Parts availability, better or worse over the years?

[petemell]

Do you think parts availability has got better or worse for bikes over the years? There used to be loads of bike shops that never really had that much, most things had to be ordered.

Nowadays there ate less bike shops but the ones that are left seem to have a better stock of parts. Got a full genuine Suzuki engine gasket and seal set from Slinger motorcycles recently, off the shelf, no problem.

[Kickstart]

Hi

Personally I would say it has got worse. Dealers keep less in stock as they think they can get things from the importer fairly quickly. One reason there is still plenty of old British bike parts around is due to the amount that shops would keep in stock.

Honda until the early 1990s guaranteed to supply parts for any bike they had ever made. These days there are plenty of unavailable parts for even 15 year old Hondas.

Even back in the 80s there were mail order suppliers who you could ring up and order stuff from, little different to today. Possibly with easy access to web sites the prices have been forced lower.

All the best

Keith
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[NSR Mick]

[map]

I too would agree that it's worse.

Franchises now don't seem to hold even the most basic of parts.
In days of old you could go and ask for a nut, screw, etc. and they'd shuffle off into the back, open a draw and come back with what you wanted.
Now they don't keep stock because that costs money.

As an example, screws for brake & clutch reservoir (master) covers.
It's a common problem they get chewed. It's a common part.
Does the Honda dealer hold them, of course they don't.
Had to be ordered, 4 screws, less than a £1.
It also took a week for them to be posted out to me.

So based on experience I'd say the availability of parts that you can actually walk in and walk out with is worse.


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[Carl Howell]

I think its great but you need a good bike shop. A bike shop near me (B & J bikes) are brilliant. They will normally have most common jap parts in stock and would have anything for my DNA in in a day or two. They are not so good for my Zeal though but I didn't expect them to as there are probably only a few in the country. Have to order my parts from Bat Motorcycles and then they come from Japan.