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Re: [ST] Repair Operation Manual



On Sun, 22 Apr 2001 21:29:37 -0700, "Eric Drayer"
<ejdrayercpa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>2) While I am sure that it is VERY expensive to write/produce the ROM it is
>an expense that is part of the development of the bike.  The dealers must
>have access to it in order to fulfill service and warranty obligations.
>Therefore there is NO incremental cost other than publishing to Triumph.  In
>fact the original cost of writing/producing should have been
>capitalized/expensed as part of the development of the bike itself and as
>such amortized/recovered from the sale of each and every bike, whether or
>not any consumers purchase any manuals at all.   My understanding of the
>publishing industry in England is that it is the best in the world as far as
>small run/technical information.  I would think that this would mean that
>the incremental cost to Triumph would be in the neighborhood of $10-15 for
>the ROM.  If the ROM could be put onto a CD the publishing cost would drop
>to about $1.00-1.50.  This would allow retail pricing of about $10 and still
>allow Triumph (and the rest of the food chain) to maintain their margins.
>What I really don't understand is the archaic methodology employed in the
>parts departments by using fiche instead of CD and why it is not available
>to the retail consumer.

Most dealers of motor vehicles make their money mainly through
service, parts, and accessories, not new vehicle sales. When the
various taxes, fees, and commissions are figured in, sales is usually
doing pretty good if it breaks even. Since dealership is surviving on
parts and service, anything that potentially decreases the service
traffic is a bad thing and will be either completely unavailable or
only available to folks that are committed to doing stuff for
themselves. That's why the factory special tools are priced so high,
why the manual is so expensive, and why the parts lists are still on
difficult-to-use-and-copy microfiche rather than on easily copied
CD-ROM.

If the tools and information you need to do a major service are priced
higher than the service itself, then many folks (especially those who
only need such service once a year or so) will not bother to purchase
them.


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