Google Earth view of the new location at Delamere on the A556

Knutsford Motorcycles, formerly Knutsford Honda and before that, some years ago, GoldWing International, is closing its doors today prior to relocation.  The business, including its GoldWing Accessory stock and mail order business, having been taken over by J&S Accessories of Northwich.

The doors at their High Legh Site on the A50 close to business today in order to start the relocation, while things are quieter, to a new J&S site which is being developed about 10 miles away at Delamere, Sandiway.  This is a large site on the A556 and used to be occupied by a caravan and motorhome dealer.  It has large showroom and other buildings including a well equipped cafe.  There is also a Pub right next door.

The idea is to recreate the open and accessible display of GoldWing Accesories which was so attractive to Wingers in the Knutsford Showroom in its own section of what will be a very large showroom indeed.  J&S have been trying to expand within Northwich, the town where the business started up, for some time but when this site became available moving their headquarters from Northwich to the A556 at Delamere (allowing expansion to incorporate the Knutsford Motorcycles business) became a more attractive option.

For Wingers it was disappointing to lose Knutsford Honda, which owners Eric and Bridget Warburton tried very hard to build up as a GoldWing specialist Honda Dealership but it was not successful and after unsuccessful efforts to get HondaUK to loosen its corsets and give them a chance to develop a viable business model as a specialist dealership, they dumped the franchise.

The residual business, selling a few bikes but concentrating on “shiny bits” for GoldWings and cruisers was ticking over adequately given the economic downturn we are living through, in which sadly lots of motorcycle dealers are going bust, and maybe that was as good as could be expected.  Knutsford Motorcycles was also continuing to provide specialist service and repairs to GoldWing Owners by Honda-trained Technicians and the stock of “shiny bits” for GoldWings was second to none in UK.

But these are hard times in the motorcycle trade and it would have been hard work making the considerable investment in stock earn its keep and the opportunity to merge the business into J&S’s much larger accessory business makes much better sense.

All the staff at Knutsford Motorcycles, including the Technicians who are experienced in working on GoldWings, are being kept on and will re-locate to Delamere during the next few weeks, as the new site comes into use.  Every effort will be made to ensure that customers who have orders or work in progress will not be let down during the transitional period.  The target date for opening the new location is March 1st but given the size of J&S’s stock holdings in Northwich and the need to refit the buildings at the new site for their new role – including the cafe, which is having a makeover – it might take a bit longer than that to get fully up and running.

However there is every chance that this new and pretty enormous motorcycle superstore, complete with a permanent, proper Cafe, will be in use as the next riding season begins.

And from a Winger’s viewpoint, while it is of course sad to lose Knutsford Honda and then also Knutsford Motorcycles, the new J&S location at Delamere appears to offer a new opportunity to buy GoldWing Accessories at th same time as browsing huge stocks of helmets, riding gear etc – and new biker’s watering hole too.  An Ace Cafe of the North?  Well, maybe even that; we can live in hope.

This was my first attempt to use the Blog to conduct an opinion survey and so it was something of an experiment.  Hopefully the results will stimulate some discussion.

I asked Blog Readers to assume they are about to buy their next GoldWing, have two equally suitable bikes, one being sold by a Honda Dealer, the other one by a non-Honda dealer.  There are no differences in part exchange or guarantee and it didn’t even matter whether the bikes are new or used, the only difference was the price – the Honda Dealer was asking more because he feels he’s offering a better, quality-assured service.

The question you Readers were invited to answer was:  How valuable is it to you to buy a GoldWing from a franchised Honda Dealer, in other words how much extra would you pay for your next GoldWing for the benefits of buying from an official Honda Dealer, compared with any other motorcycle dealer?

The response rate was low in relation to the Blog’s readership numbers and this certainly needs to be taken into account when interpreting this result.  Respondents could very easily be a biased sample, for example because only those who hold strong feelings (for example of personal disappointment) about Honda bothered to take the survey.

Having said that there is at least a suggestion from this Survey that a surprisingly large proportion of GoldWing owners attach little or no value to buying from a franchised Honda Dealer.  Why could that be?

My theories

One possibility it that everyone is so accustomed to buying on price these days that they will shop around for the lowest price for a GoldWing in the same way they would for any other goods.  If the GoldWing comes with a Honda guarantee they will be able to take the bike to their nearest Honda dealer anyway if something goes wrong.  Honda products are very reliable anyway so why not simply buy on price?

I know one Winger who bought a new GoldWing from a different dealer than the one where he had spent all his time showroom browsing and asking questions (and where he would go for his accessories and servicing) simply because he could get the bike for £500 less somewhere else.  The relationship he still hoped to have with the dealer whose showroom and sales staff he had made use of didn’t stop him from buying as cheaply as possible.

Another Winger has just ordered a new GoldWing shopped around for the best price and when he ended up with two at the same bottom price he then chose on other factors and dealing directly with a Honda franchised dealer wasn’t important to him.

