Tell us a story Duane.

[Duane Ausherman]

I have that article posted on my website for all to see. The response was one negative and more than 50 siding mostly with me.

For those that have time to waste, go to http://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/citybike.htm and read just how awful I really am.

That was an interesting time in my career.

[Zombie Master]

I have that article posted on my website for all to see. The response was one negative and more than 50 siding mostly with me.

For those that have time to waste, go to http://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/citybike.htm and read just how awful I really am.

That was an interesting time in my career.

After owning 40 bikes and being treated terribly by dealers and manufacturers, I can see both sides of the issue. I have empathy for MH as he was just a rider trying to stay alive, and he thought he had bought the best made bike at a premium price. He could not have understood your perspective and your reasons for you business practices. Perhaps a few extra minutes and a bit more expressed understanding might have staved off all those years of resenting you. Perhaps you don't give a rats ass. You're not even interested in bikes anyway. And that is what I find so sad. For those of us that love riding, the motorcycle has been a great source of joy in our lives. It's a shame you never got what we did. For us, being out there is one of the best parts of being alive. The motorcycle business on the other hand, is a murky affair at best.

[lrz]

I had never heard of any of the names. Innocent and naive, I just looked at the mechanical principles employeed by the various brands.

Now it's a story!

So, it was the appeal of practicality. I often ponder the original purchasers of these machines; I have no idea about the motorcycle buying experience in, say, 1970 let alone 1950 or so.

It's very interesting to read your viewpoint; even more so is your primary consideration of the business model. I'm unfamiliar w/ the business climate you operated in, but I've never known "lean & mean" to be out of style.

I do, however, wonder how many businesses today continue to thrive...

[Chuey]

I do, however, wonder how many businesses today continue to thrive...

It's not easy, but then, nobody said it should be. Mostly, things haven't changed in the basics. Do a good job for your customer, try for a win/win and strive for excellence. Approaching business from the standpoint that both parties are benefiting from a transaction is helpful.

Chuey

[melville]

Like Chuey, I was familiar with MH well before I had a moto. He wrote a monthly magazine column sort of about Spence Wolf's bicycle shop in the Bay Area and I aspired to run something like SW's shop myself.

Like Chuey, I also see the business/passion split and I totally understand the way things were handled.

[lrz]

I do, however, wonder how many businesses today continue to thrive...

It's not easy, but then, nobody said it should be. Mostly, things haven't changed in the basics. Do a good job for your customer, try for a win/win and strive for excellence. Approaching business from the standpoint that both parties are benefiting from a transaction is helpful.

Chuey

I feared that may have been open to misinterpretation. Owning a small (micro) business myself, I strive to speak knowledgeably w/ customers as well as surpass their expectations.

My business philosophy is simple: Say what you'll do, do what you say.

Often, I encounter business owners who, either through their own actions or those of their employees, clearly demonstrate a lack of concern/respect for their chosen profession as well as the customer. Somehow these sorts survive and even thrive.

One TV show I enjoy is Kitchen Nightmares w/ Gordon Ramsay. Though I have not dined at his restaurants, and really don't consider myself a "foodie", I do understand he is a successful restaurateur which is quite an accomplishment. Beyond his skills as chef, he understands the business model itself thoroughly. It therefore always amazes me that the owner(s) of a failed or failing restaurant would engage in such vituperative exchanges w/ him as he lends his expertise to their sorry situation.

Excellent customer service and a successful business should be the rule, not the exception.

[Duane Ausherman]

ZM said, "After owning 40 bikes and being treated terribly by dealers and manufacturers, I can see both sides of the issue. I have empathy for MH as he was just a rider trying to stay alive, and he thought he had bought the best made bike at a premium price. He could not have understood your perspective and your reasons for you business practices. Perhaps a few extra minutes and a bit more expressed understanding might have staved off all those years of resenting you. Perhaps you don't give a rats ass. You're not even interested in bikes anyway. And that is what I find so sad. For those of us that love riding, the motorcycle has been a great source of joy in our lives. It's a shame you never got what we did. For us, being out there is one of the best parts of being alive. The motorcycle business on the other hand, is a murky affair at best."

After reading this post, I wonder if others got the same view as ZM. At first it appears that he didn't even read my post and knows nothing about me. Doesn't seem likely though. AM, I wonder how you got this out of my posts.

[Chuey]

After owning 40 bikes and being treated terribly by dealers and manufacturers, I can see both sides of the issue.
That's a pretty dismal record. I can see that MH wanted to have the benefit of Duane's expertise but did not feel responsible to pay for it.

