Honest Honda Parts Dealers?

[vinceciotti]

Anyone know of any honest US Honda dealers who show you on their web sites what parts they actually have in stock? For CBXes, Tims & CBXman are great, but I've got a bunch of old Honda 4s and I'm getting burned repeatedly searching for parts.

Most many Honda dealers' web sites list the full Honda parts catalogue, sucker you into giving your credit card & personal info, post a charge to your account for parts, then tell you a week later they never had them in stock in the first place. I'v found two honest ones in Europe I heartily recommend:

David Silver Spares in the UK: www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/

Classic Motorcycle Supplies in the Netherlands: www.cmsnl.com

Both show what parts they have in stock and deliver the good promptly. Just hate to keep sending my money overseas, in case there are ANY (??) honest Honda bike dealers in the US who tell the truth in their web sites about what they really have in stock?

Vince Ciotti

[alimey4u2]

www.bikebandit.com

www.z1enterprises.com

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Vince, if you are not aware of it, www.sohc4.net is an excellent website for the older Hondas.
They would have a ton of info on good suppliers.
As per Larry, i have had great service from z1enterprises.

[vinceciotti]

I tried Bike Bandits but they are aptly named: their fiche contains the full parts inventory of every part Honda ever made, but it doesn't tell you what they have in stock. So you enter all your crap, give them your money, and a week or two later, they tell you they never had it in the first place.

Here's the one honest US parts supplier I found so far:

cyclepartswarehouse.com

They indicate on their fiche only those parts they have in stock. God bless them! Anybody find any other honest ones, please share.

Thanks,

Vince

[harvey]

Vince,

I have worked in a Honda dealer parts dept. It was no different from most Honda Dealers. We stocked very few parts as it costs money to have parts sitting on a shelf for more than a few days.

Sure there are some parts that you do stock, those that turn over frequently--filters, oil, lightbulbs, and that sort of stuff. But most parts are not stocked and the dealers have to order from the manufacturer and await shipping. Shipping from a warehouse is usually a two day process.

In addition to that you have to realize that many parts for older bikes are no longer in the system. Manufacturers are only required to maintain parts for so many years and after that they quit stocking the parts once the parts are sold out.

Dealers, like David Silver have bought lots of these out of manufacturer old parts from Honda and other dealers who have gone out of business and now has them in his warehouse or they were bought by a dealer and the purchaser never picked them up so the dealer is stuck with them. The dealer I worked for had a bunch of Yamaha Virago parts that I sold on ebay for him.

Sometimes a dealer can query the Honda supply system and have dealers check their local stock to locate a specific part. Many parts are located this way but they may not sell at the listed price.

Honda used to take orders for out of stock parts and when they reached a certain number of orders they would then produce the part again for sale to those ordering them. I think that has been discontinued.

Places like BikeBandit, Honda directline and other online sellers show you the entire catalogue and pictures of most models of bikes with all the parts listed. Unfortunately they don't have the time or will to record all the parts that have been discontinued. That is why a phone call will expedite you learning that the part is unavailable.

[Don]

I agree

Nobody can stock everything, nor can online dealers be expected to keep an accurate inventory of exactly what they do have on hand from minute to minute - Few small operators have those sorts of resources

Just because they charge your credit card when they place an order for your part from a warehouse supplier doesn't make them 'dishonest' - It's just normal business practice for most small operations

Don

[alimey4u2]

In some Countries law states that credit cards cannot be billed until that item is in stock or has been shipped....
Companies that are billing credit cards before shipment are often doing so outside the law...

[spencer]

I think some of you are missing Vince's point. No one expects every dealer to stock all parts. The problem is not that they won't check to see if they have a part in stock. If you go to your typical Honda dealer, they will look up your parts on the computer and order them. In the case of a CBX, most of those parts are no longer available. The dealer takes your credit card and orders the part from Honda. Next week, he calls you and tells you the part is no longer available, and credits your account. The dealer could have actually looked to see if the part is available from Honda, but that is extra work, and they usually won't do it. When I go to my local Honda dealer, and try to order CBX parts, I ask them if they could look to see if it is actually available. Sometimes they will do it, sometimes not. The point is that they could do it, but they don't. Instead, they take your credit card information and wait a week for Honda to tell them the part is no longer available. In the meantime, you wait a week, expecting to get your parts, only to be disappointed.

[alimey4u2]

Good point spencer...

What "I" do is check the Bikebandit website for availability, if not there they are (most likely) unavailable anywhere. Except for NOS on someones shelf maybe... I check around international sites or e-mail them before placing an order. Hayeshatcher ( www.cyclewareables.com ) is my last ditch effort & he never bills me unless (or until) he has stock....

I do ALL my shopping on the net...

[cbxtacy]

and on bikebandit in the column between the part # and price is the available column. If it has something there then it's available. usually. unless I just bought the last one

[alimey4u2]

and on bikebandit in the column between the part # and price is the available column. If it has something there then it's available. usually. unless I just bought the last one

So it's you ?......

[EMS]

Western Hills Honda in Columbus used to have excatly what Vince is looking for. A web-site with a list of the parts THEY HAD in stock. This of course only pertained to "New Old Stock" - NOS - parts for bikes no longer in production. They specialized in that part of the business. For reasons unknown, they did away with this.

[Rick Pope]

Mike,

Western Hills Honda is in Western Hills, a suburb of Cincinnati. Located on Harrison Ave., about a 25 minute drive from my house. I've been there many times.

Hershel Benkert owns it and runs the flat track here in Lawrenceburg, where Earl's Racing Team got it's start. I think he still races and he's nearing 70 years young. One of his old parts managers was here with us for Thanksgiving.

[EMS]

Mike,

Western Hills Honda is in Western Hills, a suburb of Cincinnati. Located on Harrison Ave., about a 25 minute drive from my house. I've been there many times.

.

Sorry, Rick, just another one of these cities with a "C" south of here. it gets confusing sometimes...

[Rick Pope]

Mike,

Western Hills Honda is in Western Hills, a suburb of Cincinnati. Located on Harrison Ave., about a 25 minute drive from my house. I've been there many times.

.

Sorry, Rick, just another one of these cities with a "C" south of here. it gets confusing sometimes...

Yup, I think it's part of getting old. Soon we'll be hiding our own Easter eggs.