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Riding gear in the Phoenix East Valley?

5K views 75 replies 12 participants last post by  kwthom 
#1 ·
I need to do a little apparel and helmet shopping. Who in the East Valley area (Tempe and points east) has a decent selection of apparel and helmets? Any recommendations? I stopped at Cycle Gear on Country Club Road last week and they had wall-to-wall "Bilt" brand gear which did nothing for me. Looks like a cheap house brand.

On a semi-related note, it does get depressing seeing all kinds of gear and brands advertised and finding none of it in shops. Or if a shop has something they have only size Small and size XXXXL on hand.
 
#2 ·
I read on another forum that Helmet Harbor closed up shop not long ago.

That leaves you with various other bike shops...or that superstore up in Scottsdale...name escapes me at the moment...too early in the morning,
 
#3 ·
Yeah, helmet harbor shut down again. Is it Go AZ in Scottsdale? My fav. place is Chaparral in So. Cali. Its like going to an internet superstore, but its all real. Millions of gloves, helmets, etc. Ive never seen any place close to it... Cycle Gear seems to only carry its house Bilt brand now...
 
#4 ·
Yeah, helmet harbor shut down again. Is it Go AZ in Scottsdale? My fav. place is Chaparral in So. Cali. Its like going to an internet superstore, but its all real. Millions of gloves, helmets, etc. Ive never seen any place close to it... Cycle Gear seems to only carry its house Bilt brand now...
Yep...thanks - acute case of CRS this morning, I suppose.

Chaparral? this place??

http://www.chaparral-racing.com/

Nice...gotta check that out the next time I'm in SoCal. :thumbup:

I saw a couple of *huge* warehouse stores like that back in Indiana or Ohio on this road trip I was on for work...

Would have loved to have stopped in and looked around, alas, I was on a schedule. :doorag:


Bilt? Oh, yeah - this describes it perfectly: "...if your just a novice street or track rider the stuff looks good on a budget. The price is low as its CG's in house line eliminating some middle men who all make money off a product."

I checked out some street boots a few months ago; I wasn't impressed.
 
#6 ·
Yeah, helmet harbor shut down again. Is it Go AZ in Scottsdale? My fav. place is Chaparral in So. Cali. Its like going to an internet superstore, but its all real. Millions of gloves, helmets, etc. Ive never seen any place close to it... Cycle Gear seems to only carry its house Bilt brand now...
:agree: Chaparral is the "bomb". Go AZ in North Scottsdale has lots of quality gear spread over 3 buildings with various types of bikes. Not exactly on the east side, the Helmet Center has 2 locations in the valley 25225 N. Lake Pleasant Parkway and 35th avenue and Union Hills Road., have a pretty good selection as well. D&D Cycle on McClintock just N or University carries gear as well.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I bought my bike from GoAZ a couple of weeks ago but didn't have time to really look around at the accessories. Amazing store though, tons of eye candy bike-wise and they were good to deal with. Sorry to hear that Helmet Harbor is gone, I'd done some business with them in the past but couldn't find them when I looked the other day so figured they'd gone under. I'll give D&D a visit since they are close and I've not been in there in a long time. Might be the place to get my Wing serviced, too.
 
#9 ·
D&D Discount cycles are good folks. They are expanding the front showroom area.

I visited Cycle Gear months ago. My view was the same as mentioned on the available product. Tons of items, that seem to be limited in brand choice. I used to buy gloves from them on a regular basis with good selection of brands and styles for street use
 
#11 ·
Like Tony said D&D will carry higher end helmets etc. in their expanded showroom. They do carry some helmets,jackets etc. As for Cycle Gear we just bought two modular helmets for half price.We road tested them last week and they are great. A decent helmet for the price and a 7 day return policy.
 
#12 ·
These guys have the largest selection of affordable good stuff. Nice folks. 2 stores. nothing on the eastside. http://www.thehelmetcenter.com/
I just bought two Shoei modular helmets from Jeff at the Peoria store at a price comparable to any internet site. The big plus was they removed our Sena SMH-10's from our old RF-1000's and installed them in the new helmets as part of the sale. Great people to deal with. :yes1:
 
#13 ·
I seem to recall that GoAz has some really good eye candy and it wasn't the motorcycles
I saw the general manager walk through the store and she didn't look like your typical bike shop manager. :thumbup:

I checked the website for The Helmet Center and it looks promising, just need to make it up there. I'm taking a new passenger/friend shopping and it will be out of our way.

About Chaparral in California, it's an amazing place, a real jaw dropper when you walk in there for the first time. The tire department alone is bigger than most bike shops. Worth a visit if only to look around. They do get some great blow out deals on left over jackets and such.
 
#14 ·
I saw the general manager walk through the store and she didn't look like your typical bike shop manager. :thumbup:
According to an acquaintance who has worked there in the past, she has free rein to run the business as she sees fit without getting input from Bob, and my source says she's running the tech department into the ground. As you well know, that's where you make the majority of your dealership profit and without good techs working for you you're going to lose business.
 
#15 ·
<...> she has free rein to run the business as she sees fit without getting input from Bob, and my source says she's running the tech department into the ground. <...>
...but, does Bob really have any good automotive/powersports folks in his corner, or do he really care enough to make the business profitable?

It's not like he needs it to be profitable, but you'd think it'd be good enough to carry the freight on its own.

I do need to get up there to check the place out at some time.
 
#16 ·
just looked... I see Helmet Harbor is fully gone. I bought many items from them over the years. Sorry to seee them gone. I know they struggled when the economy dumped. They went from the larger store, back to their smaller one,..... then to 'online store' only.

Service dept of any dealership needs to make good money for the business. i would think Bob of GoAZ stores would expect certain level of profit and service. Same for GoDaddy stuff. If a tech is treated like crap or the dealer pulls some % numbers of pay away from the tech, the tech moves on. If the dealer treats customers like chit, the traffic flow thru service dept drops , the tech moves on.