I have empathy for MH as he was just a rider trying to stay alive, and he thought he had bought the best made bike at a premium price.
That has nothing to do with the issue. Duane didn't make the bikes expensive and his services were available to those who bought from him.


He could not have understood your perspective and your reasons for you business practices.
So?

Perhaps a few extra minutes and a bit more expressed understanding might have staved off all those years of resenting you.
When people feel entitled to your services, they do not understand that those services are part of what they pay for when they buy from you. What do you think it is that leads people to feel that they can have the benefits of buying from a certain business even though they bought their goods somewhere else?


Perhaps you don't give a rats ass.
That's a cheap shot.

You're not even interested in bikes anyway.
Keep up the good work, ZM. Tell him you're going to take your toys and go home.


And that is what I find so sad.
For whom is it sad? And, why?

For those of us that love riding, the motorcycle has been a great source of joy in our lives.
Stop it!I'm starting to drop tears on my keyboard.

It's a shame you never got what we did.
Yeah, you and Duane have been here longer than I have and you still have no idea who he is or what he is about? And what did "we" "get" that he didn't? He has helped most or all of us with motorcycle stuff he evidently didn't "get".

For us, being out there is one of the best parts of being alive.
There goes the keyboard!

The motorcycle business on the other hand, is a murky affair at best.
Finally, something that doesn't sound completely clueless, or demeaning of Duane.

Chuey

PS Do you have an answer for the question that is red?

[Zombie Master]

After owning 40 bikes and being treated terribly by dealers and manufacturers, I can see both sides of the issue.
That's a pretty dismal record. I can see that MH wanted to have the benefit of Duane's expertise but did not feel responsible to pay for it.

What I got out of it was that MH would have paid for the service, but Duane didn't want to give the service, for a good reason, but for the guy who bought a BMW and may not know who he's dealing with, I can understand his frustration. You want to buy a certain bike, you see one at a dealer, and you are all excited about your purchase. You think to yourself this is a franchised BMW dealer, they must know what they are doing. Is it the consumers fault that BMW doesn't qualify the competency of their dealers?

I have empathy for MH as he was just a rider trying to stay alive, and he thought he had bought the best made bike at a premium price.
That has nothing to do with the issue. Duane didn't make the bikes expensive and his services were available to those who bought from him.


I understand that from a business perspective. From a man who may have been studying journalism, or Jazz, or consumed in his life with whatever his work and business was, his life would not be oriented around the goings on of the motorcycle industry in this particular area. He would not have been able to discern who was a good dealer from a bad dealer. Lord knows I was recently well burned by the longest running Suzuki shop in North America and I am more informed about this kind of crap than most.



He could not have understood your perspective and your reasons for you business practices.
So?

Perhaps a few extra minutes and a bit more expressed understanding might have staved off all those years of resenting you.
When people feel entitled to your services, they do not understand that those services are part of what they pay for when they buy from you.

Exactly, they do not understand. Often there is not a margin for that kind of consideration. So who might explain that to a perspective customer?


What do you think it is that leads people to feel that they can have the benefits of buying from a certain business even though they bought their goods somewhere else?

Trust and loyalty have to be earned. So many of us have bought from dealers and then been burned, and treated poorly, we can't possibly know who the good guys are. When I find someone I can trust, they get my business. They can count on my business. In my 40 years of owning motorcycles I haven't found one yet. Either they rip you off, or they are incompetent. You end up with an adversarial attitude or you get burned. I would like to think that Duane was the exception to my experience. I've just never had a decent experience with a motorcycle dealer.


Perhaps you don't give a rats ass.
That's a cheap shot.

That's a question.

You're not even interested in bikes anyway.
Keep up the good work, ZM. Tell him you're going to take your toys and go home.

That's what Duane said.


And that is what I find so sad.
For whom is it sad? And, why?

I think it's sad for Duane because he had no interest in such a wonderful way to move through the world.

For those of us that love riding, the motorcycle has been a great source of joy in our lives.
Stop it!I'm starting to drop tears on my keyboard.

It's a shame you never got what we did.
Yeah, you and Duane have been here longer than I have and you still have no idea who he is or what he is about? And what did "we" "get" that he didn't? He has helped most or all of us with motorcycle stuff he evidently didn't "get".

I have acknowledged the value of Duane's website many times. I never have taken that contribution for grated.

