All The Gear All The Time

Also known as ATGATT. Basically, every time you get on your motorcycle you need to put on all your gear, no mater what distance your riding or the condition. You'll see this mantra floating around various motorcycle forums across the web. Users will be spouting this like bible thumpers, so I wanted to weigh in on the subject.

All the gear, all the time, that's what the safety conscious say. Well let's face it, skin grafts are expensive. Personally I think you should live and ride by this, no questions asked. This shit is LAW, like gravity, or the speed limit. Disrespect the law and there is going to be trouble. Wear all your gear all the time. End of story.

Get real. Rules are meant to be broken, we ride motorcycles for christsake. No matter who you are or what you ride the root of what we do there is an underlying sense of freedom and rebellion. Plus it feels amazing to zip down the road with your only protection being your favorite pair of sunglasses with the wind whipping through your hair.

Don't get me wrong, I cut my teeth riding in the mountains of North Carolina and Georgia, both states have helmet laws. Plus the thought of dragging my face across the pavement, let alone my exposed brain, isn't one I'm comfortable with. The first time I legally rode without a helmet or rode without a helmet for an extended period of time was in Indianapolis Indiana. My two best friends and co-workers at the time rode up from Hayesville, NC to see Moto GP in 2009. Those Rizla Suzukis sounded amazing. I was lucky enough to be on the back of a BMW K1200LT for the weekend. We weren't lucky enough to dodge the hardest rain I've ever ridden through, Charles' gloves even stained his hands.

Shortly after we arrived and dumped all our gear at the hotel, helmets included we jumped back on the bikes to ride over to Indianapolis Motor Speedway to catch the last bit of the practice runs. I was excited and comfortable at surface street speed. That ended shortly after we merged onto the raised interstate, within seconds I was up to 70 miles an hour. As Lucas stadium passed to my right I recognized a feeling I hadn't had in a long time. It was the feeling of being completely terrified at speed on the back of a bike. You know, the feeling you had the first time you rode a motorcycle at highway speed. You are completely exposed in a foreign environment, in control of an instrument of death, capable of propelling your fragile body to large triple digits within moments. All the while you have this cold feeling running up your spine, head on a swivel to see if you'll be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of what may deliver your horrendous death in the seconds to come or if you'll manage this situation unscathed. Compete terror.

After a weekend of helmet-less sprints from red light to red light with my buddies and high speed jaunts on the interstate I was hooked.

Like many things I enjoy and participate in, I don't entirely condone it. A odd proposition you say? I agree. Our hobby is dangerous and if everyone is out to kill us why then would we ever do less than everything we can to avoid death or worse, maimed survival? Because it's in us to live dangerously. We want to push that limit, we want to enjoy life to the fullest. So while I want everyone to dress for the crash and not for the ride I understand, some of the greatest things in life aren't exactly safe. So do all you can to protect yourself the majority of the time. It will make the times you decide to be a bit more reckless all the sweeter.

That's just my two sprockets
 - Josh

Now, where were we?

So it's been a minute. Ok, it has been the better part of three years. So many things have changed, the housing bubble tanked the economy, I limped along my powersports career, moved to Charleston to reignite my career, only to find I was sold a bag of goods by said dealership which has led me back to the mountains. Currently I'm residing in Blue Ridge Georgia. All in all the last three years have made for one of the hardest journeys in my life. I wouldn't change a thing. You have to gain everything, lose it and gain it again to appreciate what you have.

I'll be expressing my opinions on the industry, offering insight on dealers, bikes and roads in my area. We'll see where this goes. Hopefully I can put some dedication into this and make it something useful.

Safe travels,
Reno

New month - New rebates - New news

From this side of the table it looks like our manufactures are stepping up to the plate offering strong buying incentives in the way of rebates as well as fantastic financing rates. It has been a WHILE since we've seen such a strong combination of both mechanisms. If you see anything you have questions about feel free to give me a call at 800-549-6009 or check us out at www.smithpowersports.net


Suzuki:
We have big rebates on GSX-R 600s at 1000 off all 09's and prior. More rebates for C 50s to the tune of 1200 on all years and models. Financing as low as 1.99% for 72 up to months. We haven't seen fixed rate financing this low in well over a year. If you've been holding out because of the credit crunch then now is time to let go of that and buy.

