What you need to know when ordering motorcycle parts online.
When shopping for motorcycle parts it's helps to know where to start your shopping. Below we have listed the 4 most popular types of motorcycle part searching. Shopping Online For Motorcycle Parts
When you shop for motorcycle parts online you want to know if you are purchasing parts from a Motorcycle Dealer. Usually if you go to an about us page a real motorcycle dealer will show their Store front and probably a few photos of the inside of the store. It is important to know because if they are not a dealer they don’t have the backing from the Manufacturer if there is a problem with your order.
Another important thing to know is that even the largest motorcycle dealer in the world will not stock everything, for every bike. There are literally more than 100 million possible parts for Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki & Suzuki motorcycles and even the manufacturer does not have everything and they make the parts. So what does this really mean for the Motorcycle parts shopper?
Here is a step by step order process when shopping at a local dealer.
1) Customer (You) come in to a store and want to purchase parts. You see one of the parts personnel and get their assistance in finding the part you are looking for.
2) The Parts person looks up the part for you and says they don’t have one in stock.
3) You still need the part so you tell the parts guy to order it.
So they special order it from the manufacturer.
4) You ask how long will it take. “It usually takes 3 to 5 working days to get parts from just about any manufacturer. Saturday and Sunday are not included and they only place orders once a day. So if you went into a store on tuesday at 11:30 am and ordered your part, the dealer will not actually order the part from the manufacturer until the Wednesday Morning. So that is when the countdown begins not wednesday.
5) You need the part by the weekend so you ask how much extra it will cost to have it next day in. Usually the next day fee from honda Yamaha Kawasaki and Suzuki are $50.00 for a little screw that barely weighs 1 ounce, that is their minimum fee. This seems high but so why to they charge so much. The next day fees go up with the cost of the part usually because of size.
The reason they charge so much is because the manufacturer is supplying the entire united states with Motorcycle parts, there are thousands of dealers nation wide that order parts every day from the manufacturer, when you want something next day air, they have to jump your order ahead of every one else’s order, this takes more work on their side plus they have to pay shipping cost from UPS, Fed Ex, USPS or who every they use.
6) So you don’t want to pay 50.00 to get it in so you just have it ordered, in 3 to 5 days you get your part and your on your way to get you bike put back together.
7) Your order is complete…
When you shop online the price for parts are usually cheaper because the company does not have to pay an employee to look up the parts for you, and another employee to cash you out and give you a copy of your invoice, so basically you do the work from home. But occasionally you need help shopping for a part so you would call tech support or Customer Service, then they are doing the same steps as if you were in the store.
There is one difference that will usually turn you away from ordering online and that is the time it takes to get the parts to you.
1) You place order online - Or with a customer service rep
2) your order is processed and if the parts are not in stock they are special ordered from the manufacturer.
Here is where there is allot of communication errors with online dealers, basically if a dealer was to have their inventory listed online
and nothing else, the customer would never find anything. Even a large motorcycle store like PowerSportsPro who has a rotating inventory around 1/2 million dollars in parts apparel and accessories at any given time, but 1/2 million dollars is not much when you are looking at it from the manufacturer side of it. They have motorcycle parts from Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki & Suzuki plus aftermarket parts for those brands as well as apparel. If you look at it further just to have a decent inventory in one brand of leather jacket a dealer would usually stock 15,000 to 25,000 just in jackets. So 15,000 is not much when it comes to stocking jackets.
If the jackets were $350.00 each and there are 10 styles for a brand the dealer would need Small to 3XL for each style that would be 6 jackets for 1 style you have 10 styles that is 60 jackets and that is $21,000
3) Your parts are ordered if they are not in stock and it takes 3 to 5 working days for the dealer to receive the parts you ordered, Typically when repairing a motorcycle 99% of the parts on your bike will not be in stock.Even if it’s a new 2007 motorcycle. Most dealers will stock the items that sell 20 to 40 or more times a month.As it is extremely difficult to stock everything for every bike this is the most reliable way to maintain an inventory.
4) once the dealer receives the parts then they pack them and ship them to you. Shipping from the dealer to you can take 3 to 5 working days depending on your location in the USA compared to the location of the dealer. From PowerSportsPro located in Omaha Ne, they are in the middle of the Usa and shipping UPS ground will take 5 days to get to California or Main. The manufacturers will only deliver parts to an authorized dealer so there is no other option for shipping other than paying faster shipping fees.
5) If you wanted to next day something from an online source, unless the dealer has the part in stock there is no way it would be delivered next day, as the parts would be next day in from the manufacturer and next day out to you, that is 2 days.
What is the advantage to purchasing online?
1) Price is better than in store
2) You can order and shop at your convince without pressure from a sales person.
3) The parts are delivered directly to you, you don’t have to drive anywhere to pick up your parts.
(Saves time and money on gas)
Just remember when shopping online for Motorcycle parts you are usually ordering from an actual dealer, and even though a part is listed on the web site, it does not mean they have it, and sometimes it doesn't’t mean they can get it, PowerSportsPro leaves their diagrams up for those individuals that use it to help them put their bike back together, it’s not a service manual but it can help get you in the right direction.
Also if you have a motorcycle or ATV that is older than 10 years then there is a pretty good chance the part will no loner be available.
And most important if you order parts online from a web site make sure you add their published email address to your contacts in your email. (usually listed in their Contact us page) If you don’t add them then there is a good chance you will never receive an email to confirm your order, or to notify you that there is a problem with a part on your order or even possibly your tracking number. With the world Wide Web and Email spam it is getting harder and harder for web site’s to communicate with their customers. This is extremely important to your satisfaction in an order process.
