Need ideas to grow my motorcycle business.

[DTM Brian]

Guys and Gals.

I am wanting to try and expand the motorcycle side of Dyno Tune. I believe I offer both a good value and a quality tune for the fuel injected bike owners. I would like to expand and I am not sure what direction to take. I know that I have gotten a number of pm's on here regarding carb tuning. I have to be honest that I have had very little exposure to carbs with both bikes and cars. Fuel Injection is what I know. I have a few questions I would like to ask.

1. Is there a demand for tuning carb bikes in the columbus area?

2. What other services do you look for when looking for a shop?

3. Preventative maintenance? Repairs? Performance Upgrades?

4. Are there any members on here that would want to team up with Dyno Tune and provide maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades?

5. Are you happy with the exsisting shops in the Columbus area that offer the services I have mentioned?

6. What could they do to improve?

Please share your thoughts and ideas with me. I am interested in bringing someone in that can help grow my business and provide someone an opportunity to pursue their love for motorcycles.

[max power]

1 Yes. There are still lots of motorcycles that have carbs and there are performance upgrades (pipes etc) availiable for these bikes.

2 a few naked women hanging around the shop couldn't hurt.

[DTM Brian]

2 a few naked women hanging around the shop couldn't hurt.

Maybe I should post this on craigslist.

I imagine the girlfriend would want in on this!

[brennan]

hookers and blow?

[NinjaNick]

Awesome opportunity for someone in the Cbus area to get a cool job. I hope someone there goes for this.

[DTM Brian]

I need to sit down and do some brain storming with others. There are so many motorcycles running up and down our streets here in Columbus. There has to be some opportunity.

[phugitive]

You could answer your own question, when potential customers call, what is the most often asked for service that you have to send them elsewhere for?

[DTM Brian]

People that call me now are only asking about tuning because that is all I am able to offer at this time. The only thing I really turn away now would be carb tuning. I still offer the dyno at a really great rate should the customer want to either make the changes themselves or bring someone else in to do the changes. I do not have any carb bikes that are at my disposal to learn carb tuning. I might be going at this wrong. My thinking is I would like to bring someone in who is both bike and carb smart to take care of carb bikes.

My other services include Custom ECM/PCM tuning for Ford and GM vehicles. I do a number of mustangs, corvettes, camaros, and firebirds. I also get modified trucks from time to time. The fuel injected bike tuning has been icing on the cake which is what made me go out and purchase a mobile bike dyno.

[phugitive]

Well if you find the right guy, you could learn from him so you don't have to rely completely on another person. Your best bet would be a guy that had to tune carbs before fuel injection.

Good Luck

[Casper]

PMed you.

[Moto-Brian]

If you want to go beyond tuning and service, accessories are the number one thing to have. Problem is that you need to invest money into inventory in order to succeed. Too many shops start out in accessories ordering for their buddies or groups of friends and place an initial order with say PU or TR to get started.

You need to have a large amount of liquid cash to spend on start up inventory and MAINTAIN it. It isn't cool when a guy comes in and you have to order something everytime. Works for your buds who probably get a discount anyways, but if you want repeat and new customers, you need to have something they want to buy right then and there.

Go into these small shops and look around. Too often they are lacking even the basics. TR and PU are the main source for most shops no matter how big and they provide you with the essentials needed. You can tell the inexperienced owners as they typically try and stretch their $10k as far as it will go. $10k is nothing to spend in this industry. You can spend $10 in two product categories. Hell, any serious shop will spend it in one.

Do some secret shopping and make a list of likes and dislikes. Two sides of a sheet of paper. Go into various shops and see what they do well and not so well. Be honest, too. Don't worry about price. The minute you try and win customers on price is the minute the big guys hunt you down and wipe you out.

[Moto-Brian]

As far as carbs, you cannot do it all. Sorry for the guys with carbs, but the people with money to spend and the GENERAL population are FI. If you start taking in older technology, you run into deals where your prices for tuning are going to start getting too high for these folks. A guy who has a $2500 carbed bike curely needs service, but if you are a serious tuning shop and a serious performance based shop, FI is what folks use and will pay for work. They can see results immediately and will be happy.

