Infinity Motorcycles

On 17 Oct, 15:48, Jeremy <jeremy0....RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote:
> In article <1192625257.464160.4....RemoveThis@k35g2000prh.googlegroups.com>,
> says...
>
> > When your selling philosophy is based on the pile 'em high and sell
> > 'em cheap model, then you're very vulnerable to a downturn in the bike
> > market. In contrast, dealers who invest in their workshop facilities
> > tend to weather the storm better because (a) the returns become more
> > attractive and (b) with bikes being kept on the road longer, they need
> > more mechanical attention.
>
> Did M/C city, carnell all adopt a similar sales philosophy? Is this a
> non-shocker to you? And if there was no difference between say Carnell
> and Infinity (in that regard), would Infinity not have learned from
> Carnell's experience? Presumably there must be some difference other
> than the name..?
>
> What I am trying to ask, in an inarticulate manner, is: what is it that
> causes successive businesses in the same location with, ostensibly, the
> same product and services to fail?
>

Carnell came and went, Coburn & Hughes came and went, Kings of
Birmingham came and went, Team Ham-Yam came and went, D C Cook came
and went....

I cannot think of *one* hard-line discounter who was in business, say,
25 years ago who is stil in business now, though there are still
plenty of independent (for want of a better word) bike shops that have
survived over that time.

In answer to your question - the retail bike business is, to a great
extent, made up of amateurs. There are also a lot of companies that
are happy to make a killing for a few years and then fold their tents,
to go and do something else. Newcomers also seem blissfully unaware of
the cyclical nature of the business.

Lozzo will be along in a minute to add his two penn'orth.
 >> Stay informed about: Infinity Motorcycles 

"darsy" <darsyx RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1192621089.976439.59200@i13g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> On Oct 17, 11:13 am, "Vass" <write2mark_X... RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote:
>> "Hog" <hogS... RemoveThis @freenetCHIPS.co.uk> wrote in message
>>
>
> There's a clothing and accessories branch on High Holborn - I may have
> to keep my eye out for bargains.
>

I just phoned Farnborough, they have already stopped trading, but the guy
said they hope to be up and running
by the weekend, possibly under a new name
--
Vass
 >> Stay informed about: Infinity Motorcycles 

In article <GtGdndXqsuuNZ4janZ2dnUVZ8vydnZ2d RemoveThis @eclipse.net.uk>, Vass
says...
> "darsy" <darsyx RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1192621089.976439.59200@i13g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> > On Oct 17, 11:13 am, "Vass" <write2mark_X... RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote:
> >> "Hog" <hogS... RemoveThis @freenetCHIPS.co.uk> wrote in message
> >>
> >
> > There's a clothing and accessories branch on High Holborn - I may have
> > to keep my eye out for bargains.
> >
>
> I just phoned Farnborough, they have already stopped trading, but the guy
> said they hope to be up and running
> by the weekend, possibly under a new name
>

Seems like it's every 2 or 3 years ..........

--
jeremy
Sprint ST 955i
 >> Stay informed about: Infinity Motorcycles 

In article <1192625257.464160.4420.TakeThisOut@k35g2000prh.googlegroups.com>,
says...

> When your selling philosophy is based on the pile 'em high and sell
> 'em cheap model, then you're very vulnerable to a downturn in the bike
> market. In contrast, dealers who invest in their workshop facilities
> tend to weather the storm better because (a) the returns become more
> attractive and (b) with bikes being kept on the road longer, they need
> more mechanical attention.
>
>

Did M/C city, carnell all adopt a similar sales philosophy? Is this a
non-shocker to you? And if there was no difference between say Carnell
and Infinity (in that regard), would Infinity not have learned from
Carnell's experience? Presumably there must be some difference other
than the name..?

What I am trying to ask, in an inarticulate manner, is: what is it that
causes successive businesses in the same location with, ostensibly, the
same product and services to fail?

--
jeremy
Sprint ST 955i
 >> Stay informed about: Infinity Motorcycles 

In article <MPG.218022ec49947ece98a4aa.DeleteThis@news.individual.net>, Jeremy wrote:

> What I am trying to ask, in an inarticulate manner, is: what is it that
> causes successive businesses in the same location with, ostensibly, the
> same product and services to fail?

Same people running it? Short-term business plan? "Lets make a quick
profit and get out while the goings good"?

Phil.