Another possibility is that franchised Honda Dealers in UK, with only one remaining exception, HGB Motorcycles, are not regarded by knowledgable Wingers as having sufficient specialist knowledge about GoldWings nor experience of working on them to make using them worthwhile.   In the North of England lots of Wingers would much prefer to take their bike to Appleyards, the non-franchised GoldWing specialist, than any of the Honda dealers.  To a lesser extent that’s probably still true of Knutsford Motorcycles too.

What about using a Honda dealer for servicing?

Some buyers of new GoldWings will take their bikes to their local Honda Dealer automatically for all their requirements, just as they would do if they bought a new Honda car.  But Wingers who become part of the GoldWing Community in UK, even if they haven’t bothered to join a club, will be much more likely take their bikes to a franchised dealer only for a safety recall (because it’s free) but otherwise steer clear.  They will either do the servicing themselves, even if its a new bike, or get someone whom they regard as genuinely expert to do it – which is much more likely to be another Winger or an independent specialist service-provider like AwingAway, Winginit or of course Appleyards and Knutsford Motorcycles.

Why is there only one specialist GoldWing Honda Dealer?

When I interviewed Steve Martindale General Manager (Motorcycles) of HondaUK a while ago, he expressed a very firm view that Honda’s robust system of technician training and support to its franchised dealer network ensures that a GoldWing owners can take his bike to any Honda dealership anywhere in the Country and get reliably expert service and repairs.

Not surprisingly neither I nor Bob Summers, who was with me at the time, were at all convinced of this and I doubt that many other UK Wingers of any experience will be either.  I’m not convinced that Honda UK are remotely serious about selling GoldWings at all any more.

Why are there no demonstrator 2012 Model GoldWings?

There are 90+ franchised Honda Motorcycle Dealers in UK but HondaUK are reported to be importing only 80 2012 Model GL1800s in total this year, so not even one per Dealer.  Unless you happen to live near HGB, the chances of locating a 2012 Model GoldWing as a demonstrator in UK will be pretty low, maybe none existent.

If you want to prove this for yourself either ring HondaUK’s Contact Centre on 0845 200 8008 or request a callback on HondaUK’s Motorcycle sales website by clicking here.   Tell them where you live ask the call taker to help you arrange a test ride on a 2012 Model GoldWing.  Make it clear that it is the new 2012 Model you want to test ride.   If they give you the number of your nearest dealer and suggest you call them explain that you doubt they have a demonstrator available and rather than you having to ring round to find one, you are hoping they will do so for you.  Some time later you might well get a call from a Honda Motorcycle Salesman in a dealership somewhere near you and maybe offering you a ride on a GoldWing.

I did this yesterday and was told that Blackpool Honda (only 15 miles away) have a 2012 Model and I could arrange a test ride with them.  It turned out when I rang this dealer that they had indeed just taken delivery of a 2012 Model GoldWing but that it would be going into the showroom and would not be registered as a demonstrator – but that if I was serious about buying it after seeing it in the showroom they wouldn’t deny me a ride on it using trade plates.  Not quite the same thing as a conventional opportunity to have a demonstration test ride then.

When I rang Honda’s Contact Centre again to repeat my request for them to find me a demonstrator bike, as I had made clear originally, they were a bit reluctant (because, I suspect, their computer system clearly does not facilitate that) but agreed to make enquiries and ring me back by 5pm the following day.  That’s the last I heard and I suspect that they drew a blank.

I doubt that HondaUK actively manages the availability of GoldWing demonstrators and that as a result of that, as things stand today, no Honda dealer has or is planning to put a demonstrator 2012 Model GL1800 on the road with the exception of HGB, who already have one of each colour in the showroom and will be putting a demostrator on the road shortly.

Not even trying these days?

Less than 10 years ago HondaUK were selling well over 300 or so GoldWings per year in UK .  A substantial number of new parallel import GoldWings were sold too, including by franchised Honda Dealers.  The lion’s share of the total of close to 400 bikes per year were sold by only two Dealers, Appleyards and HGB,   A handful of other dealers would sell a few GoldWings as well but the great majority of Honda Dealers would never sell or even see a GoldWing, even in those days.  These days sales of new GoldWings in UK are handled by HGB and a small handful of other Honda dealers.  Other Honda dealers might take a GoldWing from HondaUK for purposes of meeting a bonus target but they will be extremely unlikely to sell it directly to a customer and much more likely to offload it through the trade.

From my viewpoint it seems that HondaUK are not making a serious effort to sell GoldWings at all.  It feels much more like they are content to sell bikes only to bikers who will buy one anyway – those who know what they want and will seek it out for themselves.  I think that if Honda are selling GoldWings in UK for £24,000 each they should at least be willing to ensure that demonstrators are available around UK and that their Contact Centre call tell people who ring up where they are.

What do you think?

HondaUK would like us to share their confidence that all franchised Honda dealers can provide good sales and after sales support for all their motorcycles, including GoldWings, and that theirs is a better and therefore more valuable service than we can get elsewhere.  It is however possible to buy new as well as used GoldWings without going to a franchised Honda dealer in UK,  so I thought it would be interesting to ask Wingers how they feel about the value of franchised Honda dealerships these days.

