Dealers -- whats with these guys ?

That sucks! Not to rub it in, but 3Bros racing, is 10 minutes from my house, and they've been the best shop i've ever been in. Just picked up my 570 last week, and i've been back 3 times since. Wish they could all be so great.

Stewballs said:

That sucks! Not to rub it in, but 3Bros racing, is 10 minutes from my house, and they've been the best shop i've ever been in. Just picked up my 570 last week, and i've been back 3 times since. Wish they could all be so great.

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You got the 2011 model ? Enjoy your ride.

There are good dealers and bad dealers, the trick is to find one you like and stick with them.

I happily drive a good hour to get to my dealer (Sutto's in NSW) out of all the brands I have dealt with they set the standard. Hopfully Berg/KTM will notice the lack of sales and make a change.

you guys are lucky, my closest dealer is a 5 hour drive away.

turdburgler said:

OK, so my first post is a gripe, so shoot me :roll:

Here in SA we have only 1 dealer to cover our entire huge state, and he is located 3 hours North of our capitol city of Adelaide. No big deal there...

Anyway, restricted to only one dealer we have to shop there or travel about 1000 kms to the next nearest dealer interstate. This bloke who runs the dealership here in SA has diddly squat idea of public relations ! If he only knew how many sales he has lost interstate he would not sleep well at night. He is rude, argumentive, not negotiable and generally full of himself. His workers are fine, but he is the one selling bikes and losing sales.

I can name at least 15 people in the last 6 months who would have bought from him but walked out after 15 minutes in his presence. I myself walked out and travelled interstate to buy my 2011 FE570, and saved money in the process. When I was on the phone to the Victorian dealer and he heard I was from SA, his first question was "D**k-head or W**ker ? I said "what do you mean ?" He said "The dealer in SA which one is he ?" After laughing a bit I said "Both !"

I mean how bad is that ? I rang a few more dealers in Vic and they all had similar stories of lots of sales to SA buyers who are disgruntled with this SA dealers attitude. Does he realise how many extra sales he could have made and the associated parts sales as well.

I wish Husaberg would locate another dealer in our state, if they do this go will lose sales big time.
Does anyone else have similar stories of dealers like this where they live ? He needs his head slammed against the wall to knock some reality into him !

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Being an ex Husaberg dealer myself 2005 to 2009 i can now freely comment on your situation, its a pity the only SA dealer is a knob but Husaberg Australia do not just allocate another dealer and say here is some bikes and happy selling, Any dealer has to pass a criteria which is a fairly one sided affair in favour of Husaberg aust, its expensive to take on and the finance required through GE commecial means you have to at least 250,000 and your house cash or property as security, you have to put your balls in a noose to have them or Husaberg will not deal with you and GE charge interest at 11% after 90 days, you cannot buy the bikes direct for cash as Husaberg get a kickback of GE, its a friggin rort.
You must carry all the models on the floor and maintain stock levels whether you can sell them or not luckily husaberg have minimal models so its a bit easier, i had KTM as well so image the money tied up in Floorplan
Then you must have the tools which is to be expected i suppose to to the service but the computer alone for the EFI was over $4000 plus special tools probably $3000, then you have to carry the Husaberg Hard parts at a level Husaberg set and it includes the stuff you can buy on ebay or in the US for less than half the price so it hangs on you wall so people can view it and the go home and order online and Husaberg dont really care.
Then you have to carry the spare parts at your cost and pay a dealer fee of $2000 a year its maybe more now.
You once had 2 other dealers but they threw it in as you just cant make money out of bikes anymore as there is not the amount of profit in selling one as most people think, its a miserable 10% if you dont give aways some add ons, warranty issues also take up a lot of expensive time and you dont get much back, and then theres the biggest killer DISCOUNTING by other dealers it rips the guts out of the whole thing and it has ended up wrecking the industry, Husaberg let this happen because they still get their full price it only the dealer that looses out.
I was undercut by dealers in Sydney all the time and sold some bikes for less than what i paid to get away from the interest. I heard if you get caught discounting By Harley Davidson they will take your dealership off you, thats not the case in the dirtbike world as i was told theres nothing we can do beacause its price fixing, ********.
So why the hell would you want to take those chances put your hand up for a franchise with the only positive being Husaberg is probably one of the best ones to have.
I left very dissapointed with the whole situation but SA needs more than one dealer, its a shame that the one you have needs some attitude adjusment. but its a murky situation once you get involved so nobody wants to take the chance. I know i never will again.
I hear your cries for help and i feel for you good on you for having your say but i can bet it will fall on deaf ears, i know all my concerns that i expressed over the years did. I became a bit of a pain in the arse for them when i exposed things so i think they were glad to see me go.
ORANGEBERG

