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Renaissance Robot posted:Trying to order a set of luggage racks and everywhere is saying they're available and taking my money before sheepishly emailing me up to a week later to say "whoops Givi don't actually make these anymore and we never had them physically on our shelves we were just ordering from them, sorry here's your money back" I get that motorcycle stuff is a niche market, but god drat it is super frustrating to go to the few brick-and-mortar stores we have and be always told "nah, we don't have that, but we can order it for you and have it next week." And not even for super rare things -- it'll be like "show me your riding jeans" and nope, nothing in stock or "I want this Cortech bag" and they haven't got any luggage at all except for a single backpack from some unheard-of brand. Thanks for the offer to order it for me! I can go to Amazon on my phone right now and have it at my door literally tomorrow. The whole point of a physical store is that it has inventory and I can see the thing in person and try it out get it on the spot if I want, what even are you doing any more
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Oct 10, 2018 02:57
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Brake pads for a ninja 250 from a kawasaki dealer. A week. Yep.
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Oct 10, 2018 03:16
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Sagebrush posted:I get that motorcycle stuff is a niche market, but god drat it is super frustrating to go to the few brick-and-mortar stores we have and be always told "nah, we don't have that, but we can order it for you and have it next week." And not even for super rare things -- it'll be like "show me your riding jeans" and nope, nothing in stock or "I want this Cortech bag" and they haven't got any luggage at all except for a single backpack from some unheard-of brand. Store I work in has so much product it’s often unshoppable, to be honest, and visually merched the best we can with very little space to work with. I still hear, on a daily basis, “is this all you have? Are these the only colors?” It’s not pretty but I don’t understand how a retail store operates otherwise. We also have pretty specific knowledge to offer. Anything to set you apart and give a customer a reason to come to the store instead of opening the amazon app on the couch.
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Oct 10, 2018 04:44
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Sagebrush posted:I get that motorcycle stuff is a niche market, but god drat it is super frustrating to go to the few brick-and-mortar stores we have and be always told "nah, we don't have that, but we can order it for you and have it next week." And not even for super rare things -- it'll be like "show me your riding jeans" and nope, nothing in stock or "I want this Cortech bag" and they haven't got any luggage at all except for a single backpack from some unheard-of brand. I have this feeling that in most brick and mortar stores like that, the proprietor just has no idea what people want to buy. Just completely out of touch with the market and winging it. Maybe they just don't have access to name brand sales reps? Or don't know how to get access?
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Oct 10, 2018 06:15
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I really wish I could understand motorcycle parking in Switzerland. I had an appointment in Sissach which apparently has only one official area for motorcycle parking. It was a cluster gently caress of mopeds and scooters with zero room for my F800. Usually I just park on a sidewalk. When I return there are always one or more motorcycles who have joined me. I guess it looks less illegal when there are two or more bikes. I don’t know this town so I didn’t feel comfortable doing this. I finally settled on parking in an alley behind a building. I’m annoyed because there are tons of empty car parking spaces everywhere!!
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Oct 10, 2018 13:18
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Finger Prince posted:I have this feeling that in most brick and mortar stores like that, the proprietor just has no idea what people want to buy. Just completely out of touch with the market and winging it. Maybe they just don't have access to name brand sales reps? Or don't know how to get access? One of our big local dealerships has (well, had now) a pretty big gear section. They always had plenty of dumb leather, but they occasionally had some other stuff, textiles, and even once in a while a Klim jacket/pants combo. Lots of leather luggage, etc. They're primarily a Japanese bike dealership - Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, etc. So I don't know why they thought that much leather/fringe was a good idea, but when I was in there back in June there were a ton of people looking at/buying Goldwings and big touring bikes like that that were all leathery, so I guess they weren't missing their mark too much. I ended up buying pretty much everything except my helmet at Revzilla because no one around here has much more than crappy Bilt stuff or cheap "waterproof" stuff that's neither good nor waterproof.
