I thought I would post this week's experience and see if others had the same.

Late Sunday night I placed an order for tires and wheel bearings with Jake. Early on Monday morning I ordered a K&N filter and some spark plugs from CycleGear. I have a CycleGear retail store less than two miles from my office but they didn't have what I needed at the store.

Now it is Thursday and my Jake's order has been delivered. CycleGear? They haven't even shipped yet. So even though I'm on the East Coast and CycleGear has an East Coast warehouse, my Jake's order from Utah got here first.

So unless my local dealer or the local CycleGear has it in stock, I'm going to www.JakeWilson.com.

 

Some places act like they're doing you a favour selling you stuff, intead of the other way round! I do what you're doing and vote with my legs..sooner or later they might catch on.

 

Know what though all these outfits all pull stock from scattered warehouses all over the
place .........sometimes and depending on the product ordered the furthest most item
shows up sooner than the nearest and some of these fulfillment centers are simply more
systemised and efficient than others. I do a lot of receiving of tech stuff and it's a crap
shoot guessing when some of the ***** gonna arrive most of the time.

 

I waited 4 MONTHS for my local supplier and after 3 visits (needed plugs) I had plugs shipped to me from IRELAND and it was cheaper than I could buy them locally INCLUDING postage. Tells you something about mark-ups and profit margins here - and the lack of knowledge about what they sell and what their inventory should be. Local Stealership keep NO parts for a 1000F (they give you a blank look when asking) - and usual response is it'll have to come from Japan - what a bunch of craaap - 4 weeks delivery from Japan, 10 days from Europe, at less than half the price.(and for a better product)
If I had the funding I'd open a central parts warehouse for ALL bikes and ship stuff anywhere in SA overnight at wholesale prices. Then watch the dealers squeal........
I'd buy up job lots of spares from overseas and make them available here - make a fortune, for sure ! Take agencies for aftermarket like R/R's CCT's etc and pass on savings.Makes you wonder why no-one else will do it ? I guess they all want at least 100% markup on everything and more on common items. Makes me SICK End of rant for now.

 

Its the same here. HUGE mark ups, crap service and mechanics who don't know chit about older bikes. I shop from the US and the UK and usually get what I've ordered well before I even get an answer from the local stealer as to its availability. Ebay and some selected bike sites I have used over many years suit me fine. We don't pay any duties etc on any stuff we order that's under $1000 in value so there's no problems there either. While ever the OZ and US dollar are similar I shop there. No wonder bike shops go broke here. All they are interested in is ripping you off and trying to baffle you with bullchit to try and make even more money out of you. A lot of people fall for it but I don't. I just ordered a catalogue from Jake Wilson. Their international shipping rates seem quite reasonable to.

Well I just went into Jake Wilson site and checked out what it would cost me to have to Bridgestone BT 021 sent here. 50 US dollars !!!!! How good is that !!!!! For a total of $245.95 US I get two tyres sent to my door. Those tyres here would be in the vicinity of $520 AUD. I'm gonna order em before good old Jake changes his mind........lol.

 

Exactly. It depends entirely on what you order (although some places are certainly better than others).
I honestly think this "review" could have gone either way depending on exactly what was ordered. One item coming from a certain warehouse can hold up everything.
However, with moto superstore.... I ordered a tire, irons, rim protectors, and a chain brush. Brush was here in 2days, tire in 3, and irons/protectors in 4. All with free shipping, but came in 3 separate packages. Still only 4 days for everything....Sweeeet!

 

I just ordered (from JakeWilson.com) a set of Michelin Pilot Road 2 CT Front & Rear for my '90 CBR 1000F. I saved at least $80 USD over DennisKirk.com or CycleGear's prices!
Thx for the hot tip!