--
Phil Launchbury, IT PHB
'I'm training the bats that live in my cube
to juggle mushrooms'
 >> Stay informed about: Infinity Motorcycles 

On 17 Oct, 14:56, darsy <dar....RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Oct 17, 1:50 pm, wessie <putmynameh....RemoveThis@tesco.net> wrote:
> > "Vass" <write2mark_X....RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote innews:T96dnbf2w8V9e4janZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@eclipse.net.uk:
>
> > > Dunno if already in the public domian but..
> > > news on the grapevine, major shareholder of Infinity is selling up /
> > > closing down
> > > so there may be some deals coming up
>
> > Someone on UKGSer went to the Guildford shop yesterday and found it shut.
> > They then found this on the website:http://www.infinitymotorcycles.com/news.asp
>
> > "IMPORTANT NOTICE! WE ARE CURRENTLY UNDERGOING A CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP
> > THEREFORE WILL NOT BE TRADING UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! WE WOULD LIKE TO
> > APPOLOGISE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS MAY CAUSE IN THE MEAN TIME AND HOPE
> > TO BE TRADING AS NORMAL VERY SOON. PLEASE CHECK DAILY FOR MORE INFORMATION"
>
> > Seems odd that a change of ownership would require a business to stop
> > trading. Half a day for a stock take maybe.
>
> their online shop still seems to be working...bit risky, if you ask
> me.

"would require a business to stop trading"

Wouldn't be odd if they were insolvent. Would be illegal
(AIUI) to do otherwise.
 >> Stay informed about: Infinity Motorcycles 

says...
> On 17 Oct, 15:48, Jeremy <jeremy0....DeleteThis@gmail.com> wrote:
> > In article <1192625257.464160.4....DeleteThis@k35g2000prh.googlegroups.com>,
> > says...
> >
> > > When your selling philosophy is based on the pile 'em high and sell
> > > 'em cheap model, then you're very vulnerable to a downturn in the bike
> > > market. In contrast, dealers who invest in their workshop facilities
> > > tend to weather the storm better because (a) the returns become more
> > > attractive and (b) with bikes being kept on the road longer, they need
> > > more mechanical attention.
> >
> > Did M/C city, carnell all adopt a similar sales philosophy? Is this a
> > non-shocker to you? And if there was no difference between say Carnell
> > and Infinity (in that regard), would Infinity not have learned from
> > Carnell's experience? Presumably there must be some difference other
> > than the name..?
> >
> > What I am trying to ask, in an inarticulate manner, is: what is it that
> > causes successive businesses in the same location with, ostensibly, the
> > same product and services to fail?
> >
>
> Carnell came and went, Coburn & Hughes came and went, Kings of
> Birmingham came and went, Team Ham-Yam came and went, D C Cook came
> and went....

Coburn and Hughes are still going, but in a much smaller way as a Honda
franchised dealer. Gone are the days of "We'll take your granny in px
against a FS1E" and importing odd model bikes from Outer Mongolia. Last
I heard the original owners were involved with Doub^H^HThree Cross
Motorcycles as directors - that figures.

As TOG said, the retail bike trade is about the most unprofessional
business there is, and the buyers seem to like it that way - it is run
and staffed by people who are enthusiasts first and businessmen fouth or
fifth, with beer tasting and racing in between. Sure there are major
suppliers who make a fortune from manufacture and distribution of
clothing etc, more than you can imagine tbh, but the big bike chains
don't survive as they are too impersonal for many motorcyclists and
their sales predictions don't take into account the cyclic nature of the
market. No amount of discount is going to entice people in when they
have zero spending power, all they'll do is sell fewer bikes at redued
profit.

Incidentally, I bought my very first RD400 brand new from Team Ham-Yam
in Chester-Le-Street. I px'd a 4 week old RD250 against it and didn't
lose a penny on the deal.


--
Lozzo
Triumph Daytona 955i SE
Suzuki SV650 K3
Honda CBR600 F-W
Suzuki GSX-R750L
Yamaha SR250 SpazzTrakka
 >> Stay informed about: Infinity Motorcycles 

Lozzo wrote:

> Incidentally, I bought my very first RD400 brand new from Team Ham-Yam
> in Chester-Le-Street. I px'd a 4 week old RD250 against it and didn't
> lose a penny on the deal.

Hmm mine was from (I think) Flemings Motorcycles in Glasgow. A smaller
version of Lloyds who did all the Italian and Brit marques as well as Jap
stuff. They would have been above Charles Street on an unamed industrial
estate road between the Springburn and Royston roads.

--
Hog
 >> Stay informed about: Infinity Motorcycles 

"Vass" <write2mark_XXX_ RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote in
news:T96dnbf2w8V9e4janZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@eclipse.net.uk:

> Dunno if already in the public domian but..
> news on the grapevine, major shareholder of Infinity is selling up /
> closing down
> so there may be some deals coming up

Someone on UKGSer went to the Guildford shop yesterday and found it shut.
They then found this on the website:
http://www.infinitymotorcycles.com/news.asp

"IMPORTANT NOTICE! WE ARE CURRENTLY UNDERGOING A CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP
THEREFORE WILL NOT BE TRADING UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! WE WOULD LIKE TO
APPOLOGISE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS MAY CAUSE IN THE MEAN TIME AND HOPE
TO BE TRADING AS NORMAL VERY SOON. PLEASE CHECK DAILY FOR MORE INFORMATION"

Seems odd that a change of ownership would require a business to stop
trading. Half a day for a stock take maybe.

