Scooters at dealers

Hi,

I just came back from a dealer and they only have 1 Burgman 400 and about 5 small scooters. It seems everytime I go there they only have 1 or 2 touring/maxi scooters. It seems the people are buying them so I'm surprised that they aren't making more.

Are all of you seeing the same thing at dealers where they just don't have many, or any, on the floor? Seems strange that this place had about 100 m/c's but only 1 touring scooter.

We were at the dealership (KC's Powersports) between Christmas and New Years day and all they had on the sales floor were 2 Yamaha Zuma's and a couple of the 50cc hondas. More than 100 motorcycles new and used plus the 4-wheelers. The salesman told me that they sell all the larger scooters they can get, the problem is they don't get many from the manufacturers. Gave him my card and asked him to call me when the DN-01 gets in - they are allotted one at this point in time.

There is a Kymco / Vespa / Piaggio dealership (Midway Cycles - Madison, AL) close by and they have lots of inventory on the sales floor. They do not sell any other brands, but do service other bikes. They were swamped during the gas price spike last fall, but now are seeing a lot of "tire kickers".

The guy from Midway was very enthusiastic about scooters as you'd imagine with that being his only line of new vehicles. He was knowledgeable and a lot of fun to chat with. I think we will start incorporating him into our scooter club. Gave him lots of cards and I think he'd like to see our club grow as it can only help the industry/sport/hobby and his business.

My dealer in Richmond, IN said he could only get four Silverwings in this year and they are all sold. Three of them aren't even here yet. He is already trying to buy some from other dealers. He always sold six or so Helix but of course that is a thing of the past. I don't understand why they stopped making those. Great bikes.

I stopped in the local dealership in Wilmar, MN during there open house on friday. They sell all the Japanese brands and did have some scooters but no Silverwing. I did purchase a used shop manual from them for $25.00 plus tax. They are very nice people. West of Wilmar on Rt 12 is the town of Pennock, MN and they have a used 2004 Silverwing with what they say has something like 1500 miles on it for sale. This is at an independent motorcycle shop that seems to cater to Goldwings from its looks. I failed to ask what they wanted for it but would make a good used scooter for someone. It was silver and looked to be in good condition.

In shops over here we can get scooters mostly 125/50 because i live near london but i find the main problem is they seem to be embarressed about them, even my local honda dealer has a whole scooter section but its like they are not macho if seen in there ,dont get me wrong i love the shop (i used to work with the manager of clothing) and i have a laugh there but im on a personal mission to change the opinion of bike riders over here probably wont work but i will have fun trying


john

I find it amazing how many used Silverwings are on the market, while dealers can't get new ones. That's okay I guess. Scarcity of new ones keeps the price of used ones high, which means good resale value.

My dealer had twoHondas, one new, one used, both 2008's. Neither had ABS. They let me ride the used one. They also had a Burgman 650 (too tall for me) and the Yamaha T-something or other (way, way too tall for me). I then called another local dealer who has a reputation for good prices and excellent service. He has one, used, an 08, nonABS, but was allocated an 09 ABS (which I bought). He has one used Helix, and that's it. My 09 comes in tomorrow from the warehouse and then he won't have one until June, maybe.

The 50cc and under scooters are everywhere in our little town, because people can ride them without insurance or license (my hubby is who you have to see in our county to work on getting your license back after a DWI)--they're affectionately referred to as "likker-siccles".