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RE: [ST] Closing Triumph Dealers/Parts



I guess we come from two different dealer cultures.  I never doubted you
dedication to your Sprint, you were very clear on that in your first post.
I have never had the ability to just go down to my dealer and expect him to
have any but the most basic of parts in stock.  This goes for Ruth's Honda,
her Suzuki, my Triumph or my BMW.  I can usually get oil filters and air
filters, but anything beyond that is an order item.  Valve shims, cables,
various crush washers, sprockets, often times 530 O-ring chains are simply
not stocked.  Checking the valve clearances for me is a three or four day
affair.  Open it up, check the clearances, order the necessary shims, pick
them up and install them and button it up again.  Since I have never been
able to do this kind of shopping at home, I never expect out of town dealers
to have this availability either.


We have a new (four months) Triumph only dealer who is really trying to make
a go of it and so far is doing a good job stocking the necessary parts.  I
hope he can keep it up.  And yes, I am purchasing my Triumph parts from him,
even though I can get many of the parts cheaper on-line.  The single line
dealers seem to be able to stock more of the necessary parts than the
multiple line dealers.  This is simply a matter of economics.  If you sell
four lines of bikes, you aren't going to be able to warehouse clutch cables
and sprockets for all of the models and year changes within models.


And no, I don't expect you are going to stumble on a Triumph dealer in your
travels, there just aren't that many of them.   This means that any needed
trained mechanics are very few and far between, so if something happens on
the road that you can't fix yourself with borrowed tools and next day air,
you may have a ruined vacation, where a BMW or UJM mechanic is much more
available.  I have never really worried about it all that much.  If I don't
get to that destination this year because of a mechanical problem, I'll just
get there next year.




Dan Wallander
www.danwallander.com
Albuquerque, NM
'99 Triumph Sprint ST
'74 BMW R90/6


I think I may have been missunderstood here a little.
I love my sprint very much. Its been trouble free for
almost 40K mi. Its a great bike, it does everything
well. I also understand that a major failure will put
any make on the trailer. Its the minor stuff thats got
me concerned. Clutch cables, sprockets and things of
that nature.

I am highly concerned with availability of parts and
techs if needed. I noticed many UJM, HD and BMW
dealers, many having sportbikes. This might sound
minor to people that ride locally only but no so for
an aimless wanderer. I am pretty sure Im not gonna
"Stumble onto" a T dealer while wandering through
different states.




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