Spyder:
Dealers (including us) are taking deposits on 2010 Spyder RTs. If you put down the 1000 pre-order deposit before Dec 5th you'll get 200 dollars worth of free Spyder accessories and clothing for each roadster pre-order with a limited warranty through May 1, 2012.

RT-S premier edition units are available for pre-order as well. Again, with your 1000 dollar pre-order deposit you will qualify for FREE iPod Nano 8 GB preloaded with Spyder videos, an embroidered seat one free limited edition Can-Am leather jacket with premiere edition logo. You'll also get a limited warranty that's good through April 1, 2012. Act quick though, this is only available for the first 1500 units pre-ordered!

SEA DOO:
Shhh, this will be our little secret...

Non advertised rebate of 500 on all non current SEA DOO watercraft and sport boats, you just can't combine it with any financing offers.

KTM

It's tough to see fantastic rebates or financing numbers from niche companies like KTM but big orange is stepping up and offering rates as low as 7.49% for up to 36 months on their new units. This is a little better than Suzuki's standard rates but again it's very strong from a company like KTM.

What's more impressive is that they are offering 7.89 on their used units. It's super tough to find rates like this on used units across the board, I'm impressed KTM has helped us with their strong used financing promo.

On a dealership note:

Our dealership, Smith Powersports is offering a Cash for gear program. Basically we are giving you a credit on your old gear to help you get ready for the fall riding season and we are turning around and donating to Reach and auctioning to raise money for Toys for Tots. We are excited this program will be contributing both the causes Reach and Toys for tots as well as our local community. So come on down, we'll help you turn your old gear into new gear and you'll be helping the community too. Our allowances for your gear can be found below.

Full face Helmet - 30
Open or MX Helmet - 20
Riding Boots - 25
Riding Jackets - 25
Riding Pants - 20
Chest Protector - 15
Jersey - 10
Goggles - 10
Saddlebags - 25
Tank Bags - 15

Hoodies/Sweatshirts - 8
T-Shirts- 5
Ballcaps/Hats - 5

Wakeboards - 50
Kneeboards - 25
Water-skis - 25
Pull-Behind Towables (tubes etc) - 15
Life Vests (PFD) - 15
Ski Ropes - 10
Fire extinguisher - 5

Knowledge is money

In a time where the industry is suffering we are encouraged to re-examine the way business is conducted in order find a little more profit on top of our bottom line. No longer is it how can we squeeze every last dollar out of our customer but it's become how can we squeeze every last amount of profit out of our expenses. The dealers that are surviving and "thriving" are the ones that have scrutinized where ever penny has gone and which of those cents hold the largest returns. "We aren't going to sell our way out of this one" as said by a KTM executive and he's right.

It's September 2009, do you know where your bottom line is? Lets face it, Summer has run out of steam and we are facing a long slow winter. I hope you have a real understanding of where your bottom dollar is. Without knowing exactly where you stand, where your profits are and where you've got some work to do you're just running in the dark hoping that your business plan will pull you through one of the toughest times your dealership may ever weather, or succumb to. If you don't know what it costs to open your doors every day, down to the savings you'll have if one of your hourly employees is cut back a day of the week then you're off to a bad start. Sit down with your accountant, spouse or calculator and educate yourself. It won't be fun but it needs to be done now.

You do know what is going to carry you through the winter don't you? Optimize your efforts in this area, expound your cost effective marketing strategies. If it comes down to it, make goofy youtube videos of employees cleaning bikes and talking about features and benefits with strong undertones of how to contact your dealership. This is FREE Over 2 million views - Entertainment is king.

So many dealers are struggling to make a buck in order to cover floor plan all while concentrating on liquidating in volume. Listen if you want to operate on shoestring margins and continue to saturate the market then go-ahead. I understand we've got to move old inventory that's collecting dust and interest but as you take hits while you're operating on such thin margins that bottom line will catch up to you and when it does times are going to be really tough. Short term is a must but you've got to have your sights set on long term as well. What are you going to do now in order to provide yourself with a cushion in February?

Get your black and white straight, numbers are powerful be sure they are working for you, not against you. Don't forget this industry rewards creativity and honesty. Take a deep breath, put your "out side of the box" cap on and get to work. We've all got a long row to hoe.