Dealer support is worth nothing, but if you have a really good motorcycle dealer you really have something good going for you there, you better take good care of them.

"I don't know how long that one will last" you hit it right on the nail there, that's why dealer support is worth nothing.

 

I'll answer your question with a question...how popular are Triumphs in your area?

They are extremely popular here in western Washington, and both dealers are a ways from me...one in Seattle (far) and one in Issaquah (really far). I go to the one in Seattle. Just to give you an example how backed up they are, last summer it took me 5 weeks to get in for a tire change on my T-Bird.

If it were any of the Big 4 there are half a dozen dealerships that could have done it between here and there. That's just the ones I know of.

 

Nearest dealers to where I live sell Beta and KTM
Honda is twice as far away and they are more interested in selling H-D
Yamaha is about in the middle and they sell boats and quads more then bikes.
MV Agusta dealer non existent and BMW dealers are as useless as tits on a boar

 

@Stablefull - they are around, but not super common. Only thing "common" in WI is HD, lol.
We have 3 dealers in town. a Harley, a Honda/Yamaha/Can-Am, and a Kawasaki/Suzuki; the two latter seem to sell a lot more quads and side-by-sides these days; and have a few bikes in the corner.

Triumph dealers in this area seem to be fleeting. I know of at least 3 in the region that have come and gone within the past 10 years. The one that is 2.5 hours away (MotoPrimo in Lakeville, MN) is a big established multi-brand dealership that moves a lot of scoots. I have a few good contacts there as they used to sell Victory.
The closer one is a smaller dealrship that used to sell Victory and picked up Triumph when Victory folded. I'm not usre how many bikes they are moving, since the one I'm interested in is a brand new leftover 2018...

 

@Stablefull - they are around, but not super common. Only thing "common" in WI is HD, lol.
We have 3 dealers in town. a Harley, a Honda/Yamaha/Can-Am, and a Kawasaki/Suzuki; the two latter seem to sell a lot more quads and side-by-sides these days; and have a few bikes in the corner.

Triumph dealers in this area seem to be fleeting. I know of at least 3 in the region that have come and gone within the past 10 years. The one that is 2.5 hours away (MotoPrimo in Lakeville, MN) is a big established multi-brand dealership that moves a lot of scoots. I have a few good contacts there as they used to sell Victory.
The closer one is a smaller dealrship that used to sell Victory and picked up Triumph when Victory folded. I'm not usre how many bikes they are moving, since the one I'm interested in is a brand new leftover 2018...

In fairness, my Triumphs have been quite reliable. I bought the bike with a bad tire (used) and it didn't last long. So I can't say I need the dealership often...but when I do, it's time and effort. What's your time worth?

 

Years ago before I bought my current ride, a Goldwing, I considered a BMW K1600. But there are no BMW dealers anywhere near me, and I was told that any service that you might need from the dealer requires an appointment to be made for a few weeks out, then prepare to leave the bike there for several weeks, and THEN be prepared to spend a fortune for any and all service. I thought about a cross country trip and if I needed BMW dealer support I could be hundreds of miles from a dealer and need to wait in a motel for a month for them to get the needed parts. So I went with Honda, which is certainly a much greater network of dealers. I almost bought a HD Ultra and the easy availability of dealers nationwide was a very positive consideration.

Oddly, right now I am hoping to trade in my Honda for a new Triumph. The dealer I am talking with is only 40 minutes away, but who knows how long this dealer will be around? It is a small corner of a large HD dealership, and I know that the HD part is safe for the forseeable future. A few years ago I had a few Triumphs and the dealer that I used then was rated #1 in the nation in customer service and was a great place to buy or to have service done, or honestly, just to visit and meet with the great folks that owned and ran the place. Sadly they closed up about a year and a half ago.

Bottom line: dealerships are a **** shoot with few guarantees of business survival, other than HD or so it seems.

 

How much of the maintenance and repair are you going to do yourself?

Let that be your guide.

 

Jo6pak.... "driftless rider".... I envy you. I'm in Manitowoc, and all we have is straight roads through farm country. West and South of Sheboygan gets into the Kettle Moraine; not bad riding, but not very big - a few miles and you're back in farm country. There is a group of riders from Manitowoc, Appleton, and Green Bay that head for Hillsboro every year for 4 or 5 days of the alphabet roads. Here's what it looked like 2 years ago in Ontario.

