in the uk the dealers are few and far between in the sticks you have to be in a big town or city to have a dealer .

I'm having a LAUGH here FLUFFy.
John a Grouts is closer to you than Glasgow !!!
Let's face it, your pretty remote up there...
The Shetland's isn't that far away.
And if I lived where you live , I bet you would not swap it for the World.

But everyone one here has a point.
And it would be Reflected in Triumph Sales at some point.
Triumph have done a great sales pitch and are on Increasing sales all the time.
But,, unless they keep increasing sales to new Markets.
The times going to come when they will have to spend on service and that will be a Big Big cost.
When the Tide goes Out ..........
Chris

 

[CarlS]

Resale sucks for Triumphs.

JJ

Right now, resale sucks for most brands, including HD. There is a downturn in new and used bike purchases.

 

[triumph david]

The M/C industry is always interesting to watch, one thing i have really noticed for a few years is that Tri. seems to have lost alot of dealers, at lease around here. Also there attention to taking care of their customers especially in the field of warranty complaints and reaching out to their customers for help and information seems to be lacking. Things like this will put out the wrong kind of advertising that people will not forget! If they keep things like this up they can have the best bike in the world and it will not sale.

 

[CarlS]

We finally have Triumph dealers again in Orlando and Daytona Beach.

 

[triumph david]

I am glad to hear that all i hear is about them going out of business, are they a good dealership?

 

[CarlS]

For years, a company had BMW, Triumph, Ducati, and KTM fanchises under one roof in Daytona Beach and Orlando, I bought my 2012 Tiger in Orlando in June of 2012. About fours years ago, they lost/dropped the Triumph franchise. This company was bought by another group and promptly lost Ducati and KTM ledaving only BMW. Then another group bought them. This group is called Euro Cycles. I know they have BMW, Triumph and Ducati. I have not been to the Orlando dealership since they reacquired Triumph; so I can't say if it is a good dealership or not. The Orlando dealership has a sub dealership in the Ace Cafe. I was impressed with the salesman's knowledge of his products. In the the next few days I will visit the main Orlando dealership. I want to look at the T-120 and the Scrambler 1200.