HM... weird

Im just in the process of buying a FE450 of the bloke and so far i have had no issues at all. Price is better then what i have been quoted from other places on-road. He went through the hassle of calling me after work so we can sort out what i wanted on my bike. Which i must say is good on his behalf. But yeah the prices for the husaberg parts in Aust
~130 for the fkn Rear brake tip.... or $30 from uk

Cain said:

HM... weird

Im just in the process of buying a FE450 of the bloke and so far i have had no issues at all. Price is better then what i have been quoted from other places on-road. He went through the hassle of calling me after work so we can sort out what i wanted on my bike. Which i must say is good on his behalf. But yeah the prices for the husaberg parts in Aust
~130 for the fkn Rear brake tip.... or $30 from uk

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i found that some people didnt like me either and some wouldnt shop anywhere else, i often told them straight up when they were pushing the boundarys and i had a few letters written about me to KTM. It mainly involved people screwing me on price and i would tell them no you cant have it, it offended them when they didnt gey there own way. Too bad. where is this dealer in question i possibly know them, it cant be Caldecotts or GP mcls ????.
There is a reason for high prices but i will keep this explanation simple, KTM & Husaberg parts in Europe and USA are distributed by the factory straight to the dealers. But in Australia it comes from the factory to KTM Husaberg Australia then to the dealer, its the old middle man syndrome. KTM Husaberg Australia are like a franchisee. Cheaper prices here in OZ can only be achieved if the factory bought out KTM Husaberg Australia. We heard whispers of that years ago but nothing ever eventuated.
You also have a lot further to import the parts out here so it adds expense.
Dealers on the east coast paid have to pay for airbags on daily orders as well, stock orders were road freighted free of charge, Bikes are sent from the warehouse in Western Australia at one set price for every dealer whatever your location in OZ and to KTM Husaberg Australias credit is was very cheap considering the distance i think they absorbed a portion of the cost. Freight coming out of Perth is half the price of freight coming in and the trucking company they used needed a backload.
Bike prices in OZ are also effected by freight because in Europe the ship the bikes on a plastic returnable pallets and the bikes are almost ready to ride of the pallet, for Australia they have to break them down into pieces and put them in carboard boxes a certain dimension so they fit neatly in sea containers this extra service is charged to Australia by the factory and it ends up costing more for your bike. They also have extra work with all the pollution and de restriction crap for Australia our bikes are specced the same as Europe. USA has other rules.
ORANGEBERG

Flinders Motorcycles
owner is a bloke called phil.

Like i said nothing but positives from this guy.

Cain said:

Flinders Motorcycles
owner is a bloke called phil.

Like i said nothing but positives from this guy.

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is that in Whyalla as they came on board about when i left, i rode all my MX day in the spencer gulf from 1981 so i know the area, ive rode pirie mx and longtrack, whyalla, augusta, brook, germain, lincoln, my first ever MX on an 80 was at Augusta 1981 just out of town on the left and later the Aussie titles at Yorkeys crossing senior track 83, Pirie easter MX and long track from about 1988 to 2001. SA enduro titles 1992 at germain, SA mx titles at the Brook and Lincoln.
Rode with the SA legend Haydon but down your way Footner, Burt, Ashby, Butler but there are many more who have retired early, Magor, Williams, you may not know the names but im coming back this easter to Port Pirie to race again after 10yrs. Last time i rode was in 2001 with with Craig Carmichael and Dale Newman, Shane Metcalfe so i looking forward to seeing all my mates again, ive retired years ago and just do the old meetings at the tracks i used to ride years ago as it spins my wheels faster when i go back.
John Orangeberg

Flinders is in Port Pirie.

Caldacott motors have not sold Husabergs since Andy passed away.

I Have not had any issues with Phill myself. He fixed parts under warranty even though it was out of the warranty period. I do know some mates that had issues with him, but that may be self inflicted.

