Well for the most part all these shops cater to one brand because you can pretty get all your basic bike related products just about anywhere.
But where are you gonna get a clutch pack for an 81 Maico.
How about a Wheelsmith pipe for the same bike.
All these shops have parts that you can not get anywhere else or if you can, your choices are extremely limited.
take the shocks that I want to sell.
I was not happy with the performance with the shock on my YZ- 465. So I started on a search to fix it or find a replacement.
First off, nobody currently makes a replacement shock for ANY of the old style Mono`s. Second, big companys loke Race Tech and such can service your shock, but that is all. You can not even get springs for these bikes.
Now there are a bunch of back yard tuners that are on several of the vintage boards, but would you trust one of them with your setup.
So after a couple of weeks of searching I finally found a guy that was on the same page as me. We were able to get the specs from Ohlins for the shock that fits my bike. But only a few of the parts are still a available. So he is going to scratch build me s shock. If it works good we are gonna build them to sell. Real Ohlins shocks.
The other brands have enjoyed the option of being able to replace there old shocks with modern shocks while the Yamaha guy have to run 23 year old technoligy.
Same with the pipes, DG is the major supplier for vintage pipes.
There are s few others, but not many, and once again they are brand specific.
I found a guy just atarting out building pipes and I made a deal for him to design my pipes using his Computer program and expertise. i pay hima R&D fee for the first one. But once he has a finished product, it is exsclusivly mine. Now with the pipes I may add other brands, that is why I want to come up with a name that can be trade marked so i can market them as a stand alone product. But is not cheap to do this, plus you need a bike for each pipe you want to build so you can insure performance ( dyno ) and proper fitment.
I also want to provide replacement plastics for the YZ`s, and this is where it gets real costly. A mold is not a cheap thing to make.
Seat covers, foam, the list goes on and on.
So you see you specialse in one brand because most of this stuff you have to foot the R&D cost, find someone to make it for you and then market it.
With just about every part that the manufacturer does not offer anymore, you have to come up witha suitable replacement, and you can see how this would be much easier id you concentrate on one brand.
So that is the reason all these shops are brand specific.
bundy