Most carbed guys can find a small shop for their needs. It sucks, but that's life. I wouldn't touch anything that is over 10 years old. That includes some carbed bikes, I know, but you probably need to have a set limit as a lot of performance shops do. The reason is really price and parts. Again, a guy with a 1990 FZR600 that's worth maybe $2500 total is going to spend 10% of the worth just to dial it in? Doubtful. You quote him a legit price (carb tuning takes a LOT more time and labor) and he's going to get scared off... FI guy comes in and it is the current technology and you can show instant results in WAY less time. They feel good about what you did and you have little invested.

There needs to be a cutoff. Again, you cannot do it all and satisfy everyone. If you do a guy's FZR600, why not the guy with the 87 FZ600? Why not the guy with the Yamaha Radian? Maybe Maxim... You get the idea. It all gets balled up into a mess easily. Just do a year cut off.

[ICEMAN]

come on into Schiets and check the place out man!! we are a smaller shop, we keep a good inventory of mainly helmets and "cheaper" priced jackets like Castle and Speed & Strength. We dont carry much Alpinestar or ICON b/c the market here isnt really big for it. Just ICON gloves and shirts and Monster Gear is always a hit!! that stuff sells like hot cakes!!!

our best selling helmets are the HJC CL-15 (140 bux, snell approved) and CS-R1 (80 bux) for full face, and the GMAX3/4 helmets are a HUGE hit. they are good quality helmets at very good prices.

We are not worried about competition or anything else, we are at the spot your lookin to be. We dont patch our name onto everything and try to sell ourselves thru putting our name on everything, most of our customers are from word of mouth. Its ALL about customer service. If you have that already, your on your way!!! Good customer service = repeat customers. Some places have cheaper prices, whether its bikes or gear, granted we are usually on the cheaper side on gear, but good customer service brings everyone back!!

Edited March 4, 2009 by ICEMAN

[ICEMAN]

carburetor = cruiser market.

+1000... thats a way to get more business!! its funny how many people come into schiets and say "i dont need a jet kit" b/c there friend, who has a completely different model of bike, didnt need one on his. EVERY bike is different. All (carb) bikes could use a jet kit right out of the factory pretty much, all bikes could use one after putting pipes on. Doesnt mean they need it.

[DTM Brian]

Wanted to thank everyone for their input. I agree it that it inventory would be the next step. I guess I need to decide on where I want to spend my money. My original plan was to do buy a building instead of renting. I eventually want to have an AWD dyno in the ground and rather spend the money to put in the ground in a building I own instead of one the land lord owns.

I am thinking general service should be my next step. Then start looking into some inventory for both cars and bikes.

[shittygsxr]

Call me crazy but if you are going to carry an inventory. Carry an inventory of Power Commander products, and check this out. You can give reduced price tuning when they buy a power commander from you.

Holy Shit I am a so smrt

[fireman_343]

I've got a carbed 01 R6 that needs tuned bad! I'd be one of the 1st to get some tuning done to my old ass bike!

[shittygsxr]

Oh and you wouldnt even have to carry much of an inventory because when people schedule tuning with you in advance you could just order the part then, but I would have some product on hand mostly to create the perception that you are larger than you really are. When Home Depot started out they put empty boxes in their overheads to create the perception that they were big shit.

Second I would work with a reputable welder (stainless and titanium) to weld bungs into exhaust headers / pipes and even install autotuning devices. Autotuners (motty, dynojet, and bazazz) are going to put you out of the motorcycle business unless you embrace them

[xtremef4i]

There might be some flamers to this idea, but its easy money. Get hooked up with a local guy that does powdercoating and chrome/polishing. If you team up with a small shop local that has all the rquipment, you can work together with him on powder and plating. You would be a middle man and get money with pretty much nothing invested. Since you would be known as the bike shop, you offer the service, have your local guy do the work, and you profit from it. The guy you team up with should give you dealer pricing since you would be bringing him more business. So he powders and plates parts for you cheaper than he would for the average joe, and you mark up the price to whatever a competitive rate is in the area. So in the end, all you do is move the parts from your shop to his, and collect on the profit. Same goes for Paint work too.