You have made this a great post John Orangeberg, very informative. I always wondered why I paid $16k for my 570 when the good folks in the US were paying $8K.
Where was your dealership?
I purchased my 570 from Sutto's and was very happy dealing with him.

Davo said:

You have made this a great post John Orangeberg, very informative. I always wondered why I paid $16k for my 570 when the good folks in the US were paying $8K.
Where was your dealership?
I purchased my 570 from Sutto's and was very happy dealing with him.

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i was located in Orange NSW and the closest dealer was Sutto, Sutto runs a well organised business and his staff are keen as well, I had the pleasure of going to visit the KTM factory and to Milan motorcycle show when they released the 70 degree with Sutto in Nov 2007, we had a lot of laughs and beers on that trip and would go with him again tomorrow. If he shouted lol.
Unfortunately the wheels fell of just as the new Bergs were being released and i closed my dealership before i got too far in debt, i never even sold one new 09 unit, sold heaps of the older models thats why i went to Europe FOC. Ive done the training school on the 70 dg engines and even had the EFI computer but sent it back.
I concentrate on rebuilding the older engines 01 to 08 in my home workshop i still have all the tools, they had some issues and i worked out how to keep them reliable.
John Prior
ORANGEBERG its all in the name

I tied to get a couple prices from the Pirie Husaberg dealer (sa only one) they didnt want to know because it was not the current model so back to valley force i go or John (orangeberg) maybe the should allow kTM dealer to order spares for you but maybe that too much thinking outside the square.

birdwoodburg said:

I tied to get a couple prices from the Pirie Husaberg dealer (sa only one) they didnt want to know because it was not the current model so back to valley force i go or John (orangeberg) maybe the should allow kTM dealer to order spares for you but maybe that too much thinking outside the square.

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Good idea but cant be done as Husaberg parts are under a different code when you order and unless your a dealer the system will reject the husaberg parts on the order, the only way you can get Berg parts as a KTM only dealer is know what parts interchange and order as a KTM part, lots of parts are the same but not enough to keep Berg customers happy.
Some Berg parts were cheaper through the KTM system and i would order as a KTM part. I remember all of the parts and still have the part numbers even aftermarket options in my brain (whats left of it) i would be a good pickup in a shops spares department if what you say is true let alone the workshop.
I will have more spares available soon i have something in the pipeline.
Is the Birdwood museum still open i may call there after easter at Pirie MX the father inlaw loves his old bikes and cars.
John ORANGEBERG

what a heartfelt thread John

good luck mate

Taffy

Yeah museum is still open John.

Taffy said:

what a heartfelt thread John

good luck mate

Taffy

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i grew up around this area and raced all across this state, i know some of the members in the thread and we raced toghether since the early 80s. these were great memories. Birdwoodberg was one of them and still lives in an area once rich in classic motorcycling history well before my time. Birdwoodberg has some great tracks in his area some are not being used now. The museum is worth a look.
i did not grow up next door to him i was 500km away but thats not far in OZ terms. I travelled a lot.
John

This post is going places and very plenty of views so i will make it clear, im not beating up on KTM Husaberg Aust as a scorned dealer im just relaying the facts that the public should know so that you buy your next bike dont walk into your local shop and beat your local dealer to death, and its a fair chance hes a mate of mine.
I think we should give the only dealer in SA a chance as hes the only one who has the balls to stand up and have a go, good on him and maybe give him a go and the support he needs, who knows you may have struck him on a bad day when GE had just called and told him they were going to take his house.
GE Commercial are the biggest rip off finance lending scumbags you will ever encounter deal with, there fees are outrageous and they will take your home and put you on the street anytime you fall behind.

Ring him for your next part and give him a go.

Husaberg Australia throw many lifelines to dealers to prompt sales and it cost them millions of dollars to keep the network moving. I took those handouts greatfully. But you had to buy a bit more off them to get the rewards.
I could comment for weeks on this but it wont fix things as the horse has bolted, with online services killing the local dealers off on a regular basis.

ORANGEBERG

I just picked up my brand new '11 FE450 from this dealer at Port Pirie. Phil has been a blast to deal with, Got everything ready on my bike in a time frame im happy with. Was a little bit of a drive to pick up the bike but i had the time, plus got to listen to a fairly interesting book. Price was something i was prepaired to pay. But the genuine Husaberg parts are a rip here in aust so i got my sister to bring lots back from when she goes to the U.S. saves me paying for anything