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Southside Honda closed for good


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From their Facebook just now:

"Southside Honda Suzuki Yamaha

very sad news.... due to some unfourtunate, and uncontrolable situations, the dealership is closed for good, please say a prayer for everyone that will now loose thier jobs, and ask the good lord to help them all find new employment. thanks to everyone for all the years of support and business, and good luck to each and everyone of you have a great 2011 and God bless!"

Sucks if it's true

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From their Facebook just now:

"Southside Honda Suzuki Yamaha

very sad news.... due to some unfourtunate, and uncontrolable situations, the dealership is closed for good, please say a prayer for everyone that will now loose thier jobs, and ask the good lord to help them all find new employment. thanks to everyone for all the years of support and business, and good luck to each and everyone of you have a great 2011 and God bless!"

Sucks if it's true

Maybe because they can't spell

"LOSE"

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Maybe because they can't spell

"LOSE"

Hey grammar Nazi; you missed "thier", "unfourtunate", and "uncontrolable". And you can't forget the lack of capitalization, misuse of punctuation, etc. If you're going to be a dick, at least do it right. :D

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Hey grammar Nazi; you missed "thier", "unfourtunate", and "uncontrolable". And you can't forget the lack of capitalization, misuse of punctuation, etc. If you're going to be a dick, at least do it right. :D

I hardly read it! Give me a break. LOOSE just pisses me off more than anything except for "I seen something"

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This is the 2nd time I have heard Southside is closing. Too Bad, a big shame. I bought quite a few bikes from them, and mega bucks of parts. They were my home base for mc stuff, they gave me great discounts on parts,and let me snatch test rides on used bikes. Just nice people. -- (no service there for me though)

The thing is the owner was so involved in the Troy Honda dirt racing, the group had no sense of the street side of stuff and street riders. The service dept was always just average. If a shop does this for a long period of time, they will lose customers. I once mentioned this to the owner, and even asked if he would just pave the parking lot, (it was dusty,muddy half the time) and he just didnt seem to get it. While other shops were doing upgrades to the show room and trying to improve, Southside just drifted backwards. I'm sad to see them go, but it takes some business sense to compete in the tough mc business.

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Interesting verbiage in their FB posting, considering the circumstances that (allegedly) led them to shut down. Wonder who runs their FB page? I also considered them my "home shop", but have watched the decline over the years. Sad, but not really surprising. This has been a long time coming. Last winter, the employees were all walking around INSIDE the store with huge coats on, as well as gloves, hats, etc. The furnace/ heater was broken. For months.

Either way, sorry to see them go. Vista Kaw can now get parts for most bikes, BTW.

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Yeah, they didn't get much business anyway. Plus they were in a shitty location.

Actually, they were one of the top Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki dealers in the state and did well when stacked nationally. The reasons for their downfall is based more upon management and not sales.

Funny the FB page states what it does as every employee that is there has suspected and or expected the shop to be closing. There have been a lot of people come and go through there recently in the last few years, but the ones that have been there are not shocked and if smart, had things lined up elsewhere...

Employees were also told earlier than just now.

Sucks as these guys were a core off road and MX shop. They did numbers in MX that would blow you away. The race team fell with the Lawrence episode and dropped the status of the team within the racing community. Recently with the Honda of Troy team, it was simply a rich dad making a team for his son and they never were remotely as close as they have been a couple of years ago and earlier.

It's the fall of a well known dealer and a well known team. It has been in motion for many years. It just no has come to fruit and isn't a surprise to the people within the industry...

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For those that don't know, Southside used to be Honda of Troy, then Yamaha of Troy. Started out as a little shop on the west side of Troy, OH. Visited there once, then they moved down to their current location in Dayton. Used to be a notable name in national MX. I do feel bad for them that this happened. Bought my '93 GSXR 750 new from them, and have been going there ever since. Some of the employees have been there nearly that long. Could've been such a great place to hang out. There is talk that a local car dealer may buy the Yam and Honda franchise rights, but probably won't use the current store location. Just rumors at this point, and lots of 'em.

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I remember hearing that team mentioned on the broadcasts back when McGrath was king.

McGrath actually rode for them. The shop actually started about a block away from the current location where a laundry mat is currently. Both Scott and Phil were factory Husky riders and they ended up doing a shop together with Husky at the start. Went to Troy from there and the factory assisted race team got it's start. They have been Honda of Troy, Suzuki of Troy, and Yamaha of Troy. But, the most recent Honda of Troy was essentially a non factory assisted program and again, just a privateer based team. Before, it was literally factory direct. Saw many a times some really cool shit they were working on with Yamaha. Stuff like dimpled valves for better flow - like found on a golf ball... Think about putting dimples in Titanium valves for a minute... Anyways, always really cool stuff. The storage area of that place has so many cool parts and memories of the past that your head would spin if an MX/SX fan.

Again, guys like McGrath, Reed, Fonseca, etc., etc., etc... were their riders at some point on either Hondas, Suzukis or Yamahas... As far as the race side of things - SUPER cool. Shop in CA was amazing and just what you'd expect from a factory based team. However, the shop in OH was really just a feeder system for the race team in my mind. One was always paying for the other and it just was a mess. I think had there been some changes in the last 3-4 years, it would have made a HUGE difference. Many of the employees were there that shouldn't have been and many that left should have stayed. It happens to every business, but the shop was really, just poorly managed. Unfortunate as I have a lot of friends from there. But again, you ask any of the employees that have been there more than 3-4 years and they'd tell you it isn't a shocker...

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Very cool, Brian. I had no idea that they started there. I assumed that it was up north as (if I remember correctly), in was a pretty small shop. That was a looong time ago, but I have it pictured as a pretty small storefront type of thing. Storybook "humble beginnings and made it to the big-time" type of thing. Remember when they built the mx track out back of the current location because McGrath and some of the others were going to be in town for the old AMA Troy race, and signing at the shop?

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Every time I've gone in they've had business, but it's been since summer since I went by. One of my complaints was always the wait at the service counter. If I didn't do the work myself it was the only place in town I'd take my bike to have anything done. Great place but poorly managed. Really could have been much more than it was if they had made better decisions.

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If I need help on my bike I like Vista Kawasaki's service. I've only ever had valve shimming done outside of my garage though.

Don't like Vista. They are on the list of people I won't do business with anymore because their service sucks. Vista, Shorty's and Middletown...

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Man, it'd be cool if some of those racers would get together and save the shop. If it was mismanagement that caused the downfall, that's an easy fix. Sad to see a part of Ohio MX history go away like this.

Not so easy a fix. Management was ownership, etc.

Plus, the racers idea is not a good idea. Just because they have money doesn't mean they make good management.

They were always around and well known - the 5th Dragon as they were always called. However, there's been a LOT of things that have come to pass and really, this is trivial compared to a lot more things that racers can be a part of. If a racer was going to save the team, they'd do their own team and right now, budgets are so tight that doing your own team is tough to do.

As for the comment of 2011 is going to be a tough year in the Powersports Business. Not so. In fact, it is flat, but also in some places, slightly up. We are seeing really solid results and for us, the year was up vs years past. Not great, but we are not near as bad as say the Hondas, Suzukis and others around... The only metric brand doing anything somewhat good is Kawasaki right now. Yamaha is somewhat flat and teaters on the up and down side, but the other two are in shitsville right now...

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If it was mismanagement that caused the downfall, that's an easy fix. Sad to see a part of Ohio MX history go away like this.

Thats normally the hardest thing to fix in an organization. If it was money, donations can always be a pardon...but management is systemic and takes a change in culture.

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