I haven’t tried doing an opinion survey on the Blog before so it’s also something of an experiment so please spare me a few moments to take part.  The more responses we get the more reliable the survey will be.  There is only this one question to answer and you won’t have to identify yourself any way unless you want to.  The results will be published in due course, once I have had a decent number of responders, hopefully fairly quickly.

Let’s assume for purposes of this survey that you are about to buy your next GoldWing and you have found two equally suitable bikes, one being sold by a Honda Dealer, the other one by a non-Honda dealer.  There are no differences in what they will offer as part exchange and the guarantee is the same, so ignore those factors.  It doesn’t even matterwhether the bikes are new or used, the only difference is the price – the Honda Dealer is asking more because he feels he’s offering a better, quality-assured service.

This Survey is now closed and the result will be announced shortly.

The questions was:  How valuable is it to you to buy a GoldWing from a franchised Honda Dealer, in other words how much extra would you pay for your next GoldWing for the benefits of buying from an official Honda Dealer, compared with any other motorcycle dealer?

Stylish Coffee bar too

The place to take the wife shopping before Christmas has to be Knutsford Motorcycles, where Paul and his staff will be offering bargain prices on shiny bits for a whole week and a day in early December.

Kuryakyn stuff will be 20% off List and everything else 30% – and these are genuine discounts on normal list prices, not some artificial price, so a real bargain.

A Burger Van will be in attendance on both Saturdays and the Coffee Machine will be free all week, so a hearty welcome too.  Knutsford Motorcycles do of course also have the most civilised ladies toilettes in the motorcycling hemisphere so she’ll be well catered for too.

Knutsford Motorcycles are in the GoldWing Accessory business long-term and they carry very big stocks of Show Chrome, Add On, Superbrace and Hopnel as well as Kuryakyn, all well displayed on wall racks and similar so that you can drool in comfort whilst sipping a free beverage.  This is the place to bring her indoors along in order to drop hints about Christmas presents for the bike.  Alternatively of course you could leave her at home and bring the credit card instead.

Accessory fitting services will be available as usual.

Open 9am to 5pm daily except Sunday 4th December when it will be 11am to 4pm.

For further details ring Paul on 01925 752600 or visit www.knustfordmotorcycles.co.uk

Dave Partridge

Dave Partridge, who offers mobile servicing for GoldWings , under the trading name of AwingAway, based on Staffordshire, has just come up with some very tempting prices for servicing – including the opportunity to get your MOT done free of charge providing it’s done at the same time.  You get a free 10-point safety check on the bike even if an MOT is not required.

That strikes me as a staggeringly good offer and reason to get your MOT done while Dave’s at it, even if it’s not yet due, so that you can get yourself synchronised for next year.  Giving your bike an annual service and safety check is no bad thing regardless of the mileage you have done and doing it every year at the same time makes it easier to remember to do it.  Dave might even send you a  reminder next year!

Obviously this doesn’t include the cost of any additional work which might be needed, but it’s a fixed price for the service and the fixed prices are very keen at that – substantially lower than you would pay probably elsewhere.

Dave is a qualified motorcycle technician and a GoldWing owner himself.  He’s also th technical Editor of the Federation of UK GoldWing Clubs and you can pick his brains, free of charge, about any GoldWing technical problem you might have by using the Technical Enquiry Service on the Federation’s Website.

I’ve heard nothing but glowing reports of Dave’s work and can therefore thoroughly recommend him.  He will travel reasonable distances to do servicing work, which could also be attractive to you.  Dave is offering an innovative service to Wingers which is proving very popular.

You can contact Dave on 07795 095043 or by email to dave©awingaway•co•uk

You can also view a leaflet about Dave’s services which details his prices by clicking here.

A new business, a new approach

I was able to interview Eric Warburton this morning – well technically it was yesterday morning, since it’s past midnight as I press the button to publish this article.  Eric was the proprietor of Knutsford Honda and is now proprietor of Knutsford Motorcycles, an independent bike and accessory store, operating from the same premises and with broadly the same staff.

Things had seemed to be going well, so why did Eric decide to pull the plug and start again in a new guise?

It was of course very disappointing from the viewpoint of the UK GoldWing Community to lose the only contender within living memory to set out from the beginning to be a Specialist GoldWing Honda Dealer.

Eric, a long time GoldWing man himself, had run a motorcycle businesses successfully in the past and hosted others.  But he’d never before taken a manufacturer’s franchise, always preferring to be free to do his own business thing.  Becoming a franchised dealer meant adopting Honda’s way of doing things.  Would that mean living under Honda’s thumb?

Eric has owned the premises at High Legh on the A50 for many years and motorcycle dealerships, including a franchised dealership had been run from this site before, not least of course Eric’s own GoldWing-related business, GoldWing International.  Both Eric and his location therefore had a good motorcycling business background.  On the face of it Eric did everything right; it was a good roadside location, he refurbished the place extensively so that it looked every bit the stylish, modern, purpose-built Honda Dealership – everything which customers might hope for.

There were problems along the way of course, as there are in any business not least when Jack, a popular young member of the team was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident.  That hit Eric hard; he might be an experienced and when necessary tough businessman but he showed his hurt when that happened.  There were other difficulties too, but Eric dealt with those.  I’ve had regular contact with him or his staff during the few months and things were looking good, including through what was clearly a lean winter, as for all motorcycle dealers.

