I have recently ordered a lot of different stuff online and thought it might be cool to have a thread where people share their experiences with different companies to keep us all from getting burned.
RideGear.com - DO NOT BUY FROM THIS PLACE! By far the worst online purchase experience I have ever had. Just filed a complaint with the BBB.
Remember folks, sites like Reseller Ratings and the BBB are your friends, take a few seconds to check them out before rush ordering a pair of gloves for your girl. (Just an example...)
I know there are plenty of other good online stores that I have seen mentioned on these boards before, but I have only listed those I have personally dealt with. I've heard good things about places like PJ's Parts, Ron Ayers and many more. Feel free to add to the list!
Sent 10 email and got 1 generic response after 2 weeks.
Called 5 times and no one ever answered.
Still waiting for a refund on a battery. I refused delivery and they got the unopened product back 2 weeks ago but I still don't have a refund. The one email I got back from them told me that if I returned the item I would get hit with a 30% restocking fee.
99% of the time I have good luck with online companies. This is the rare exception. If i don't see a refund this week I'm going to my credit card company.
Timing for this thread is impeccable. I will come back later and give a detailed and horrific account of my dealings with ARROWHEAD MOTORSPORTS! Avoid this guy.
The good:
- Dan Kyle: Everyone already knows the good stuff
- Twisted Throttle: Already stated the service level in another thread
__________________ It's better to have loved and lost than live with the psycho for life!
Excellent -
Micron - I ordered an exhaust form my lates project on thursday and it was at my house today ! Awesome !
AF1 - For Aprilia stuff, they can not be beat - The factory even had to call them to get stuff for me when I was involved at a dealership !
Jamie James productions - What can I say, these guys have helped me out for years with my piddly projects , gotta love thier help and expertice ! So, should anyone need Ohilins sutff or want to do something really wild - Check them out !
Bad -
Gotta take point wiht Dan Kyle - granted this was years ago, but, ti still left a bad taste in me mouth - Way back then they were the only imposter of Sato products, so, I wanted some trick rear sets for my Buell (-Now, keep in mind they were the ONLY importer for the US back then ) ,so, I called old Dan, whom I had meet at a Rogue RC51 trackday BTW , and asked him to get me some rear sets for the mighty XB9R. His responce " I dont mess with that junk ! " - I know hes a Honda guy ,but ,youve got a customer who isnt beating yo uup over price and your the only way he can get the parts -- I expected better from him -- And Im sure he is much better now --
__________________
" Any book is a childrens book , if the kid can read !"
Mitch Hedburg
I have bought Tires from Motorcycle Superstore and some tools from PitPosse and Harbor Freight. All with good results. Bought a GPS from PCNation also very happy with the experience. No bad results so far. Most of the time I do a search here and follow others good experience. Thanks WT'ers
[B]Good www.ronayers.com - Bought a new 919 tank from them. Good price.
Ebay: Motorcycle accessory warehouse - ordered a DID chain from them. Shipping was a little slow but product arrived as promised.
www.motovationusa.com - Great seller of various sliders. Just installed a set of frame sliders for my 919. Arrived quickly. Sliders were of high quality.
Twisted Throttle has been one of the best online retailers I have ever experienced. Every order is easily tracked, shipped quickly and their follow-up customer service is beyond compare. I recently had a failure on one of my crashbars bought from TT. They sent me a new bar without any fuss and paid for shipping of the broken piece back to them. I had the replacement within three days.
Several good experiences from both:
Motorcycle Superstore
Ronayers
I won't buy from Bikebandit again only because they have no phone number. Online chat help only which made it difficult to work through a problem. No thanks.
Was promised delivery today ... paid for delivery today. NADA! Not happy.
It really grinds me most etailers lie about delivery dates before your order is placed. Then you wait for them to receive it and ship... you only get empty apologies. Find a great local parts dealer for only one shipping hop!
It really grinds me most etailers lie about delivery dates before your order is placed. Then you wait for them to receive and ship them... you only get empty apologies. Find a great local parts dealer for only one shipping hop!
My local Cycle Gear is great, but my timing and KLR specific needs limited what I could get.
