DS Pricing / pattern parts

[AshimotoK0]

Hi . Got an open order with DS for various bits and decided to add fork seals for my '69 CB250SS. The price seemed a bit steep so dunno why, I checked their USA site and they were almost half the price on there. So voted with my feet and ordered a set from 'Pyramid parts'. They were the same price for a pair inc. free delivery as DS charges in the UK for just one. Plus DS has delivery on top. What was better was they arrived next day and  have NOK markings on them, which is one of the OEM suppliers  in my '69 Honda parts book plus they came with a free tube of 'rubber grease'. Was going to have a moan to DS about the disparity between UK and US pricing. Checked Lings Honda for the USA and UK prices and no real difference (Top price there though !). Decided not to moan as DS got a stash of 80 NOS seats from a USA trip , including one for one of my bikes and awaiting a price back for it, so don't want to rock the boat. Yes I know I  can hear Bitsa saying 'Bloody lightweight chicken' but I have been searching for 5 years for a NOS seat for that bike. The b*ggers have got us by the short and curlies (sorry Julie & Noellia and any other ladies present)

Ash

[Nurse Julie]

Forgiven, as always Ash 

[UK Pete]

Ash , i fully understand what your saying,  just bite your tongue and get the parts you want, i still order parts from him as a last resort although i get so wound up when i see his posts on face book showing him all over the world giving it the big I AM, he has gone all corporate and #@%$ the small guy attitude,
he is a brilliant business man and if i was interested in making a huge business i could certainly take lessons from him
to be honest i only order from him when i do a price comparison and he wins ( not often now) for what its worth CMS are even worse for high prices  and importing stuff from USA has its pitfalls ie taxes and duties, so yes we are clasped tightly by the bollocks and it hurts
pete 

[royhall]

Who would you rate as the top parts supply companies then Ash. Not used Pyramid Parts before (hadn't even heard of them). Maybe we should start a thread updating with who is best out there?

[Trigger]

12 years ago a customer came in wanting his forks re-built, did advise that he got his OEM's re-hard chromed but, no he went for the repro stanchions (which looked to be show chrome) Today, he was back with the same problem and, all I can advise him to do is what I advised 12 years ago

[matthewmosse]

Not entierly sure Ds have got it right, I used to spend all my purchase money with them when it came to bikes, but now I use wemoto and ebay suppliers, I know my spending is small fry but it ammounted to £300 a year quite reguarly thanks to using bikes all year round as I didn't even have s car licence for most of the last decade or more. That eqates to steady custom regardless of economic climate or market bubble and busts. On the other hand he is only really catching up with the prices I usec to pay when using my bmw airheads as daily transport - they proved costly beasts to run compared to any of my Hondas.

[AshimotoK0]

Who would you rate as the top parts supply companies then Ash. Not used Pyramid Parts before (hadn't even heard of them). Maybe we should start a thread updating with who is best out there?

Hmm I am probably not the best person to ask on here. TBH some stuff from DS has been OK and I buy a lot of stuff from Yamiya for the 750 and lucky to have someone there to get it for me. I think that the Germans are probably cheapest for Genuine parts if you compare,  like here :-

http://stores.ebay.de/MD-Motorradteile?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 .  Never bought anything from CMS as they have ALWAYS been more expensive than anywhere else when I compare prices.

CB250/350K stuff  definitely getting rarer and pricier over the last few years. You couldn't give the bikes away in the 90's onwards, now a NOS set of Genuine pipes can set you back 800GBP, even in Japan. The engines are used in classic racers and set you back a fortune. A seized engine from DK is typically 350GBP or more and that's with the Generator/cover/ rotor stripped off.

Definitely easier to source parts now for the 400/4 and the 750 early K's due to DS and Yamiya so all credit to them on that. It's just the DS delivery charging that bugs me. If I am spending 2 grand (which I have on one occasion) they should give free delivery IMHO. As it turned out the package on one occasion was overweight so they split it and insisted on charging me twice. Yamiya in Japan do free internal shipping if your spend is over about £160

Some good German guys for used parts particularly Frank at jap2wheelz, not particularly cheap but very honestly described and wont sell you junk. Sayonara cycles in Germany ripped me off with a very expensive dodgy wheel rim, so won't use him again unless I have to.

Bloke0 in UK has sold me some decent NOS stuff over the years at reasonable prices.

DK variable to say the least, some stuff's a bargain, some is outright ripoff. Best to just send them a ridiculously low offer and work up from there.

Ash

[Bodd]

They are all as bad as each other and the sad fact is our bikes would be worth more sold as parts rather than as a whole bike because of the rip off part prices, one supplier I used when I was restoring my RD advertised under the slogan of "Keeping classic bikes on the road",  they tried to charge me £50 for a 3/8 master cylinder seal kit so I suggested they change their slogan to "Fleecing the people who keep classic bikes on the road" which didn't go down well and resulted in my account being deleted, I eventually got the correct seal for £1.90 from Girling.

[gtmdriver]

On a related note Pyramid do a kit which has both the fork oil seals and the seemingly more elusive dust seals too.

I got mine from Amazon.

[AshimotoK0]

On a related note Pyramid do a kit which has both the fork oil seals and the seemingly more elusive dust seals too.

I got mine from Amazon.

Got some really cheap steering head kits from them for CB250K's ... not tried them yet but for a bout 18 quid look good.

[royhall]

Thanks for that Ash.

I used MD-Motorradteile for my MIVV exhausts on the 350 that I had a horrible time fitting. Turns out only the silencers were MIVV, the headers were AN Other? If they sell as a MIVV system they should say the headers are from another supplier as they just did not fit. If you look at my 350 thread you can see how much they were altered to get them on.

Am still in contact with them (I think) about the missing silencer end piece. But they now appear to have stopped replying after I threatened to send the silencer back. So don't know where I am with them now, am hoping there not replying whilst they search the stores for an end cap.

Although that sounds like a moan, I don't mean to. I think its admirable that they take the time to put together a 4 into 4 system for a 43 year old bike from some of there stock. And I should have expected some problems with fitment of pattern parts. So all in all I have an exhaust now fitted and looking good with just a bit of extra work. But the silencer end plate is really a game stopper as after several goes at making one they all look crap.

The other recommends should be useful though. Thanks.

[Trigger]

Ask yourselves the question: What did Honda manufacture ? It was none of the electrics, clocks, seats, rubber parts, tanks, wheels etc, etc. They built the engines and a few other parts so, all the rest are in fact third party parts. I get the indicator stems from the same company that Honda buy them from but they come in a clear plastic bag, pop them into Honda bags with a part number, then go on to charge 4x the price. Look about and you will find the part you require without the Honda part number and bag