For us, being out there is one of the best parts of being alive.
There goes the keyboard!

The motorcycle business on the other hand, is a murky affair at best.
Finally, something that doesn't sound completely clueless, or demeaning of Duane.

Clueless? You'd have to make a point. Demeaning Duane? How? I never had the opportunity to deal with Duane as a customer. My comments are based on 40 uninterrupted years as a rider and BMW motorcycle owner since 1972.

[Duane Ausherman]

ZM, I think that you can't read English, as your responses indicate that.

I never had an interest in motorcycles in general. It is the silly brands that don't interest me. From the start I appreciated the BMW motorcycle the most. It is all those others that didn't interest me. They were built incorrectly and the proof is that they didn't work. There is enough wrong with the BMW, but it is/was far better than any of the other iron of the day for reliability.

I am not talking about the sound. I have many times stated that a motorcycle shouldn't make any sound at all. BMW was the closest to that ideal. I never cared about "pretty" as I just want to get there without a breakdown. The riders of pretty bikes could sit beside the broken down bike and admire just how pretty it was.

All of the other bikes were faster from light to light, but for the long run, none could even get there without breaking down. Of course I am talking about the days before the Japanese invasion of far more reliable iron of the late 60s and early 70s.

Where ever did you get the idea that I didn't ride them? I have well over 1/4 million miles just touring in the USA and Canada. That is with low bars and tank bag, without a fairing. Does that sound like someone who didn't enjoy riding? How could you ever imagine I didn't ride or enjoy it?

I have always been outspoken and clear. Do you ever imagine that someone with my personality works on something that doesn't excite their passion? You think that I owned a motorcycle shop just to make money? I am proud that my dealership attained high ranking with BMW and got national status. People that chase money don't usually get that reputation. You surely have assumed a lot about someone that you don't know at all. Or, have you assigned me traits from yourself that you don't like?

If I didn't give a rat's ass, why would I go to the trouble to build a very large website on dial up that is free for all to use? That took about a year of full time hours to do it. Do you somehow think that I am making money from it? I am being told that I should and maybe one day I will, but for now, it is free to all.

Why would I go to the trouble to research and learn a lot about high speed wobbles? I will never know if I saved any lives with our fixing of many wobbles, but I can tell you for sure that it didn't pay off in direct money. It was because I cared.

My article on wheel bearings is the gold standard for this industry. Why would I bother figuring out why they didn't work as sold by BMW if I just wanted the money?

In my article I stated that we were usually too booked up to do work on bikes that weren't sold or serviced by my shop. Had he waited for winter, then we would have time. Am I somehow supposed to ignore my supporting customers and touring riders for someone who buys from the competition? Now that would piss off my "delayed" customers and they would be right.

I was hard to deal with for some people. I actually ran people out of my shop if I didn't like them. Better to not sell in the first place than to live with them as customers forever. However, the customers that were open and honest got great service.

There must be a few here who were my customers way back then. Speak up.

I was supposed to take a few minutes to "explain" to this guy? I didn't even remember the conversation, so I don't know that I didn't try to explain it. Then and now I treat people in kind. Were he respectful and open, I would have been the same to him, but still not do business with him over by ignoring my regular rider customers.

Do people think that a authorized dealer is required to do business with everybody that owns the product? It ain't true. Always I chose the customers as I wish. Both parties must be happy with the relationship to make it work. I grew up in a successful business family and do know how to offer value for payment. I knew this from childhood.

Just as you aren't forced to support any business, no business is forced to try to make you happy. The very fact that you have always had a bad deal with every motorcycle shop in 40 years tells me the whole story.

When someone came in and only complained about my competition, I listened with a careful ear. Often it was a customer that was impossible to please. Why should I even try? I would only become part of his list of crooks. Better to turn someone down than to let them down.

ZM, you have never been pleased because you are impossible to please and you would only have been "mistreated" by my shop, just like you were by all of the rest of the dealers/shops. Go look in the mirror after you go back and read my posts and article about this issue.

Many people read one thing and somehow get another message from it. You are one of them. My English is quite clear and to the point. I really hope that there is little to interpret in it. My mind works quite literally. I don't understand poetry because it requires that I interpret. I am usually unable to do so.

I would expect that we could have a great conversation around the campfire, but not in a motorcycle business relationship. ZM, you come from a world of music and creativity, not me. My wife is an artist and I don't have a clue about that world. Have I elucidated enough? I suspect that I am not capable of this task.