New Shop Opening in Clifton, NJ - Need Your Input

[soda7o]

will yoube workign on quads too???

[Roberts]

For A shop that size you would have to do a whole shit load of oil changes to just break even.
Plus you'd kill yourself manually mounting & balancing enough tires to keep the lights on.

If your main bussiness makes enough to support the shop you'll be fine. But if the shop needs to generate cash with in the first year, your in trouble.

Don't get me wrong, I like the intent. The dealership I just left was pretty good a pricing but I understand how people can feel about being taken advantage of.

[Onedwn5up]

Originally Posted by Roberts

For A shop that size you would have to do a whole shit load of oil changes to just break even.
Plus you'd kill yourself manually mounting & balancing enough tires to keep the lights on.

If your main bussiness makes enough to support the shop you'll be fine. But if the shop needs to generate cash with in the first year, your in trouble.

Don't get me wrong, I like the intent. The dealership I just left was pretty good a pricing but I understand how people can feel about being taken advantage of.

Don't be hatin' Roberts. Don't you think I already know what I am getting in to? How much oil changes are..how much is costs to change a tire., etc.

I have worked for a race tire vendor at the track. I'd change a 100 tires before lunch and you never use manual equipment. Tire changes are always air compresor driven. Plus you don't know my costs and expenses as related to it. I already have an existing business that will be using the right side bay and it is such that I don't even have to open a shop there if I don't want to. My other business more than supports the expense of that space. But I want to provide something in a way that other places in the area don't. It orignially started out as a personal workshop but I figured why not make something out of it since the location is so prime, plus I have been in the motorcycle business most of my life.

If you're still dissapointed when you come to the open house then feel free to bust my balls all you want. In the mean time, if you have questions, just ask.

[Onedwn5up]

Originally Posted by soda7o

will yoube workign on quads too???

depends on what kinda of quad it is or the work that you need done to it. I used to work for a shop in AZ called Engine Trix. We built banshees, 250 R's and all sorts of crazy sand drag stuff. I can tear down and rebuild a bashee motor fromthe cases up in a matter of hours.

It will be a case by case thing from what I can say right now. There is still a lot to be ironed out. But for starters I need to clean out the place and start getting it outfitted before I can ever think about working on anything.

[soda7o]

Originally Posted by Onedwn5up

depends on what kinda of quad it is or the work that you need done to it. I used to work for a shop in AZ called Engine Trix. We built banshees, 250 R's and all sorts of crazy sand drag stuff. I can tear down and rebuild a bashee motor fromthe cases up in a matter of hours.

It will be a case by case thing from what I can say right now. There is still a lot to be ironed out. But for starters I need to clean out the place and start getting it outfitted before I can ever think about working on anything.

thanks for the reply...yeah you know liek put a clutch in or rebuild a moter etc.. stuff liek that....just cause peopel areound her einNY are fucking jerkoff ripoffs trying to charge 300 for a stock clutch and than 75 an hour for labor.. plus he wanted to keep it intheshop for liek 4 days....when a stock clutch was liek 110 and it only takes about 2 to 3 hours to put in for an amature like me but what i am trying to say is that myy friends and I work hard and at this point of our lives have limited time to enjoy our toys... and do not want to spend more time fixing them than enjoying them.. see what i am getting at

another Idea since you are getting a big space is winter storage... for example every winter i have atleast 3 to 5 bikes in my garage... i do not charge them cause they are my friends but i do provide a service for them..i keep the bikes on a tender and on stands or carpet all winter and check up on it periodically and change their oil and lube the chain for them right before riding season..
believe it or not they are willing to pay for that type of service.. but i do not charge my friends... but it could be a good idea (i know tons of people in the city who woudl do that for the winter .. especially since the indoor parking spots can run about 150 to 250 a month for an MC in NYC.

[Onedwn5up]

75/hr on labor is not unreasonable. A lot of shops are upwards of 85/hr and bmw techs get 95/hr. If he wanted to keep it for several days maybe it was because he needed to order the clutch parts and parts unlimited is usually a day away on orders. So if you have no parts in hand and depending on what time of day you show up (most parts orders are cut off at 2 pm) he might have been correct in his 3-4 day turn around. But charging you 300 in parts sounds a bit ridiculous unless he was replacing the whole clutch basket as well. But things would have to be real messed up to need to do that.