--
wessie at tesco dot net

BMW R1150GS
 >> Stay informed about: Infinity Motorcycles 

On Oct 17, 1:50 pm, wessie <putmynameh....DeleteThis@tesco.net> wrote:
> "Vass" <write2mark_X....DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote innews:T96dnbf2w8V9e4janZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@eclipse.net.uk:
>
> > Dunno if already in the public domian but..
> > news on the grapevine, major shareholder of Infinity is selling up /
> > closing down
> > so there may be some deals coming up
>
> Someone on UKGSer went to the Guildford shop yesterday and found it shut.
> They then found this on the website:http://www.infinitymotorcycles.com/news.asp
>
> "IMPORTANT NOTICE! WE ARE CURRENTLY UNDERGOING A CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP
> THEREFORE WILL NOT BE TRADING UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! WE WOULD LIKE TO
> APPOLOGISE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS MAY CAUSE IN THE MEAN TIME AND HOPE
> TO BE TRADING AS NORMAL VERY SOON. PLEASE CHECK DAILY FOR MORE INFORMATION"
>
> Seems odd that a change of ownership would require a business to stop
> trading. Half a day for a stock take maybe.

their online shop still seems to be working...bit risky, if you ask
me.

--
d.
 >> Stay informed about: Infinity Motorcycles 

Hog says...
> Lozzo wrote:
>
> > Incidentally, I bought my very first RD400 brand new from Team Ham-Yam
> > in Chester-Le-Street. I px'd a 4 week old RD250 against it and didn't
> > lose a penny on the deal.
>
> Hmm mine was from (I think) Flemings Motorcycles in Glasgow. A smaller
> version of Lloyds who did all the Italian and Brit marques as well as Jap
> stuff. They would have been above Charles Street on an unamed industrial
> estate road between the Springburn and Royston roads.

You know what happened to Lloyds of Hamilton, don't you?

--
Lozzo
Triumph Daytona 955i SE
Suzuki SV650 K3
Honda CBR600 F-W
Suzuki GSX-R750L
Yamaha SR250 SpazzTrakka
 >> Stay informed about: Infinity Motorcycles 

Lozzo <lozzo DeleteThis @lozzo.org.uk> wrote:

> Coburn and Hughes are still going, but in a much smaller way as a Honda
> franchised dealer.

I didn't know that. At the time I was referring to, they had the
concessions for Harley, Ducati and Moto Guzzi as well, which made them a
fortune until the early 1980s when QC problems with the V50 started
costing them loadsa dosh. I once saw a confidential memo which revealed
that the average warranty claim on V50s was about £300 - in early 1980s
cash.

>Gone are the days of "We'll take your granny in px
> against a FS1E" and importing odd model bikes from Outer Mongolia. Last
> I heard the original owners were involved with Doub^H^HThree Cross
> Motorcycles as directors - that figures.

Heh
>
> As TOG said, the retail bike trade is about the most unprofessional
> business there is, and the buyers seem to like it that way - it is run
> and staffed by people who are enthusiasts first and businessmen fouth or
> fifth, with beer tasting and racing in between. Sure there are major
> suppliers who make a fortune from manufacture and distribution of
> clothing etc, more than you can imagine tbh, but the big bike chains
> don't survive as they are too impersonal for many motorcyclists and
> their sales predictions don't take into account the cyclic nature of the
> market. No amount of discount is going to entice people in when they
> have zero spending power, all they'll do is sell fewer bikes at redued
> profit.

Yup, that's my take on it as well.


--
BMW K1100LT 750SS CB400F CD250 CB125 SL125
GAGARPHOF#30 GHPOTHUF#1 BOTAFOT#60 ANORAK#06 YTC#3
BOF#30 WUSS#5 The bells, the bells.....
 >> Stay informed about: Infinity Motorcycles 

Lozzo <lozzo RemoveThis @lozzo.org.uk> wrote:

> Hog says...
> > Lozzo wrote:
> >
> > > Incidentally, I bought my very first RD400 brand new from Team Ham-Yam
> > > in Chester-Le-Street. I px'd a 4 week old RD250 against it and didn't
> > > lose a penny on the deal.
> >
> > Hmm mine was from (I think) Flemings Motorcycles in Glasgow. A smaller
> > version of Lloyds who did all the Italian and Brit marques as well as Jap
> > stuff. They would have been above Charles Street on an unamed industrial
> > estate road between the Springburn and Royston roads.
>
> You know what happened to Lloyds of Hamilton, don't you?

George Lloyd - I remember him well. Had a big showroom, and then got out
of bikes and into clothing ranges, once he'd done his sums and looked at
the margins.

--
BMW K1100LT 750SS CB400F CD250 CB125 SL125
GAGARPHOF#30 GHPOTHUF#1 BOTAFOT#60 ANORAK#06 YTC#3
BOF#30 WUSS#5 The bells, the bells.....
 >> Stay informed about: Infinity Motorcycles