My own first impression of Knustford Honda a couple of years or so ago, was extremely favourable.  Not only was there a large bike showroom but upstairs was another large space which over the next year or so Eric and his team developed into the biggest display of GoldWing Accessories anywhere in the Country.  And I remember being particularly impressed when I first went there by the toilets;  modern and clean – they could even be described as posh.  These were toilets appropriate to a GoldWing dealership and not at all what I had been used – mind you Appleyards do occupy a somewhat older building and they do have a decent disabled toilet (or rather a toilet for the disabled) these days!

Anyway, assuming that a Honda Dealership continues to be financially viable in the current economy at all, Eric, with his successful business background, his previous experience in the industry, his own premises and his own financial resources, should have been successful.  Unfortunately that wasn’t the way things turned out and even though the start of the season is normally a time of hope if a dealership has survived the lean winter period, Eric found it necessary to call a halt to the franchised business in order to re-structure the activities at High Legh on his own terms.

Of course the past couple of years have been extremely difficult for all motorcycle dealers and there is quite a list of Honda Motorcycle Dealerships which have closed down (often by going completely bust) during this period.

The economic downturn followed a radical move by HondaUK which required all its dealers to become “solus” Honda dealers or lose their Honda franchise altogether.  “Solus” means that the dealers were all required to sell only Honda motorcycles from their premises.  This led to some dealers to abandon their Honda franchise, including of course Appleyards.  Others faced up to the risk (and presumably also the cost) of either converting their premises to a solus dealership and abandoning other franchises or splitting their business and acquiring separate premises from which to continue to sell Honda motorcycles.

So what went wrong at Knustford Honda?  Why did Eric feel he had to call time on a project about which he had clearly been passionate as well as committed?  Had he let his heart rule his head in the first place?  Was it just down to bad timing and the economic downturn?  Did the odds stack against him to the point which forced him to pull out?  It was going to be very interesting to find out.

The first I saw of the changeover was when I called at Eric’s High Legh premises last weekend, on the way home from Thundersprint.   It was immediately clear that although the Honda bikes, signs and flags had all gone and a new sign “Knutsford Motorcycles” was over the door, the place was very much open for business.  No time had been wasted converting the premises for its new role – that of an independent motorcycle business – which for the time being was concentrating on accessories and had only a couple of motorcycles on display, until stocks are replenished from other sources.

In a remarkably short time the entire contents of the upstairs accessory showroom had been moved downstairs to occupy the former motorcycle showrooms, the walls of which were now completely covered in shiny bits, as were the walls of most of the rest of the ground floor.  Happily the coffee machine and its worktop had been spared but otherwise it was a complete transformation.

There were eye catching bikes on display but these were Eric’s personal bikes; his modern Valkyrie and his superb CB750 – both Hondas of course but their Honda badges were the only ones to be seen anywhere.  When Honda came to collect their bikes a few days earlier they’d apparently pursued something of a scorched earth policy; they’d even scraped the Honda transfers off the glass doors before they left.

The staff were friendly and helpful as usual but Eric wasn’t around and they spoke only of the future – that Knutsford Motorcycles would continue to sell GoldWing Accessories and to offer workshop services, but motorcycle sales would take longer to resume, although motorcycles, especially GoldWings, would be stocked again in due course.

Whatever else was going on, the biggest display of GoldWing accessories in UK was therefore in the process of getting even bigger and better displayed.  The mail order business (taken over from Pricedright some time ago) was also apparently continuing fairly seamlessly.  I was very impressed by the rapid transformation – and very encouraged that all was not lost to Wingers from what we had started to enjoy from this location.  We’d seen GoldWing International close down years ago, the last thing I wanted to see was this new and developing accessory business close down too.

I’d been told by a Honda Rep at Thundesprint that Honda would not comment in any detail about the discontinuance of the Knutsford Honda franchise, he merely said that Eric had chosen for his own reasons to put Knutsford Honda Ltd into voluntary liquidation.   This may well have been the mechanism employed to make the transition to an independent dealership but there’s little doubt that Eric dumped Honda rather than the other way around and Honda were able to collect all their property,  including the transfers on the glass doors.

I caught up with Eric this morning and he very generously gave me his time for an interview for this Blog.  But the very first thing he said made it clear that he wasn’t interested in doing any sort of post-mortem and he wasn’t remotely interested in doing any Honda-bashing either.  He made it clear that he didn’t want me to do any Honda-bashing either, no matter what my theories about the change of situation might be.  Eric wanted to focus on the future.

Not that I had come to any conclusions at all of course, although the situation fairly obviously begged a question about how HondaUK, the manufacturer who by definition calls the shots in a franchise relationship, had allowed this situation to come about.  It did seem to be a terrible waste of a blossoming opportunity and I couldn’t (and can’t) imagine that Honda are pleased about it.

All Eric would say about the past was that he had given Knutsford Honda his best shot.  He’d done everything he could to work the Honda way and meet the Honda targets – but had ultimately found the arrangement untenable as a business model.  He felt he’d consulted with the right people in Honda and suggested changes which would have allowed him to continue but to no avail.  And that’s all he would say on the matter.