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Oct 10, 2018 17:44
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Lynza posted:there were a ton of people looking at/buying Goldwings and big touring bikes like that that were all leathery, so I guess they weren't missing their mark too much. That's just their skin!
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Oct 10, 2018 18:29
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nsaP posted:Store I work in has so much product it’s often unshoppable, to be honest, and visually merched the best we can with very little space to work with. I still hear, on a daily basis, “is this all you have? Are these the only colors?” It’s not pretty but I don’t understand how a retail store operates otherwise. We also have pretty specific knowledge to offer. Anything to set you apart and give a customer a reason to come to the store instead of opening the amazon app on the couch. You working at Iron Pony in Columbus, or did you move out of the fabulous midwest
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Oct 10, 2018 22:27
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Outdoors store, not bikes
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Oct 10, 2018 23:58
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nsaP posted:Outdoors store, not bikes Yeah, outdoors are not even cool anymore - people just use moats instead.
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Oct 11, 2018 00:03
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I hate going to local bike shops and hearing "nope, but we can order it for you". Yeah, so can I off amazon and its way easier. I'm here because I want it now. And I usually dont have egregiously ridiculous requests. Like, it shouldnt be out of the question to have Pilot Roads (an insanely popular tire) that fit an SV (an insanely popular wheel size)
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Oct 11, 2018 13:52
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I've seen a bike where the guy wanted his clip master link replaced by a rivet type. The shop doing the work bodged in a link that was visibly smaller and wrong in every way, o-rings completely crushed, pins totally bound etc. Chain was a DID, an insanely popular brand, and the shop is the largest dealership/super store in the country. They told him they don't sell DID.
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Oct 11, 2018 18:03
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Dislike the Harley Davidson mark up but at least they have all the leather gear and helmets in stock and have different variety.
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Oct 11, 2018 18:58
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Slavvy posted:Why do they always lie? Why?? What can they possibly gain by lying to the oval office fixing the loving thing? I'll always find out the problem, it's my bloody job. Do they want me not to fix it or are they embarrassed of being idiots? Like you're paying me to fix it, wouldn't you want to give me as much information as possible? Pilots.txt
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Oct 12, 2018 02:15
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I found somewhere that actually had a luggage rack in stock!  Aaaaand it's bent.  It's probably fixable with a vice and some elbow grease, but ugh, is it too much to ask for big metal things to be packed so they can't fall on their fragile bits? Apparently it is. I'll call them tomorrow and see if they've got another one. Related rant: what is the deal with givi/kappa? The products are identical, like the instructions inside have both companies' part numbers on, and yet they're on sale for different prices? What? These racks don't even have any branding actually on them, so how do they justify selling the exact same product for different prices?
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Oct 12, 2018 19:30
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Bought a new gear position sensor over a year ago, but I moved a month after buying it and haven't found it in my garage yet. I figured I'd just buy it again from Bike Bandit, and after waiting for two weeks I get an email from them that the part has been discontinued by the manufacturer. I guess I only get parts for 10 years from Triumph (it's a 2007)? No need to re-discuss what we covered in the ADVRider thread about gear position sensors, there is actually a legitimate reason to replace it as it affects the fueling in the ECU (so everyone on the Triumph forum says). Seems odd that a part that commonly fails would get discontinued, but I don't know what the expected life of a sport bike is. I have friends with Hondas from the 90s though, so I don't think running a 11 year old bike should be that crazy.
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Oct 12, 2018 19:49
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:Pilots.txt God I hope you don't mean the flying machine type. MomJeans420 posted:Bought a new gear position sensor over a year ago, but I moved a month after buying it and haven't found it in my garage yet. I figured I'd just buy it again from Bike Bandit, and after waiting for two weeks I get an email from them that the part has been discontinued by the manufacturer. I guess I only get parts for 10 years from Triumph (it's a 2007)? Actually that is crazy. I mean it's not unreasonable but yeah we don't live on that planet. Even harley have stopped carrying parts for bikes older than ten years, imagine what it's like for a relatively small company who's bikes aren't all nearly identical. Try finding basically anything for a 90's honda and let me know how you get on. This is where the true value of japanese bikes shines through as they break very infrequently, and when they do you'll be able to find the parts at a wrecker for the next three decades.
