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| Argee | | Set |  |  | | Reg. Date | : | 27/05/2012 | | Posts | : | 31 | | Location | : | SE Wisconsin, United States |
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| | Posted : 06 Nov 2014 - 23:34 Post title : Dealer down: closeouts | | | My local dealer, Shoreline Motorsports in Racine Wisconsin is dropping Triumph, seems their business model just isn't friendly to smaller dealers. All Triumph clothing and accessories are 50% off if you are looking for any factory bits. Really a shame, he was one of the first Triumph dealers in this region, I've bought all 3 of my Triumph's from him. You can email Ken at info@shorelinemotorsports.com to check on availability.
His reason for dropping them were many but I thought some were really surprising:
Triumph ships Clothing to the dealers whether they need/want any more or not, it's the dealer's problem to sell them. Additionally, the factory has started selling clothing through outlets at discounts at or below what the dealer had to pay for the same item.
They ship bikes without regard to stock and what models/colors they already have, this was a small dealer with limited floor space, had over 60 new Triumphs still in stock at the end of summer and Triumph was going to ship him another 60 even though it's heading into winter.
The straw that broke the back was them forcing a store display redesign even though he just bought a display from them 2 years ago.
Rich
| Rich
14 Thunderbird LT
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| daz | | Zeus | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 12/05/2009 | | Posts | : | 7,711 | | Location | : | United States |
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| | Posted : 06 Nov 2014 - 23:42 Post title : Re: Dealer down: closeouts (Re: Argee) | | | Thats exactly what my dealer told me after i walked in for the first time in about 6 months to find they are no longer a triumph dealer. And for that very reason. Triumph supposedly swamps thier dealers with stock and if they don't accept it they lose thier dealership. Thats basically what they told me but the details may be more complicated than that. But my new dealer that just started up a year ago with triumph according to my old dealer may not be one for long due to the fact they aren't holding enough stock. I'm not so sure they actually just send them whatever they expect them to sell, but details aside it basically comes down to the fact triumph wants thier dealers to sell an amount of product that isn't realistic, even for large dealers.
| 2010 Blue/White Thunderbird, "Brutus". 1700 kit, short tors, gutted cat, UNI filter, filter seal off, custom tune. Brutus in his native habitat: Link
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| RC65 | | Chaac | | | Reg. Date | : | 19/05/2011 | | Posts | : | 679 | | Location | : | Redmond, Washington, United States |
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| | Posted : 06 Nov 2014 - 23:52 Post title : Re: Dealer down: closeouts (Re: Argee) | | | Sounds like the channel stuffing referenced in this article about their recently fired CEO of U.S. operations is still going strong, unfortunately:
Link
When this happened, I read that GE Capital, which carries the credit for many (all?) of the Triumph dealers, addressed Triumph management in the UK because they were alarmed that Triumph North America was forcing dealers to carry excessive inventory and, in turn, be up against their credit limit. Huge quantities of 2014 models were piling up unsold and GE feared the dealers wouldn't have the credit to take deliveries of new 2015 bikes. Apparently it stemmed from that aforementioned channel stuffing program that required Triumph dealers to continue to take delivery of excessive numbers of bikes, whether they were popular models or not, needed or not. I guess I would've assumed such practices would have been moderated by Heichelbech's firing, but doesn't sound like that's the case.
| Thunderbird Riders in Puget Sound (TRiPS) / Seattle
-- co-holder of the title of the United States' Largest Thunderbird Flocking!
https://www.facebook.com/thunderbirdridersinpugetsound
| | Post edited by RC65 on 06 Nov 2014 - 23:53 |
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| AZCactus | | Taranis | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 01/05/2013 | | Posts | : | 4,512 | | Location | : | AZ |
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| | Posted : 07 Nov 2014 - 00:29 Post title : Re: Dealer down: closeouts (Re: Argee) | | | Don't mean to flog a dead horse but sounds like Triumph needs an overhaul across the board (from product to marketing). I'd like to see the 2014 North America sales stats that prove otherwise. 
BTW, I visited Go AZ Motorsports in Scottsdale last month with eager anticipation to view the Commander...no bike. There was an LT and for me; my bike is more comfortable with the reupholstered seat and foot pegs (to stretch).
| 2009 Thunderbird 1700 Big Bore
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| Leethal | | Zeus | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 24/01/2011 | | Posts | : | 6,524 | | Location | : | Australia |
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| | Posted : 07 Nov 2014 - 02:23 Post title : Re: Dealer down: closeouts (Re: Argee) | | | Must be a US thing, very short sighted and I feel for the smaller dealers. I had a taste of this when I had a marine dealership, Mercury Marine insisted on minimum stock holdings, but they weren't as aggressive as this. It's really tough when your floor plan is maxed out and the market goes quiet, manufacturers still want to load you up with more stock.
| Experience is something you get just after you needed it 
1600,Foran Razorbacks, Meerkat bypass, Dyno tune, real headlight,plenty of chrome,switchblade pegs, Nitron R3 shocks & Ikon progressive fork springs etc. Scorpion Western Low handlebars. PH adjustable fork caps.