If Eric, as an experienced businessman,  couldn’t make it work, I asked myself, then how could anyone else hope to survive as a Honda franchisee without more flexibility or better support or whatever Eric thought was necessary.  It seemed as though Eric had had to pull the plug to at this stage in order to limit what would have been further inevitable losses in a situation which could have been dealt with constructively.

Fortunately I have become fairly well informed about the challenges of making a living as a Honda dealer from other sources, so I was able to some extent to read between the lines, even though Eric wouldn’t spill the actual beans.   After all quite a few Honda motorcycle dealerships have closed recently.

Among the things which Eric didn’t tell me is that Honda dealers have a gross profit margin on motorcycles, give or take, of under 10%.  Out of this they have to cover the whole of their own costs before making a net (i.e. a true) profit.  So things like occupancy and staff costs, indeed everything necessary to operate their showroom and workshop, including the charges which Honda makes for things which it provides, like training, special tools – and even for some computer-type services.  Nothing seems to come free to Honda dealers except that they get some time to pay for the bikes they order for their showroom, during which if they are lucky they will sell them before having to pay up.

It’s not quite as simple an 8-12% margin because dealers can earn a retrospective bonuses on their sales, providing they hit Honda’s targets.  This bonus is worth up to another 5 per cent on overall sales, although there are a series of strings attached.  In effect Honda does an awful lot of back seat driving and the dealers  have to dance very much to Honda’s tune – to the extent that some of them feel they have very little freedom to run their own business and they spend far too much time reporting statistics back to Honda instead of selling bikes.

Now I’ve worked in retail myself and in every context I’ve come across apart from this one a gross retail margin of 12% would be hopelessly inadequate.  In a historically typical retail scenario the retailer takes 30% of the gross, the wholesaler another 20% and the manufacturer of the product takes 50%, which allows all of them to make a living and the retail customer to be given a service.  These are simplistic figures and margins vary considerably between retail sectors but in one firm of which I had detailed experience of, the gross retail margin varied from a minimum of 27% to as much as 90% on some lines.  Despite these margins and an excellent management system, this Company made a net profit of well under 10%.

Bearing in mind that retailers usually have to finance their stock, pay business rates, usually to pay rent or a mortgage, staff wages, employer’s NI contributions and maybe pension contributions too, plus materials, advertising, etc etc etc.  Retail businesses need a substantial gross profit margin to make a net profit at all.

Motorcycle dealers don’t have to finance their stock unassisted, as most retailers do, but they do need to sell an awful lots of motorcycles if they are to make a net profit.   Even if they get the full retrospective bonus from Honda, their total gross profit is only ever going to be 13%-17%.  A similar payment structure apparently exists in the car trade, so no wonder it’s widely agreed these days that no one can make money out of selling new cars; the money is made on selling used cars and out of servicing and repairing them.  The same presumably applies to motorcycle sales.

I’d better emphasise  before I continue that none of this information came from Eric; I’m just applying knowledge I’ve picked up elsewhere to what I know of his situation in order to circumvent his reticence.  Having made that clear, let’s speculate, for comparison purposes, about what Honda’s margins might be.

The factory cost of making a GoldWing (i.e. the component and factory costs per bike, ignoring non-factory overheads) will be a closely guarded commercial secret but from what I know of other industries it is unlikely to be more than £5,000, maybe significantly less than that.  So based on the retail price (now £23,000) Honda’s gross profit margin is therefore likely to be something over 70%.

But before you draw any conclusions from that remember that Honda has to design and develop the bike (costing many millions) and also has substantial capital and logistic costs as well as the cost of its advertising and sales, technical and administrative staff around the world.  Big companies like Honda do well if they make a net profit of 8%.  Big gross margins are therefore necessary.

And Honda has of course taken its own hits as a result of the economic downturn – witness the shut down of its factory at Swindon last year, even before the tsunami in Japan turned their world upside down.   And look at the parlous state in which the major US car manufacturers have been for several years.  No one can sensibly think that making money out of car or motorcycles is easy.  HondaUK has downsized itself considerably during the last two years.  There will be method and perhaps even equity in what might at first seem to be Honda’s meaness towards its motorcycle dealers.

Nevertheless Honda has been losing franchised motorcycle dealers at an alarming rate in recent times and relatively few new ones have appeared.  Unless there’s a cunning plan to operate the retail stores and services themselves in future, Honda will need to ensure that they keep enough of their franchised dealers in business to keep their market open.  GoldWing owners might be willing to travel long distances to take their bike to a suitable dealer for a service but it’s difficult to see that sports bike riders would tolerate it.

Losing Knutsford Honda was a particularly disappointing development from the viewpoint of a GoldWing owner and possibly from Honda’s viewpoint too.  It was on the face of it an attractive dealership for Honda – good location, nice modern showroom, experienced and well resourced proprietor.  What do they want that Eric wasn’t trying to deliver?  His franchise was shaping up to be a genuinely specialised GoldWing dealer, one of only three in UK and only two in the Honda stable.  Surely Honda can recognise the value of that to their business?

