Thursday, April 29, 2010


I have a dealer that called me asking why he was loosing money. He has a great location, tourists, and a good mechanic that I exchange emails with every week. I told him because you run the shop trying to save money in the short run.

My advice for scooter rental shops is stock, stock, stock.

His shop ( let's call him John Smith) Makes a ton of money, but he could make so much more if he stocked more parts.

I got into 3 seconds into explaining it to the store and he didn't get it. He just wanted a MAGIC BULLET to solve his problme. Mr. Smith said he didn't like having to look at tires and "his money on the wall." He couldn't grasp something called "the opportunity cost" when he has units that are down because he refuses to stock belts or tires that means his rental fleet is down.

Now let me see if this makes sense:

THE COST OF NOT HAVING PARTS:

So when he has 20 scooters rented and 5 are waiting for repairs should anyone come in to rent those 5 that means his business lost that amount. So 5 X $100 per day = $500 because he won't stock a $20 tire or a carb. Waiting a day or two for belts and tires doesn't make sense.

Same goes for the fact that a good friend of mine gets all the local service because if a consumer has a flat tire he wants it fixed that same day. If your only form of transportation is a scooter on South Beach you don't want to wait two days for a tire. See Store: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJMkjpr1ejo


I got into it with the shop and I actually convinced the mechanic. He got. So instead of buying one tire for the down bike they purchased two. It made sense for him and it made sense for us as a supplier. Did I really care about one tire? Not really I spend that on lunch, but what I care about is to see someone who has a good idea and a nice store who might go out of business for not running his business the right way.

My second point was that it applies to how you source. The fact that his rental fleet is made up of 5 brands. It makes no sense whatsoever. He buys solely on price. What's cheap today will cost you tomorrow. I told him call my good friends at TGB they have great scooters for rental fleets, instead he buys from whoever is selling the cheapest scooters that week. That makes stocking even harder because the parts are non-compatible.

Buying from one or two sources &
Having PULL with a supplier


When you buy from multiple suppliers solely based on price you cannot have a scalable business. You won't have any pull if you buy from 10 suppliers the same applies to the shop when asking for warranty, parts, or better pricing.

You buy batteries from one guy because they are $2 cheaper, the next supplier because his helmets cost $10 less, and then the next because he offered a brake pad at $1. That's thinking you're saving money today only to loose it in the long run. Parts Unlimited and even companies like MRP give discounts based on volume and if can't get that volume no supplier will ever give you better pricing. The problem with the "Chinese Shop" mentality is they want the lowest price without having volume actually sometimes just buying once a year. If you buy once a year as a store you're not a dealer for them. That's why respectable companies have yearly buy ins to separate the store that should be representing them from the guy working from gis garage at home. You can't have one without the other. You have to give more business to your bigger suppliers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LfqkEa9zts&feature=related



There is also a big issue stores forget all the time

QUALITY

If you want to have a rental fleet that doesn't go down all the time. Rent better scooters like a TGB or Kymco, Even better my good friend is the new importer for CPI.
If you run a shop like John don't buy some cheap Chinese scooter because they are cheap, but something you can rent next month and the month after that. Buy Taiwanese or a brand that will support you!

CALL CPI


So pick one or two good brands. Stick to them. Stock parts. Pick one or two good suppliers, stick to them, give them volume and you will get better pricing. I see too many mistakes everyday and when the store closes they end up asking where did it go wrong? The videos speak for themselves if you visit a shop thats been open 10 years and you see the secret its right in front of you. Enjoy the videos.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

New Vespa Sunglasses


Here's a preview.... contact your local Vespa Dealer for these exclusive Vespa Sunglasses ( hint they are made by Bertoni ) available only from your local Vespa dealer. If they can't get them shoot us an email. The first batch of Bertoni sunglasses sold out, our second batch should be arriving shortly.

Available only from your local Piaggio / Vespa shop in North America

email us here at MRP for more info if you're a Vespa dealer.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Zoomer Ruckus Dyno Chart from TK

TK DYNO CHART

I think the coolest thing so far is that on the stock OEM Honda Ruckus 50cc engine the TK Exhaust gives it the best chart we've seen so far.

See below

You can tell on the high end point of the spectrum you get a superior curve and it keeps going. The secret is all in the compression that TK is known for in their 4 stroke exhausts. This is why the brand is the team sponsor of the Aprilia, KTM, and Kawasaki Race teams in Spain for 2010.

The same tech is being applied to the Honda Ruckus 50cc and GY6 swaps.
You can see the TK lineup up by visiting www.TurboKit.net in the USA you can buy it at www.mrp-speed.com






You can also see the latest Sponsorship of the SPAIN FINALS with several racers sponsored by TK by visiting their site. Guess who won the race?
Check out these cool pics from the races last weekend:




Tuesday, April 20, 2010

New Zoomer Ruckus Exhausts from TK Exhausts



The TK Moto GP and TK Flat Black Zoomer Race Exhausts are here. We should be posting Dyno charts tomorrow. Shipping May 1st to Select Dealerships across the USA.

Again, not the type of item you can just drop ship from some website, the reason being is they sell out quit. This you have to hear, feel, and see. It's going to be one of our fastest moving exhausts to date if backorders are any indication.

Flat Black or Moto GP styled TK exhausts for the Ruckus available from MRP

Dealers can now place backorders.




Also, remember our original GY6 exhaust well its been upgraded.
Since 2006 We've been selling the "Original" GY6 Racing Exhausts from TK Exhaust Spain. Since then we've had some upgrades. In 2009 they changed the line from a chrome to a Flat Black Moto GP styled exhaust.

This model is the best selling model we have for the Zoomer GY6 Ruckus conversion kits. Check it out on our page: http://www.martinracingdealer.com/SPD/tkc-m4t34-n--80000FED-1241653971.jsp


For more info visit www.TurboKit.net or www.mrp-speed.com

Armadillo Scores Big in the Dealer International Press


Armadillo just keeps getting more and more press. If you're interested in Armadillo email us at info @ mrp - speed.com and we will send you to a stocking dealer.

New jackets keep arriving.

The May edition of International Dealer News is now available online at...

http://www.dealer-world.com/issues/idn81

Check out this awesome article on Armadillo at the above link.
For more information visit us at MRP





Friday, April 2, 2010

Honda Ruckus Zoomer Oil Catch Tank GY6 Swap



Works great for any Zoomer conversion GY6 Swap Kit. We've been selling a bunch of these and this is by far this best application we've seen for it. Thanks to Ying for the pictures the premier Miami custom guy for using our parts.



This is the ultimate Honda Zoomer Oil Catch tank available from MRP.

N-MP-07160 http://www.martinracingdealer.com/SPD/n-mp-07160--80000CD9-1200671414.jsp