__________________ It's better to have loved and lost than live with the psycho for life!
I just ordered a set of renthal streetfighers from www.RideNow.com. I'll update my experience with them. I have read NOTHING but terrible reviews about them. But they were the only black streetfighters I could find.
I just ordered a set of renthal streetfighers from www.RideNow.com. I'll update my experience with them. I have read NOTHING but terrible reviews about them. But they were the only black streetfighters I could find.
I got my bars from ridenow. No troubles. A little slow. I think it was 4 days from payment to ship date. So, maybe they're ok if you're not in a hurry. Plus they have black streetfighters.
I've ordered twice from them and had good luck . I believe they are located in Indiana . They seem to be a little cheaper than most places for OEM parts.
On topic with this thread , I've had great luck with - Cheap cycle parts - Ron ayer -Dennis Kirk - Dan Kyle -Sportbike Track Gear and Parts411. All of them have great customer service and decent return policies.
Absolute BEST service, lowest prices (at time of orders): solomotoparts.com :
items bought:
*Scotts Steering Stabilizer, $431
*Sato Sliders, $85
*Dowco M/C Cover, $33
*Power Commander III USB, $289
*TwoBrothers Juice Box, $270
ALL with FREE SHIPPING! SoloMotoParts has excellent customer service who will e-mail or call you instantly if there is any question about your order! And they reply to every e-mail inquiry the same day you send it! Very knowledgeable and courteous sales and tech staff!
starcycle.com had lowest price on my Yoshimura TRS slip-ons, $526 with Free Shipping. Star Cycle and Pete is an awesome guy! He went out of his way to find out why my muffs had no spouts when all the pics showed them. It was Yoshimura's change made. He even forwarded to me his e-mail to the Yosh district rep and her response to him. Great customer service at Star Cycle!
Fox Performance (placed order through Amazon): Gorilla Alarm for $99 with free shipping. Same price as everyone else but shipped extremely fast! Like within a few days to my door!
Motovation Usa had a great price on their sliders, $79, but paying $11 for shipping AND, dig this: $1.95 for "handling"! What's that all about? But hey, they make them and they are just in the next State (which blew me away that they charged so much for shipping!)
Lucky Bike (ordered through Amazon): Red anodized brake and clutch levers for $20 plus $5 shipping. Service was fine, but these things are CRAP! I put them on, tried them, and took them back off within minutes. They look cool, but they are lower than stock and hard to reach unless you have the finger reach of an NBA star!
Stop N Go International: Bought their cool Pocket Tire Plugger for $32 plus $7 for shipping. Fast shipping. I didn't like their price for extra cO2 cartridges or their dispenser, but the kit was a good price.
Bike Bandit: Lowest price I could find on a Parts Unlimited tether kill switch ($12 plus $6 shipping) but I realized WHY it was so cheap when I got it! NO MOUNTING SYSTEM or bracket whatsover! I guess I'm supposed to drill a 1/2" hole somewhere and mount this huge, bulky unit! Absolute garbage! I learned a lesson about tethers: pay more if you want the good ones!
PhatPerformanceParts.com had the best price (at the time I ordered) on the Power Commander LCD Unit at $275 but in order to not have to wait about a month or two for UPS Ground (absolute slowest shipping source, so I always pay extra for 3-day if sellers ship UPS Ground) I paid $38 more. They did offer free shipping, but it would have taken 6 months to get! Why do I say that? Because this place had the absolute WORST service I've ever gotten from an online retailer. It took them almost 2 weeks jsut to send my order out!, then only after I sent them several e-mails to ask about my order that I paid extra for 3-day UPS! They got rude with me in their replies, and said "It's 3 days from the day we ship the order, not from the day you place that order!" to which I replied "I realize that, but why does it take you almost 2 weeks to walk across the warehouse, pick the item, package it and send it out?" (I worked in an automotive warehouse for years, and ALL our orders that were in stock went out same day!)
Tonker, Inc in Florida had the best price I could find after Googling for my helmet for days! I got the Shoei RF-1000 in wine (almost 99.9% color match to my bike, ironically!). I paid $326 with free shipping, and the service was fast! I saved about $100 over my local stores.
Vizi-Tec.com was the only place I could find the tail-light modulator/flasher that someone in the forum told me where to find there. They ONLY have them for TWO Honda's: the 919 and a Rebel 250. But hey, for about $70 I got this thing FAST!
