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Lyle Lovett Motorsports & South Africa Trip



Richard & I have visited Lyle Lovett's shop several times within the
last year.  Motorcycle Mania is our dealer, but we like to keep aware of
what other shops are doing, and I have not been in one dealership yet
that stocks all of the products we like using.  Lovett's shop had
Triumphs on the floor for over a year, and even had the Triumph truck
visit once, so you know exactly what the salesman's comments about being
a Triumph franchise for 2 days were without me spelling it out.  Since
we always rode up on Triumphs, we never dealt with the sales staff
concerning Triumphs.  We've sat on a few Cagivas there and talked to
them about those bikes, but not the Triumphs. It sounds like from
comments on the ST list and Triumph Digest from John Westcott and others
that they needed an attitude adjustment in order to become effective
Triumph salesmen.  

Lyle Lovett's parts and accessories department, on the other hand, went
out of the way to make sure we were satisfied with the products we
purchased from them--two pairs of Sidi boots, new Shoei visors, and
Vanson armor for our jackets.  I have to say, though, that since they
don't have Triumphs on the floor anymore, and because of their location,
we probably won't be visiting them much anymore, if at all as we can get
good service for parts and accessories closer to our home.

I do have to say, in fairness to the salesman, this is not the first
time I have heard comments to the effect that Triumph does attempt to
get dealers to accept some products (bikes includes) that the dealers do
not want with products they do want, which, IF TRUE, IMHO, is not the
way to conduct good business.  It's better to see WHY they don't want
those products and to discontinue or reduce production of items not in
high demand, if that is the reason for the products' low demand. . . .
.  Presumably dealers will want to take products that sell and make them
money, though some dealers could also have financing restrictions at one
time or another that keep them from taking in more product . . . .
Still, I want to make it clear that I have no direct confirmation of
this practice and have not talked to my dealer about it.  I have also
not read the franchise agreement Triumph uses to see what a dealer
obligated himself to when he signs it . . . . . Maybe someone else out
there knows more that I do about the truth of these rumors . . . . 

BTW, Richard's and my trip to South Africa to visit Triumph Digest
members Carl & Gill Koch (Sprint Exec. and Speed Triple) was an absolute
blast as were the Tigers we rode that were rented from Le Cap
(http://www.lecapmotorcyclehire.co.za/)! More on details on the trip
after we've recovered a bit more. We just returned yesterday . . . .

Lisa White
'99 Sprint ST

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