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| Swagger | | Jupiter | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 15/04/2012 | | Posts | : | 1,100 | | Location | : | United Kingdom |
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| | Posted : 07 Nov 2014 - 08:38 Post title : Re: Dealer down: closeouts (Re: Leethal) | | |
| Leethal wrote: ... Must be a US thing, very short sighted and I feel for the smaller dealers ... |
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Probably not. The place where mine came from got into all kinds of trouble. Triumph would send them a bunch of bikes, give them 60 days in which to sell them and then hit them with a invoice for the lot with an interest calculator attached. They were also told to push the ... 'You're buying a life style' theme. What a load of bollocks ... I just buy bikes ... life style, my arse!
| The Force is strong in this one
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| bnz433 | | Jupiter | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 10/06/2011 | | Posts | : | 1,843 | | Location | : | Clifton Park (Upstate), NY, United States |
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| | Posted : 07 Nov 2014 - 12:19 Post title : Re: Dealer down: closeouts (Re: Swagger) | | | In the US, Triumph is really pushing for the "boutique" experience. My old Triumph dealer was primarily an HD dealer. Triumph USA is really going after the "multi line" dealerships. So after my former dealer dropped Triumph, guess who is going to pick up Triumph this winter. My local Victory, Yamaha, Star and Indian dealer.
Guess that plan didn't work. But it works for me, cuz the new dealer is 10 min from my house, rather than 45 min down the highway.
Funny part about my old dealer. When I walked in and said I was looking for a cruiser, one that I won't see on every corner or in every parking lot. The salesman took me to his Harley display. Had I not followed up that I was looking only at Triumphs, he never would have brought me over there or offered a ride on one.
I know the new dealership owner, and he was looking at a new location to get more space. Between Polaris' requirements, and now Triumph's requirements, he had to almost double square footage. Don't forget, as an Indian/Victory (ie - Polaris) and Yamaha dealer, he actually makes most of his money on the snowmobiles and ATV's. But he didn't need more room to sell those....the increase was purely for motorcycles!
So I'll be helping out with Triumph demo days, Indian demo days and the Victory demo days.
Jamie
| Bennington Triumph Bash - 31May-2June 2019. Home of the (tied in '14 & '15) US RECORD T-BIRD FLOCKING!!!!!
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| Linkdog | | Thor | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 10/02/2011 | | Posts | : | 2,968 | | Location | : | Groveland, FL., United States |
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| | Posted : 08 Nov 2014 - 00:17 Post title : Re: Dealer down: closeouts (Re: bnz433) | | | Might be a little marketing would help. I still have people asking me if Triumph is still building bikes. A commercial every now and then wouldn't hurt.
| Never drink from a cow with one udder! 2010 1600 Blue&White ( of course ) Long TORS and HP filter.
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| AZCactus | | Taranis | | | | Reg. Date | : | 01/05/2013 | | Posts | : | 4,512 | | Location | : | AZ |
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| | Posted : 08 Nov 2014 - 00:40 Post title : Re: Dealer down: closeouts (Re: Linkdog) | | | 
| 2009 Thunderbird 1700 Big Bore
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| AZCactus | | Taranis | | | | Reg. Date | : | 01/05/2013 | | Posts | : | 4,512 | | Location | : | AZ |
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| | Posted : 08 Nov 2014 - 01:04 Post title : Re: Dealer down: closeouts (Re: Linkdog) | | | a few commercials...good suggestion Linkdog, You're Hired!
| 2009 Thunderbird 1700 Big Bore
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| Triumph428 | | Set | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 05/04/2014 | | Posts | : | 23 | | Location | : | Mobile, Alabama, United States |
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| | Posted : 08 Nov 2014 - 04:34 Post title : Re: Dealer down: closeouts (Re: Argee) | | | Thanks for the tip Rich! New highway lamps and highway pegs as well as a new leather jacket for the Mrs. Heading my way! 
Ryan
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| Argee | | Set | | | | Reg. Date | : | 27/05/2012 | | Posts | : | 31 | | Location | : | SE Wisconsin, United States |
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| | Posted : 09 Nov 2014 - 17:20 Post title : Re: Dealer down: closeouts (Re: Triumph428) | | |
Triumph428 wrote:
Thanks for the tip Rich! New highway lamps and highway pegs as well as a new leather jacket for the Mrs. Heading my way!
Ryan |
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Nice!, I picked up some chrome bits that I'd probably never have bought but the deal was too good, got chrome master cylinder covers, the chrome instrument visor and chrome water manifold
Rich
| Rich
14 Thunderbird LT
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| theroadrat | | Set | | | Reg. Date | : | 14/08/2013 | | Posts | : | 14 | | Location | : | United States |
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| | Posted : 09 Nov 2014 - 18:31 Post title : Re: Dealer down: closeouts (Re: Argee) | | | In my state, they guillotined a few of the small dealers in favor of larger ones. That's not a good move because some of those small shops develop almost a second family in their riding communities.
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| MotorMac | | Jupiter | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 29/08/2010 | | Posts | : | 1,865 | | Location | : | Nor Cal, United States |
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| | Posted : 09 Nov 2014 - 18:58 Post title : Re: Dealer down: closeouts (Re: theroadrat) | | | Mine was one of the last sales from my dealer (didn't know that at the time tho).
Sacto BMW dealer picked up the TR franchise a few months later.
Don't mind supporting Freedom Cycles in Reno when I can.
Sad to say, I still get the "didn't know Triumph was still in biz" comment, too.
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| drhach | | Set | | | Reg. Date | : | 18/10/2011 | | Posts | : | 250 | | Location | : | Waukegan, Illinois, United States |
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| | Posted : 10 Nov 2014 - 20:56 Post title : Re: Dealer down: closeouts (Re: MotorMac) | | | I bought my 2010 SE from Ken at Shoreline. He's a great guy who seems to really love Triumph. I spoke with him about his decision and he seemed really disappointed to have to make the choice. He also said he probably should have done it sooner. One of his other comments was that they let anotehr dealer set up very close to him (I'm guessing Milwaukee). Not much loyalty to him. Harley has done the same thing to its dealers. It's the new business model.
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