WHO I HAVE NOT USED AND WHY:
Dennis Kirk: they have always had the highest prices of any online retailer I've ever checked or ordered from. Back when I had my GS750 and my KZ650 I placed a couple orders from them because I found them in back of a cycle magazine. Didn't have a computer at the time. Haven't used Dennis Kirk in over 10 years because of their high prices. Sure, they will beat others but then make up for it in shipping.
Chapperal (or however you spell it) has also been extremely high priced and I've had bad service/slow shipping from them. Used to by all my tires and chains/sprockets from them (back with the 16v GS750 that I love doing smoke shows halfway down the block with!). The have nice people, but I wouldn't use again.
Motorcycle Superstore: Another place I found has been higher priced than most, and don't really have too many parts for 919s.
So, there you have it, my online motorcycle experiences. The rest of my stuff I bought locally, like suits, pants, jackets, gloves, etc.
OK I just sent an e-mail to President Obama telling him if he wants to stimulate the economy, screw the banks, homeowners, etc...send it directly to hairball919...it will go directly into the economy.
Obama just called me! He was pissed because I had forgot to mention the Motion Werkes fender eliminator I got from Motion Werkes. Those folks are awesome, with fast service and a great price!
By the way, Mike, I'm pretty much done helping stimulate the economy. This is what happens when you get an untaxed life insurance check: you spend, spend, spend.
Maybe a sprocket set, then back to work as a cam grinder to put food on the table (if I don't curb my spending!).
motobatt.com - replaced my overpriced 06 Yuasa battery in May 09 with a quadflex battery from these guys. This $50 battery has been going strong for 11 months with year round daily 30 mile commutes.
buy from them ALL the time. 1. they have AWESOME quick service. 2. oem parts for all the big manufactures.... as well as tons of aftermarket parts from parts unlimited and other suppliers..... AND they 110% pricematch ANYPLACE online.
been ordering stuff there for quite a while. just placed an order yesterday for a fork seal set for my 919, and some 10w maxima racing fork oil for 10 bucks less than any motorcycle shop close... and a dollar or two less than anywhere else online.
Shipping a lot of tires all over the country it's really not that hard.
Just ship it quick and give an honest answer on when it will get there. I always try to ship it the fastest way possible. Sometimes I have options on shipping that may take an extra day but will let the customer know when it should get there if it's going to be a couple of days.
I think customers just want an honest answer on when they will get their product.
I ordered a new helmet, jacket and gloves late on Wednesday night and they were waiting for me on my doorstep when I got home from work Friday. They have great pictorial and some video reviews of the products they sell. I like them a lot for apparel and gear.
They distribute Rizoma and have a lot in stock. They're great people to work with. As a bonus, you don't pay until they make sure they can ship your stuff. WOOT because I hate back orders.
__________________
Preschool - Kawasaki 100 enduro
Grade School - Honda CB 125
High School - Honda 400 Hawk
College - Honda VT500 Ascot Real life - Honda 919
Huge fan of Motorcycle Superstore. Ordered a rear tire on Wednesday and it was sitting in front of my garage on Thursday. With free shipping! I've also returned a pair of handlebars that I didn't really like, and a helmet that didn't fit. No hassle, full refund. Excellent website too.
Heres my short list of people I like to work with.
Twisted Throttle, Dennis Kirk, CycleGear, MotoSport, Sportbiketrackgear, Mike @ Traxxion Dynamics, Mike @ Penske Racing Shocks, and Brock's Performance.
Anyone buy from RevZilla?
I was going to buy a jacket from them for Festivus.
I've bought a bunch of stuff from Revzilla, they're a great outfit to deal with, excellent customer service, no hassle returns/exchanges. Keep an eye out in the winter months, they put alot of stuff on closeout, last January I bought a set of gear for the wife almost 50% off.
Jake Wilson gets most of my money for tires and common parts. I always check them when I order. Most of the time they are the cheapest. I just ordered a new battery and a set of Yoshimura TRS slip-ons and saved $45 over motorcycle-superstore and Competition Accessories.
I'll add another +1 for PJ's Parts. Their customer service has been fantastic the few times I've ordered from them.
)
because I hate back orders.
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