What makes a good moto shop to you?

KTM of North Texas/ Straight Line Motorsports. Top notch and know their stuff. Great selection of aftermarket parts, and they will likely have it in stock. Keep nice gear in stock too. Current two bikes are from them, which I also got a hell of a deal on, and get great pricing on everything else. I'm realistic. I don't expect a discount, and I support brick and mortar shops. Never questioned pricing and look at receipt and a nice discount was added. I'd rather my money go to them than online.

Bates in Carrollton- If you live in DFW, give these guys a shot. Keep a pretty good inventory and everyone who works there rides. When I'm working up in that area I try to stop by. Has a nice selection of fuel as well.

Adventure Moto- Supply house I use is two doors down and was on a light day so figured I'd stop by and check 'em out. Had a god selection of bikes, had plenty of nice gear and parts. Ended up hanging out for awhile and bullshittin' and got hooked up on pricing just on that principle. I'll be back.


Something to take away from this:
I can go into any of these places and talk motocross. I can talk about bikes. Bench racing. That in itself it worth something to me. Who gives a shit if its three dollars more.

You need to make the shop more than shop. These days it needs to be a destination.

Cool, fun people to talk to. Coffee or donuts. Cool bikes, old riding gear from pros or trick parts to look at.

Make it something where the rider would like to just come in and say hi even if they don’t need to buy something.

The business of a “shop” is much different these days. You need to make it a staple in your moto community. Maybe it’s the meeting place for riders or you set up Saturday riders and they all meet there then drive to the local track or trails. Use it to build a community.

Hope this helps!

Only sells bikes no atvs sleds etc.

Everybody should just shop at Motosport Hillsboro. Rad shop, smart dudes with a good vibe!

But for real. Local shops have a hard time competing with the online guys for parts stock mostly due to the fact of floor space and stocking room.. What I can say is just think ahead a little bit of what you need, or may need. Spend some money on a small spares box for those small incidents from your local shop, and if you need something major that they cant do in your timeframe then find a different avenue.

Spoiled here... I live 42 miles from Chaparral. Just this past Friday I needed an odd part for Saturday. Looked on their website and saw they had one available in store. (04 CR125 12T countershaft sprocket). Hopped in my truck and took the scenic drive up. (Beach area to snow capped mountains). Walk in browse a few things, dude looks the part up, they have two brands available (whaaat). Make my choice, add a few things, impulse buy cause it was there, and check out. Low and behold upon checkout I get a loyalty discount because I have ordered online from them before (when I lived back in Louisiana) and boom walk out not paying any sales tax. On my way I passed several other well known shops on the way but the ease of finding availability led me straight to them. Spoiled is an understatement.

Another good shop I'll buy from and found good deals is temecula motorsports. I like the layout and ambience. Makes you want to buy stuff there. Also they almost always have parts available.

I might get flamed for this but Rotella. It’s a great god damn oil but I’ve never seen a Moto shop carry it.

If I saw a shop have it on the shelf I’d instantly have confidence that they know their shit.

Shops need to be run more like the niche dealers (Beta, Sherco, Gas Gas, etc).

Normally mom & pop, could nearly build your bike from their parts room, and will ship to your door if they don't have it.
Pricing is fairly set, you may get a slight discount, but overall doesn't matter who you buy from price will be similar.
Easier for these niche brands that offer models that share majority of parts across the platforms, versus multi-brand dealers that sell ATV, street bikes, dirt bikes, etc. Dealers also have access online to other dealers inventory if they don't have it so they can order from them.

I got in the habit of calling and ordering from my "local" Beta dealer when i was living in Michigan. 1.5hrs away, he'd get it in the mail same day and i'd see it within 1-2 days.

Biggest downside to the niche brands is they aren't normally as close as your Yamaha, Honda, KTM dealer.

Up in Michigan we had a dealer (Village) that would do their year end close out for riding gear. Majority of stuff was 50%+ off, and for the few items not on large sale, they'd price match to get the sale and open up space for winter motorsport gear. Haven't seen any other dealers by me try and clear out inventory that aggressively.