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Oct 12, 2018 20:08
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drat, I guess that's a good excuse to get a newer bike. I can find the part from salvaged bikes, but there's no guarantee it'll be working.
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Oct 12, 2018 21:50
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Keegers posted:Dislike the Harley Davidson mark up but at least they have all the leather gear and helmets in stock and have different variety. Yeah, and when I worked at a Harley dealer, we had oil filters, spark plugs, and the most common o-rings right at the parts counter. It was nice to be able to pull out the parts someone was asking for before they finished talking.
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Oct 12, 2018 23:56
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Deeters posted:Yeah, and when I worked at a Harley dealer, we had oil filters, spark plugs, and the most common o-rings right at the parts counter. It was nice to be able to pull out the parts someone was asking for before they finished talking. I love being able to walk into HD and walk out with a complete engine gasket set or some new pushrods or whatever. The fact that most Harley engines are basically the same is logistically fantastic.
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Oct 13, 2018 01:14
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MomJeans420 posted:I guess I only get parts for 10 years from Triumph (it's a 2007)?
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Oct 13, 2018 18:45
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Renaissance Robot posted:Related rant: what is the deal with givi/kappa? The products are identical, like the instructions inside have both companies' part numbers on, and yet they're on sale for different prices? What? These racks don't even have any branding actually on them, so how do they justify selling the exact same product for different prices? Same basic product, same mother company. Givi is the premium brand and Kappa is the value brand. Usually Givi badged products have special touches like extra trim, colour matched, or other features to separate them from the cheaper Kappa branded stuff. On the racks you don't usually see it at all, the difference is on the cases.
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Oct 13, 2018 19:23
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Man I fuckin hate people. Someone knocked my bike over and picked it back up. Scraped up bar end, radiator guard, footpeg, rear brake lever, the body panel under the passenger seat, and the brand new pipe I had just installed. Glad I had frame sliders or it would have been a lot worse. 2nd time someone's vandalized or hit and run the bike at my home in 6 months. I hate street parking.
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Oct 14, 2018 20:45
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Park it in your living room, not joking. Street side parking is just setting your money on fire.
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Oct 14, 2018 20:57
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Slavvy posted:Park it in your living room, not joking. Street side parking is just setting your money on fire. I absolutely would if I was on the ground floor.
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Oct 14, 2018 21:04
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A-frame crane out your window.
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Oct 14, 2018 21:31
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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:I read a book about auto manufacturing called The Machine That Changed The World, and it described how vehicle makers arrange contracts with parts suppliers, and it's incredibly complicated. The people who made the sensor may have had a contract with Triumph to make exactly 30,000 of them on the first run in 2006 and then never made any more, or something funny like that. Great book BTW, I highly recommend it. Looks like an interesting book, I just bought it. Of course it will go on my ever increasing stack of books to read, but at some point I'll get to it.
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Oct 14, 2018 21:41
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For LA people, I always forget how amazingly lovely the 110 carpool/toll lane is in terms of road quality. It felt like I was riding over a washboard for miles, maybe it was because I was tired but it made me feel off in my riding and I really wasn't enjoying it. Good thing I'm almost always in the car going to the airport if I'm on that freeway. You can get a feel for it by looking at the top of my windscreen: https://i.imgur.com/cNYUlpo.mp4
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Oct 14, 2018 23:41
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God drat I haven't driven in California in several years, but yeah, your highways are bad. We need to get some drat infrastructure money put into this country in the worst way. Fresh pavement for everyone! Beautiful clean, fresh sparkly lines! Nice signs!