Honda’s firm view seems to be however that specialised GoldWing dealers are unnecessary because all their dealers are perfectly capable of supporting GoldWings.  But we Wingers know different don’t we?  We know that its difficult even for specialised GoldWing dealers to maintain a good reputation for quality of service from their workshop, even when they are well practised with GoldWings.  How can a Technician who’s hardly ever seen a GoldWing diagnose faults reliably and in reasonable time?  It calls for experience with GoldWings, such as only a specialised dealer will accumulate.

Rolls Royce is owned by BMW but they don’t sell or service their cars through BMW dealers.   Same with Bently and VW.  The Nissan GTR (a supercar) is only available through selected Nissan dealerships and as I recall Honda did the same thing when its own supercar, the NSX was in production.

GoldWings are difficult for most Honda dealers to sell and they have to have their arms twisted to take them into their showrooms at all.  This is why you will only ever see one GoldWing in a Honda showroom and never a GoldWing available as a demonstrator except in a specialist Honda dealer like HGB, which is now the only one in UK.  Appleyards carry a stock of GoldWings and run a demonstrator despite not being a franchised dealer but that’s another story.

We Wingers know from experience that GoldWings need specialised sales and support don’t we?  So apparently do Honda’s Motorcycle Dealers.  Why then can’t Honda see that?

This is one of the questions I’ll be asking Steve Martindale, General Manager (Motorcycles) of HondaUK  when I interview him.  Unfortunately the date has had to be put back to the end of June but I’m confident that this interview will happen.  Please don’t forget to send me your questions for Steve using the contact form; we’re not likely to get this sort of opportunity very often.

So, getting back to the subject of Knutsford Motorcycles, as it now is.  Eric’s new aim is to become the major supplier of accessories, i.e. shiny bits and the like, to all the bikers who buy them in UK – so the riders of what are called Metric Cruisers as well as GoldWings and maybe (OMG!) Harley riders too.

This is a welcome plan from my viewpoint because the bigger Eric’s accessory business gets, the better the prices he’ll be able to offer Wingers.

And won’t it be interesting, and maybe even fun, meeting up with other riders who like to strut their motorcycle’s stuff with shiny bits when you call at the High Legh Showroom in future, as Eric’s new business gradually spreads its wings to cater for them too?

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see GoldWings for sale in his showroom fairly soon again either.  And won’t it be a pleasure to be able to drool over them among all those lovely shiny bits without having to weave your way through a room crammed full of toy-sized Hondas?  I somehow suspect that Eric is clever enough to see that there might be more than one way to become a specialised GoldWing dealer.

And by the way Eric’s new business will be sponsoring the Federation of UK GoldWing Clubs, as Knutsford Honda used to do, which is another encouraging sign of his continuing commitment to the UK GoldWing community.

John Wakefield (left) a very helpful man

I was wandering past the Arai stand at Northwich Thundersprint last weekend and noticed that there were two men working busily on bikers’ helmets, indeed there was a bit of a queue of bikers forming.

They seemed to be fitting stick-on inner “double glazing” lenses as visor attachments which prevent fogging and they were obviously making a very thorough job of cleaning and servicing the helmet visors while they were at it.  I’ve since discovered that this product is called Fine Vision and is available for self installation on almost all helmets, ie any manufacturer.

I wear an open face Arai which is very comfortable but the right hand side visor hinge has been popping off from time to time (since I dropped the helmet on to it if the truth be told) and I couldn’t work out why.  Bring it along and we’ll look at it for you, the man said.

This was late morning and the sunshine had arrived, and with it the crowds were building up too, so it was a bit of a bun fight to work my way to the bike and back with the helmet, but I made it and joined the queue.

Watching the Arai Man handle a helmet was a treat to the eye. His practised dexterity was impressive and he had the visor off in a flash. At first nothing seemed to be broken on my helmet so he polished the helmet and the visor, bringing them back to good-as-new appearance before re-fitting the visor, again with quite amazing speed and dexterity.

Unfortunately the visor still wouldn’t stay properly attached on the right hand side when he tested it robustly, just as I had been experiencing. On closer inspection he found that the hinge fitting on the helmet had a tiny plastic lug which had lost its tip; this was the culprit.

Without saying a word he disappeared into his van and emerged with a replacement hinge and in no time it was fitted, the visor was on and working perfectly. My visor had been looking in serious need of replacement but the helmet he handed back to me, with the same visor re-fitted, looked as good as new.

They were selling the Fine Vision lenses they were fitting and I expected to pay for this helmet repair so I asked how much I owed him.  No charge, he said, I was lucky that he had a spare hinge in his van and he was delighted to have been able to help.  He had no idea that I write this Blog and it will be a surprise to him, hopefully a pleasant one, to see this positive comment.

Plastic lug broken

He turned out to be John Wakefield, who is Managing Director of Phoenix Distribution, UK distributors for Arai and other helmets and biking products.  It’s always nice to meet a businessman, in this case quite a big business, who gets his hands on the product and meets customers himself in the way that John clearly does.