Bike storage and transport might be something that I will start doing as soon as possible. I just need to get the owners boat out of the space so I can start cleaning up and working on the shop layout and whatnot. Then I have to get the alarm company in there to get that set up.

Something I will also be looking at doing is providing trailer services for bikes out to Pocono Raceway for trackdays.

If there is anything I can help you out with, let me know. And thanks for your comments.
-Eric

[soda7o]

Originally Posted by Onedwn5up

75/hr on labor is not unreasonable. A lot of shops are upwards of 85/hr and bmw techs get 95/hr. If he wanted to keep it for several days maybe it was because he needed to order the clutch parts and parts unlimited is usually a day away on orders. So if you have no parts in hand and depending on what time of day you show up (most parts orders are cut off at 2 pm) he might have been correct in his 3-4 day turn around. But charging you 300 in parts sounds a bit ridiculous unless he was replacing the whole clutch basket as well. But things would have to be real messed up to need to do that.

Bike storage and transport might be something that I will start doing as soon as possible. I just need to get the owners boat out of the space so I can start cleaning up and working on the shop layout and whatnot. Then I have to get the alarm company in there to get that set up.

Something I will also be looking at doing is providing trailer services for bikes out to Pocono Raceway for trackdays.

If there is anything I can help you out with, let me know. And thanks for your comments.
-Eric

this guy is a jack as.s. its a yammi dealership the quad has one hour on it and clutch somehow gets fried.. HMMMMM i know i have abused quads for hours at atime with out frying the clutch.. anyway my friend is a sukker and believed the guy .. they guy had the clutch in stock... anyway i forced my friend to get it out of there..
75 an hour not bad.. ? i don tknow i am used to old school mechanics who just do a job and charge a price not a hourly rate... my car guy never charges an hourly rate.. ever... another thing is come one seriously 75+ an hour.. ok maybe if they where honest... but they ar enot.. a job can take them 15 minues butif th ebook says it takes 3.7 hours thats what they charge and thats where i cant stand the BS

anyway enough ranting..

Yup winter storage with some pre season prep is a hot item.. transport is also good
i dont knwo about driving people to PA raceway but i woud ldef rent them a trailer....
the funny thing is i had all these ideas and stuff about opening up a shop but in NY rent is out of controll plus i am techniclaly not accreddited as a mechanic so i would need to go to school for that you know so i can hang that cert in the shop...
i always wanted oot be a mechanic and own my own shop.. yes weired i know..

[Roberts]

Originally Posted by Onedwn5up

Don't be hatin' Roberts. Don't you think I already know what I am getting in to? How much oil changes are..how much is costs to change a tire., etc.

I have worked for a race tire vendor at the track. I'd change a 100 tires before lunch and you never use manual equipment. Tire changes are always air compresor driven. Plus you don't know my costs and expenses as related to it. I already have an existing business that will be using the right side bay and it is such that I don't even have to open a shop there if I don't want to. My other business more than supports the expense of that space. But I want to provide something in a way that other places in the area don't. It orignially started out as a personal workshop but I figured why not make something out of it since the location is so prime, plus I have been in the motorcycle business most of my life.

If you're still dissapointed when you come to the open house then feel free to bust my balls all you want. In the mean time, if you have questions, just ask.

Sorry, didn't mean to come off negative (not hatin'). I saw your intensions were good, just would not want to see a person with good intensions get burned.

From what I've seen, the motorcycle industry is brutal. No matter how little you charge, people still want it cheaper; it's retarded. It seems people will always think your ripping them off. Nobody (customers) understand the cost of running a shop. They think that just because it takes a tech .5 to change something should make it cost near nothing. They don't understand that eletricity was needed to light the building, run the compressor, etc. It's not easy to manage all the finances to run a shop & make things real cheap. Shops are there to make a profit, not just get by on nickles and dimes.

I wish you nothing but the best of luck & hope that more people like you would open up shops so the people would start trusting the industry again.

[Roberts]

Originally Posted by soda7o

75 an hour not bad.. ? i don tknow i am used to old school mechanics who just do a job and charge a price not a hourly rate... my car guy never charges an hourly rate.. ever... another thing is come one seriously 75+ an hour.. ok maybe if they where honest... but they ar enot.. a job can take them 15 minues butif th ebook says it takes 3.7 hours thats what they charge and thats where i cant stand the BS

Onedwn5up, this is exactly what I'm talking about. ( no offense soda7o)

[Tonupboy]

Bro, seriously, I WISH YOU LUCK!! Remember, build your customer base. If you want people to come back - do a good job. Thats it! I'll check it out.