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Oct 15, 2018 23:15
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Driving through MA today I hit a rut so deep and sharp it sent me into head shake briefly, terrifying.
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Oct 16, 2018 01:34
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I let my eyes drift away from the road surface for like 3 seconds last Thursday and I smashed into a pothole so deep it bottomed out my front suspension and jolted my rear end off the seat. it sure is nice that we let all these tech billionaires store their money in Ireland and pay under 15% tax when they want to use it, isn't it
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Oct 16, 2018 04:17
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I hit a smeared possum corpse turning into a corner at about 90km/h on a GZ250 this morning, the front washed out quite a bit. I feel proud that I didn't roll off the throttle or even feel a little bit of panic; less proud that I saw it coming and thought 'I'd better not run straight over that!' and did just that like a chump.
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Oct 16, 2018 05:12
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All the drat motorcycle parking at my work is currently occupied by cars... Wanted to park right behind them but don't want to have my bike be knocked over. So I parked as passive aggressive as I could in the no parking right next to it. Pointed my front tire right up near passenger door, a couple inches apart.
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Oct 16, 2018 18:48
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Keegers posted:All the drat motorcycle parking at my work is currently occupied by cars... Wanted to park right behind them but don't want to have my bike be knocked over. So I parked as passive aggressive as I could in the no parking right next to it. Pointed my front tire right up near passenger door, a couple inches apart.
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Oct 16, 2018 19:19
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I blocked in a car that would always park in the motorcycle spots at my old job. The car's owner tracked me down and angrily demand that I move my bike. When I asked them not to park a car in the motorcycle spots, their response was "I own a Harley!" "Ok? Then park your Harley there."
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Oct 18, 2018 21:23
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Ahahaha, sure, Phy, buy a 20 year old naked bike and shelve your golden retriever of a weestrom. The Rex has a rad leak.
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Oct 19, 2018 02:09
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Phy posted:Ahahaha, sure, Phy, buy a 20 year old naked bike and shelve your golden retriever of a weestrom. At least the leak is rad. On a strom the leak would just be kinda boring and mediocre.
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Oct 19, 2018 05:28
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I was in a hurry to get home on Sunday (sun going down and I only had my tinted visor, plus wife was annoyed I was running late) and got pulled over by the CHP while doing 100mph. Oddly enough it was 2 guys in one car, they had me exit the freeway, asked for my license only, ran it, then gave it back to me and said they'd do me a solid and not give me any ticket, and asked me to keep it to 80mph. When they said do me a solid I was thinking a ticket for 80mph, so no ticket at 100 is pretty amazing. I think I was only pulled over for 5 mins. They also noticed my clipped on pocket knife right away and grabbed it, but didn't give me any poo poo about it and just handed it back to me in the end. I guess they were just happy I pulled over rather than running? Time to go buy a lotto ticket.
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Oct 22, 2018 17:06
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MomJeans420 posted:I was in a hurry to get home on Sunday (sun going down and I only had my tinted visor, plus wife was annoyed I was running late) and got pulled over by the CHP while doing 100mph. Oddly enough it was 2 guys in one car, they had me exit the freeway, asked for my license only, ran it, then gave it back to me and said they'd do me a solid and not give me any ticket, and asked me to keep it to 80mph. When they said do me a solid I was thinking a ticket for 80mph, so no ticket at 100 is pretty amazing. I think I was only pulled over for 5 mins. This happens more than you would assume when riding a sport bike because people riding a sport bike tucking in and disappearing is also very common. I think the biggest factor that determines if you are getting the ticket is whether or not the cop is a dick or not.
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Oct 22, 2018 17:31
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tjones posted:This happens more than you would assume when riding a sport bike because people riding a sport bike tucking in and disappearing is also very common. I think the biggest factor that determines if you are getting the ticket is whether or not the cop is a dick or not. I was on a Ninja 250. 
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Oct 22, 2018 18:05
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