Any Arai stockist would have been able to help me John  said because they are all trained to fit and service Arai helmets properly, and maybe they would have been.  It was nevertheless a pleasure to watch John in action, handling a helmet in a way I’ve never seen it done before.

And unlike some other distributors, who don’t really want to have contact with retail customers, John made it clear that bikers who wear any of the helmets they distribute are always welcome to call at their premises at Newcastle-under-Lyme with any technical or other problems they might have.

For more information visit Phoenix Distribution’s website or ring them on 01782 569800

Knutsford Honda - a magnet for Wingers in the North West

In a surprising development, Knutsford Honda have announced that they are in process of reliquishing their Honda franchise and will in future be operating under the name of Knutsford Motorcycles.

Thankfully however they will be continuing to specialise in GoldWings and GoldWing Accessories, so this valuable and relatively recent addition to UK’s limited selection of GoldWing specialist dealers is not being lost.

Quite what has led to this decision is not clear but it may stem from the way in which HondaUK operates. There have been indications of concern about the quality of support which HondaUK offers to its Motorcycle Dealers and this may have something to do with this decision. Time will tell.

Biggest UK stocks of GoldWing accessories

Certainly it should be a concern to HondaUK that they have lost the Dealer who last year sold more new GoldWings than any other.

Modern, attractive Showroom

Knutsford Honda have a very smart, modern and well located showroom with excellent workshop facilities and from a rider’s viewpoint they will be a sad loss to Honda’s very limited list of UK dealers.  There is of course a precedent for a GoldWing specialist Honda Dealer continuing without a Honda Franchise because Appleyards have been doing it successfully for some time.  But UK GoldWing owners will perhaps be wanting to see clearer evidence that the manufacturer is genuinely interested in supporting the GoldWing model in UK than has been apparent in recent years too.

I hope to learn more of Eric’s plans for Knutsford Motorcycles (including why he’s not planning to resurrect the name of GoldWing International) as soon as practicable.  Maybe I’ll be able to find out a little more about HondaUK’s plans for GoldWing dealerships, now that they’ve lost a second one to their fold, and so soon after it opened.

Motorhomes with tow bars for hire

I came across a new hire company, Motorhomes UK, which has shown special interest in catering for GoldWing riders.

There’s a growing interest among Wingers in motorhomes as a way of enjoying their motorcycling; they can provide a comfortable base at a rally or for a touring holiday – you make your journey to the rally or your holiday touring area and then enjoy your bike as well as your motorhome comforts when you get there.

Motorhomes have become a popular alternative for Wingers to hotel-based touring as well as sleeping in a tent.  But motorhomes are expensive to buy – indeed it’s often been suggested that buying a motorhome which you use for only annual holidays and a weekends each your is more expensive per night than staying in five star hotels.

The initial cost of a new or newish one is high (most of them cost well over £30,000 when they are new) and as with any vehicle they depreciate – and that’s the big part of the cost.  Other running costs, like insurance, is relatively cheap but depreciation, even though motorhomes don’t depreciate as steeply as other vehicles, is the killer cost.

Better than a tent?

Buying a motorhome is therefore a big and bold investment, even if you have got a retirement lump sum  or a redundancy payout burning a hole in your pocket.  Like buying your first house, you are almost certainly going to discover that you didn’t think or this or that because of your inexperience.  Choosing the correct size and layout for your needs is something you are pretty unlikely to get right first time so that another good reason for hiring once or twice to start with.

And this is where motorhome rental comes in useful.  The cost of depreciation still has to be built into rental charges of course but the rental firm can set these off against profits as a business expense.  And and their motorhomes are in use more or less continuously, so individual hirers of motorhomes are effectively sharing the depreciation cost of the motorhome with lots of other hirers.  And the taxman is chipping in too; isn’t that nice to see.

And I came upon a newly launched motorhome rental business recently, Motorhomes UK, which is particularly suitable for Wingers.  Firstly it’s located in the North West, which means it’s handily placed for some wonderful biking areas, and many of the motorhomes have towbars fitted.  There’s also a first class trailer hire business in the local area, so with a bit of planning ahead you could hire yourself the complete outfit to try out.

The cost of doing this isn’t at all bad either.  Rental rates are surprisingly affordable – for example a four berth proper motorhome (not a little caravanette) costs under £100 per day low season and under £600 per week – which for four people isn’t bad at all.  A six berth motorhome doesn’t cost all that much more so per person it’s even cheaper.

Four people in a four berth motorhome is a bit cosy, so you would find yourselves squeezing past each other sometimes and the shower and toilet space might be a bit cramped too – but there will be proper beds for four and also somewhere for you to all sit comfortably to eat, drink or relax.  The coachbuilt motorhomes which this firm hire out are all new and the designers of these things have got very clever indeed at making best use of the available space.  The motorhomes are fitted with TVs and also come with a pretty comprehensive set of kit, including all the bedding and towels and things like a power hook up cable – even a BBQ.   You certainly don’t need to start taking your own camping stuff; it’s all there for you.

Payload is a very important issue in motorhomes, so if you are planning to load up the food, drink and kit for four adult bikers in a four berth motorhome you should should at least give the weight of what the motorhome will be carrying some thought.