 

Dealer support?

LOL!

If I can't fix it myself, I don't own it. It's nice to have a local dealer for parts, but OEM parts are online, so there's not a 100% need.

In the 1970/80's "dealers" were your friend, they took care of you...many times I had free, simple, repairs; dealers today are just looking to rob you...it's a sorry world we're leaving our kids.

~$45 for a 5qt oil change in my car...~$200 for 3qt for my Harley...lol...they get $0 from me, would not be the case if it was $45...

 

I don't overall trust the Euro "street" bikes for more than a few reasons, but lack of dealer support isn't in the equation for concern. I am the biggest fan of Yamaha for their offerings and reputable reliability, guess it doesn't hurt that dealer support practically anywhere stateside isn't an issue either.

 

I think dealer network would be a bigger factor for riders who actually travel around.

Buying parts online isn't really an option for someone hundreds of miles away from home.

 

I don't worry about dealer network at all. There aren't a lot of Ducati dealers in Connecticut and neither are worth a damn, so I take the 5 hour trip to Vermont to work with a really good crew of people. I like the fact that there's one salesman and he's been there for ages. He's helpful and really, really knows his product. I like the fact that when I have a service related question I can call the service manager and he'll talk me through a fix rather that the normal "bring her here and we'll have a look at it". I feel like it's more important to have a dealer you can trust than a dealer that's close by.

 

I'd be more concerned about buying a reliable motorcycle versus the dealer network. If you buy a piece of garbage or a high maintenance machine, you'll be at the dealership a lot. If you are worried about it, wait for the HD Pan America.

 

My last two bikes have been "high maintenance" makes, but honestly, the first one only ever visited for it's Desmo service at 18,000 miles and the new one hasn't been back for any reason. I think all bikes today are pretty well made.

 

Of all the bikes that Honda makes, I couldn't believe it when they introduced the CRF 450L.

Over 10k retail for a 450cc Enduro that had a race ready engine and absurdly low mileage oil change interval.

Even if it was a reasonable price, I probably still wouldn't want it due to maintenance schedule.

 

@wwb I agree that I'm lucky to live in this area. I have often said, that if I lived 150 miles in either direction, I probably wouldn't have gotten into riding
I've been to Manitowoc many times, as I had a friend that lived in Two Rivers for about 6 years. Is that awesome little sandwich shop still there across from the Maritime Museum?

If you've prowled the Driftless alhpabet roads, I'm sure you've had pizza at the Blue Goose. And Driftless Berwery in Soldiers Grove makes an excellent Dirt Brown Ale.
Shoot me a PM, when you'll be in the area!


Back to the Dealer network question...
The Triumph just fell off the table. The dealership raised the price by $1500, salesman said some manufacturer incentives expired. It is a new/left-over 2018, and it's not the only new late-model they have. Which is another reason I wonder how long they will sell Triumphs.

When I bought my first Victory in 2005, I bought the bike in Minneapolis (~2.5 hrs) and the only time I had to go there was for the break-in service (which was included in the purchase agreement.) If I get a scoot as reliable as my Vics have been, then dealer network isn't even a worry.

I tend to do much of my own maintenance work on my vehicles; but with modern tech being what it is, that gets harder when more serious things go wrong- so dealer network is still needed.

HD PanAmerica is off the table. Not only because I can't spend that much, but also because it's ugly as a ........

Mainly, I am just curious on how many take that into consideration, and how much it weighs on other riders decisions.

 

Not at all. I only buy older bikes (without warranty) and do most of the work, and maintenance myself. Saying that I have a Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki dealer fairly close, about 30 minutes. My go to dealer for most parts and other related merchandize is 1 and 1/2 hrs away and a nice ride.

 

Where do you shop, Belleville?

 

I ride Yamaha's and I'm pretty sure there is no Yamaha dealer in the entire country that actually wants to be in the repair/maintenance end of the business. If they do, they sure don't act like it. In general, in my neck of the woods, its like nobody wants to work on bikes at all. I cant even find a place to mount tires. I honestly wouldn't even own a motorcycle if I had to rely on a dealer network for repairs or maintenance because my experience couldn't be more negative.

 

Cool. the owner's a nice guy. don't go in there too much a year but we always have a decent conversation and always says hi regardless.