[SilverDragon]

Good stuff! Congrats and good luck with everything!

Where were you with this when I used to live in West Orange!?

[Rev]

OneUp....Don't take Robert's remark as too negative, just some insight...You asked for feedback and you will get both negative and positive....

Anyway, I will defenitly check out your shop...I have lots of biker friends who know nothing about oil changes, where to get tires changed..etc etc..And they are reasonable distance from clifton. I'll throw you business to help you get your feet off the ground.....Of course depending on how your customer service is, my friends are very loyal to shops who run things right.

I strongly agree with your views on not stocking the shop yet. However you should stock yourself with parts mags and what not for customers who want to order things...I wish you the best of luck and again, I'll throw you some business when possible. Hit me up on PM with your business information. It's already January and riding season is right around the corner again.

[AfricanBootyScratcher]

very cool eric, I'll have to come visit you
as for thoughts on it, your right in not going too nuts at first.
No need to stock tons of inventory, but do set up accounts.
Be careful to not try and be everyone's "best friend" we all need to make a living, but thanks to discount shopping throught the internet retail has become a four letter word. And people forget that a "fair" price goes both ways. You don't have to beat every discount price out there (some stuff online is miraculously below dealer's cost somehow) but make up for it with customer service, which includes but not limmited to tech advice on what's being purchased, a good return policy, and product support. For most rational people, good service is worth the extra $5 or whatever over joeshmoediscountparts.com
Yes $75 per hour is a CHEAP labor rate, in our area at least, out in the midwest I have seen as cheap as $45 but around here they seem to be between $85 to $115. Back when I had my shop people would come in asking us to disount our labor rate ($65/hr at a high end mobile electronics shop years ago, I thought it was very fair) so I would ask them what they would tell thier boss f they went to work and he asked them if he could cut their sallary for the day. Get my drift. Every body wants something for nothing, and will always "just for me, just this once, yada yada yada", you gotta stand by whatever your shop rate will be. I do agree that charging 3 hours for a 15 min job is wrong, and yes a lot of places charge book time no matter what the actual time is, and though it sometimes works in the customers favor, more often it doesn't. so be fair and watch the clock. That also doesn't mean dilly dally and take forever, just to make more. Hell when we were quiet at my old shop, and the customer wasn't waiting I have taken my sweet time to do an install, but would still charge what it should have taken, not what what it took with bsing and cigarette brakes added in, even if I took two hours, I would charge only the half hour I know it would have taken had I been busy. remember be fair.
Some stuff, like tire changes, you can have at a set flat rate.
The bike storage is a great idea, do that with a winterizing package. Bring in the bike, and do an oil change, stabilize the gas, put the battery on a tender, and give the bike a go over, then before it's picked up you change the oil again and detail it. All for one package price. If anything is found needing maintenance when you go over it, you charge extra accordingly.
A pick up/drop off service for people who can't get thier bike to you to be worked on is a nice touch. Or give people a ride home when they drop off the bike and they can't wait or it's a long/multiple day job. Put up a map, and make zones radiating out from the shop. Zone one (very close, or between home and the shop) could be free, out a little farther have set at a flat rate say $25, even farther another like $50, and so forth.
Remember to always stand by your work, and offer a warranty on labor. Gives customers good piece of mind.
"frequent flyer" programs seem to work very well to help generate customer loyalty. Give out coupons when work is done, then they can use those for a discount, like maybe after 5 oil changes, the sixth is free. Or when you spend $x you get a coupon for 10% off your next purchase.
That's all I can think of for now, I'll let you know if other thoughts pop up.

[Onedwn5up]

Thanks Omar! Positive words indeed and from someone who understands customer service. Glad to hear it!

I am still working on this lease with the owner. Some 13th hour bs came out so we are back re-negotiating. Hopefully the outcome will be succesful with this location as it has the most potential of any of the shops I have looked at. I'll keep ya all posted. But I have still been lookin at other locations in the mean time.

[sonny]

I will be in NJ until May, and i'll definitely come hit you up if you're ready for it. Let us know