[Catman]

1. tires, good mark up, and charge for changing

2. accesories inhouse !

3. there are all kinsa bikes coming out the woodwork to be repaired , with the price of gas and the economy= Lots of bikes in a box ! LOL

4. get some teams to regulary tune before races and track days.

5. put an add on craigslist for bike prep for track days ?

6. make deals on oil changes and brakes , things that you can knock out quick, to get more return buisness.

[flounder]

Oh and you wouldnt even have to carry much of an inventory because when people schedule tuning with you in advance you could just order the part then, but I would have some product on hand mostly to create the perception that you are larger than you really are. When Home Depot started out they put empty boxes in their overheads to create the perception that they were big shit.

Second I would work with a reputable welder (stainless and titanium) to weld bungs into exhaust headers / pipes and even install autotuning devices. Autotuners (motty, dynojet, and bazazz) are going to put you out of the motorcycle business unless you embrace them

+1

[xtremef4i]

Mounting tires would be real easy money maker. A lot of places charge way to much to mount a tire. Anywhere from $25-50 each. Just a thought. again, it's an easy way to make money with small investment. Look into the No-Mar tire changers. They are a manual way to change a tire but look easy to do.

[DTM Brian]

All really good ideas.

Ohio Riders= one of the more intelligent forums that I have been on.

[ICEMAN]

yes, tires have one of the biggest mark-ups. 100+% mark-up.

and sportbikes are the easiest. even if the wheel is on the bike. you could do em super cheap if they are off the bike. say free mounting and balancing if you buy a set and have the rims off the bike!!

hey. the guy who powdercoated my 89 ninja, he is very cheap in price compared to other coaters, hes just over the border into michigan. name is jeff. check him out. he also has a guy who is very cheap per hour at sandblasing, and does very good. Jeff likes to get in with clubs and hook people up!!!

heres some of his work...

Jeffs Powder Coating

heres my ninja frame and swingarm and my R6 swingarm he did...

i had his sandblaster do the frame, i did the swingarms...

here is some of his other work....

did the rims gold

Did the orange rim!!!

Edited March 4, 2009 by ICEMAN

[natedogg624]

Guys and Gals.

I am wanting to try and expand the motorcycle side of Dyno Tune. I believe I offer both a good value and a quality tune for the fuel injected bike owners. I would like to expand and I am not sure what direction to take. I know that I have gotten a number of pm's on here regarding carb tuning. I have to be honest that I have had very little exposure to carbs with both bikes and cars. Fuel Injection is what I know. I have a few questions I would like to ask.

1. Is there a demand for tuning carb bikes in the columbus area?

yes, there is I believe. although i may be looking to convert to FI, and i may be a big customer for you come next spring...

2. What other services do you look for when looking for a shop?

trust, quality, believe it or not friendliness and a smile. i hate the shops that are just grumpy ol' bastards. main reason i dont go to shops anymore, although i know a dyno is different than a dealer shop.

3. Preventative maintenance? Repairs? Performance Upgrades?

sure be neat to offer it. i know 35motorsports does stuff like this, but unfortunately they are in Indiana. maybe do things such as SS lines, install exhausts, PCIII or Bazzaz, and on the extreme spectrum start to bore out heads, and install bigger pistons etc...

4. Are there any members on here that would want to team up with Dyno Tune and provide maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades?

im sure their would be some. are you looking for volunteers or part time hires?

5. Are you happy with the exsisting shops in the Columbus area that offer the services I have mentioned?

i cant say, never been...

6. What could they do to improve?

marketing, getting your name out there. i never knew about your place until i joined this forum. whether its going to QSL or various other bike shows handing out flyers, mid ohio supercycle weekend get a portable dyno up there, there was one a few years ago (was that you?), Iron Pony, are you accredited as a reputable dyno with Factory Pro, Dynotune, etc? obviously you dont want to waste your time or money with a commercial or newspaper ad that broadcasts to the general public.

Please share your thoughts and ideas with me. I am interested in bringing someone in that can help grow my business and provide someone an opportunity to pursue their love for motorcycles.

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