Two couples with their kit and two GoldWings on a trailer might be possible but probably better with with a six berth vehicle, because of the weight aspects.  The extra space would be handy too and the extra cost is modest.

Three couples and three GoldWings on a trailer would almost certainly be outside the payload and towing limits of these hire vehicles; they’re not juggernaughts.  Mind you, if  you could persuade the three wives to drive the motorhome while the three blokes ride the bikes the weight problem disappears and you save the cost of hiring a trailer too.

Some of the rental motorhomes have roll-out awnings which are handy (you can request one) and you could always take a gazebo with you for the gentlemen to sit out under while the ladies converse inside and prepare the feats, passing cool beers out through the door on request.  It’s only a question of training them properly!

There are other motorhome hire companies in UK, of course.  But these guys are Winger friendly to the extent of having formed links with Barlow Trailers, who have a huge hire fleet, and Hunts Motorcycles of Manchester, who hire out GoldWings.  They are therefore in a position to help Wingers who are visitors to UK  to hire the complete set as well as UK residents.  If you mention that you heard about them via this Blog and are a Winger they will even give you a 10% discount on their usual motorhome hire rates.

Motorhomes UK is a family firm based in Bamber Bridge run by Andy and his sister in law Louise and they’ll be delighted to answer any further questions you might have.

Telephone +44 (0) 1772 626908

Eric & Bridget at Knutsford Honda

During 2010 Knutsford Honda, despite having opened its doors as a new Honda Dealership little more than two years ago, has already become HondaUK’s top seller of GoldWings – outselling all other UK Honda Dealers this year.

Knutsford Honda has also already become the biggest stockist of GoldWing Accessories in UK, holding in their large, open-plan upstairs showroom the biggest stocks and by far the largest displays of chrome and other accessories for GoldWings anywhere in UK.  There are accessories for Classic as well as more recent model GoldWings and their sales and servicing also covers all GoldWing models.

The owners of the business, Eric Warburton and his wife Bridget, can be justly proud of what has been achieved in this short time and when I spoke to Eric recently it was clear that he has no intention of resting on his laurels.  Eric plans to continue building the GoldWing side of his business even further.

To that end Eric has now taken personal charge of its management and he intends to recruit more and more specialised GoldWing-oriented staff in coming months to achieve his aim.  Eric also sees very clearly the value of building and maintaining good relations with the UK GoldWing community rather than expecting Wingers and would-be Wingers to come knocking at his door.  Knutsford Honda have been sponsoring the Federation of UK GoldWing Clubs for some time and this continues.

Eric also intends to build relationships with local and regional GoldWing clubs and to invite them to participate with Knutsford Honda in major Events, as GoldWings North West and GoldWings North Wales did at the Northwich Thundersprint this year.  (Incidentally it will take place on May 7th/8th in 2011.)  Knustford Honda also intend to be prominent (with Goldwing support) at the 2011 Pageant of Power at Cholmondley.

There'll always be a welcoming coffee for winter visitors

This is all extremely good news for UK Wingers.  Not only is the North West getting its own specialist GoldWing Dealer for the first time since Bill Smith of Chester dropped out a few years ago but it will be on a bigger and better scale than ever before.  Eric is clearly aiming to develop Knutsford Honda into the leading GoldWing specialist business in the whole of the UK and jolly good luck to him.

Prices are very keen too – on both bikes and accessories.  Knutsford Honda did a special offer on pre-registered (but zero miles) 2006 Model Year GL1800s at more than £6,000 below the current list price.  Eric has revived the Chrome Crazy Weekends which GoldWings International used to hold and intends to run them regularly from now on, offering genuine discounts of 25% or more on their usual prices.  The next Chrome Crazy Weekend will probably be in March next year.

Charise is sometimes the voice on the end of the phone

Meantime there will always be plenty to see in the Knutsford Honda showroom throughout this winter and they’ll be maintaining a large stock of new and used bikes to tempt you with.

The Accessory Showroom will continue to be well stocked throughout the winter too and it would be a good place to take the missus between now and Christmas to drop hints about what you’d like in your stocking.  There are bargains to be had all the time at Knutsford Honda – including at least one accessory which you are invited to make a cheeky offer for!

Servicing and repair work continues throughout the winter too and Paul, the Honda-trained Chief Techician in charge of the Workshop with Danny, another qualified Technician in support.  There’s also Adam, who is doing a formal Honda Technician Apprenticeship.

There’s a new Service Manager, another Paul, who has a strong background in the motorcycle business – in other words he’s long in tooth as well as kindly and welcoming, and Chris has joined the Sales Team as Mike’s partner.  Robert is the one who does some of the really useful work, like cleaning your bike when it’s in for a service!  Finally, and apart from Bridget the only remotely pretty member of the Team, Charise is usually hidden away upstairs in the back office but she might answer the phone when you call and you might get to meet her if you are settling your bills.

Knutsford Honda suffered a great setback when Robert’s predecessor Jack was killed in a biking accident last year and there have inevitably been other hiccups too, as any developing business will encounter.  But Knutsford Honda is forging ahead these days and is a happy and welcoming place to visit.