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Message: [QUOTE="Patman, post: 617468, member: 16962"] I'll venture that within the last year I have bought more parts than anybody short of a shop or race team for a bike I am building. It was pretty well used but for some reason the engine was maintained to a very high level and the rest of the bike let go. That being the case I've had to buy all kinds of little this and that pieces as well as the larger items and have experienced a wide range of helpfulness and availability. As I mentioned before I have two large Honda shops within an hour of me. One is a long time established shop and the other is pretty new. If you want ANY bike and I mean ANY bike that is currently on Honda's production list they have it and typically in any optional color. Both shops offer out club members a 10% discount on parts/accessories/service. One shop has a HUGE inventory of any piece of clothing you could imagine for both street and dirt as well as watercraft. The other has a pretty typical selection as I've seen in many shops. Neither one of these shops had anything except brake pads when I called, not even freaking metric bolts! I totally expected swingarm bearings and seals or top shock bearings to be an order item, no problem. The availability date was never better than 1 week and typically was closer to 2 weeks. Heck at one of the shops I even stood behind the counter and pointed to the two pieces I needed (a bolt and clip nut) when my order came in 2 weeks later I drove and hour to pick up the clips but no bolts. I then was directed to the service department to get the bolts. There I was greated by the wicked witch of the desk and was informed she had no 6x15 or 6x20 bolts today. Thanks! :silly: Now we go to another local shop. They are small but they have a great reputation for customer service. I know the owner and his son is a friend of mine. They gave me a great deal on my KTM when I bought it and got my son the first Comp SX50 Jr. west of the Mississippi when I went looking for the MSRP while others were asking +$100. I really felt bad about not buying a new bike from them when I wanted a different ride but, I had pretty much made up my mind I was going to build exactly what I wanted. They totally understood and have been very helpful and even excited to see how it comes out. Everything I have ordered from them was in when they said and it was right. Yesterday I needed some bolts, they pulled KTM part bolts to match what I needed, gave me a cold drink and had me register for a $100 gift bag raffle they were doing and an new KTM raffle that KTM is doing. They asked how the bike was going and about my family. Now a mixed bag. We have another shop that is pretty much just used bikes and serivce. They previously had a pretty bad rap which was totally earned by them. I had heard things were different so I checked them out when I needed a new rear rim and tires and tubes put on. They treated me pretty fair on the rim and lacing and tire tube mounting since I didn't buy them there (I wanted Pirellis). I was happy so when I got tired of chasing the flat rear on my son's XR80 I took it there (keep in mind I took the wheel off and dropped it off for them). They told me $5-$6 for a tube an a few bucks to install and remount. My bill came to $25 :eek: !! I asked what happened to "A few bucks" and they said that was their typical charge. I paid and said "We'll it looks like things are back to normal, BYE!" Another high point in my adventure has been MX South. I've ordered from them in the past and it's always been a good experience. They call to check if they have a question after taking your order! I don't play the "But Joe Fly By Night has this same thing for $2 less." game. Their prices are very good and the service is excellent so I don't mind paying what they advertise. Thunder Alley. These folks do what they say when they say for the price they quote on a quality product. What more could you ask. The highest point of my [i]Patman's Monster Garage[/i] journey has been Service Honda. First off the answer is YES, AJ is a friend but I don't ask for special deals and he doesn't pull pieces from floor bikes to make my order. There were several times I was unable to get in touch with AJ because he was on a James Bond vacation yet I still got the top notch service I was use to. Even when they had switched over software and were teaching new people I got great service and prompt parts delivery. 99% of the OEM pieces I ordered and there were a lot of them I got within 1 week delivered to my house (when they could find it) or my office. I never questioned the prices because Service Honda had the best customer service of any Honda dealer I ever experienced (to be honest I would have paid what my local dealer wants for the same piece just because I knew it was going to be right and on time). To make this even more interesting several people in our club have also used Service Honda over any of the local shops for the customer service and pricing they offer, I found this out only after I was well in to my project. So if you have a good dealer support them because they really are few and far between in some parts of the country. If you have a good experience with an on line vendor use them and tell them you appriciate their quality of service. I've told AJ the times I didn't deal with him directly the people I did work with were top notch and usually went above the call, these places do appriciate the kind words as well as your business. If you have a poor dealer or comapny you do business with tell them as well. Chances are it may not change how they operate but ya' never know. If you insist on playing games on pricing structures then expect to pay the price in service or quality. Sometimes you get lucky and find great service, quality, and pricing, these are the places you need to stick with. [/QUOTE]

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