A buddy of mine works many yrs for Tex Earnhardt dealerships. My buddy has sorta become Tex's problem solver. When a dealer has a problem dept my friend gets moved in to straighten up the mess. Glen is a very methodical person. I envy his ability
 
#17 ·
According to an acquaintance who has worked there in the past, she has free rein to run the business as she sees fit without getting input from Bob, and my source says she's running the tech department into the ground. As you well know, that's where you make the majority of your dealership profit and without good techs working for you you're going to lose business.
I walked back to the GoAZ demo ride/training area and my path took me through the service bay area. It was definitely not impressive, the weakest area I saw there. The bays were crowded, poorly organized, and open to the elements, that is to say, not a closed shop and air conditioned as it ought to be. In my working life I've supervised an automotive engineering workshop so I have some idea of how a shop should be layed out and function. I don't believe it's a service area I'd want to work on my bike beyond maybe an oil change (which I do myself anyway). Bob P. needs to step up and make the service department the equal of the rest of the facility.
 
#20 ·
Has there been anyone to look over the stock of LD comfort shirts recently there at GoAZ?
I went over there on Tuesday. They had a great selection, long sleeve shirts $59, short sleeve $45, long and short pants, head gear, sleeves...can't remember the prices but I thought everything was reasonable compared to what I paid earlier. Good display in the middle building housing the F6B's.
 
#21 ·
GoAZ has a nice selection of gear (particularly BMW clothing) and the dealership looks nice, but the deceptive business practices and lack of customer service will keep me from buying another bike there. I bought a new/leftover VFR there a couple of years ago and the sales manager tried to slip in an extended warranty while I was signing the MVD documents and the finance documents. When I questioned him on it (he was trying to sneak it in with the financing), he danced around my questions. Needless to say, I was not happy and I did not buy the warranty. They also refused to do the 600 mile service before delivery, even though the bike had 579 miles on it when I got it. Strike 1 and 1A

I later rented a GL1800 from them and decided to buy one later. I was told they would credit the rental cost toward the new bike. They then refused to get the color & trim level I wanted....strike 2.

I was looking for a pair of riding pants, and since they do have a good stock, I stopped in with the wife. I tried on pants in the Honda building and then in the BMW/Ducati/Triumph building. I was there for nearly 45 minutes and there was no offers of help nor any customer service. There were plenty of employees around shooting the breeze though.....strike 3.

So I'm a glutton for punishment....I go back to look for a C14 and tell the salesman I don't want a black one, call me when you locate a silver version.....no call back at all. Strike 4.

I went to drool over the new Ducati Hyperstrada, but I will probably buy it from AZ Superike instead...
 
#22 ·
GoAZ has a nice selection of gear (particularly BMW clothing) and the dealership looks nice, but the deceptive business practices and lack of customer service will keep me from buying another bike there. I bought a new/leftover VFR there a couple of years ago and the sales manager tried to slip in an extended warranty while I was signing the MVD documents and the finance documents. When I questioned him on it (he was trying to sneak it in with the financing), he danced around my questions. Needless to say, I was not happy and I did not buy the warranty. They also refused to do the 600 mile service before delivery, even though the bike had 579 miles on it when I got it. Strike 1 and 1A

I later rented a GL1800 from them and decided to buy one later. I was told they would credit the rental cost toward the new bike. They then refused to get the color & trim level I wanted....strike 2.

I was looking for a pair of riding pants, and since they do have a good stock, I stopped in with the wife. I tried on pants in the Honda building and then in the BMW/Ducati/Triumph building. I was there for nearly 45 minutes and there was no offers of help nor any customer service. There were plenty of employees around shooting the breeze though.....strike 3.

So I'm a glutton for punishment....I go back to look for a C14 and tell the salesman I don't want a black one, call me when you locate a silver version.....no call back at all. Strike 4.

I went to drool over the new Ducati Hyperstrada, but I will probably buy it from AZ Superike instead...

First, I don't doubt your experience a bit. In my experience motorcycle dealers in general are a flaky lot. One bad salesman or finance guy can really sour things, and with places often experiencing high staff turn over, the dillweed someone gets stuck with one week might be replaced by a first rate person the next.

I bought my Wing from GoAZ last month and had a very different experience than yours, though. They were not perfect to deal with but I have no real complaints. No funny business with the finances and such, everyone I spoke to was very friendly and making the deal was about as easy as it could be, I did it all via e-mail including negotiating the OTD price and then went in to look at the bike and sign the papers. When I said I wouldn't be able to pick the bike up until Saturday when I could get a ride up there from Casa Grande the sales guy said "No problem, we'll delivery it to you for free." Right on time Thursday morning their truck/trailer showed up at my place and rolled out my bike.

That said, any motorcycle or car dealer should be approached with caution and a skeptical eye and I always do.

AZ Superbike has been sold to the RideNow concern so how they handle sales and service remains to be seen. I had my Aprilia Caponord serviced there a couple of times in years gone by and I had some unpleasant experience with the old owner and would never buy a machine from him. RideNow doesn't enjoy the best reputation at their bigger stores but their BMW shop seems to do okay. Tyler Carlson is the general manager of the BMW store and will be overseeing AZ Superbike also.
 
#23 ·
I gave them 4 chances, I figure that's enough. As far as RideNow, I don't hear good things about them either and they gouged me on a Suzuki key I had cut there, but I have bought 2 HD's from the Arrowhead store and been treated far, far better than Stubbs, Chester's or Scottsdale HD. I guess it depends on the dealership manager and his staff.
 
#24 ·
vintagemxr said:
AZ Superbike has been sold to the RideNow concern so how they handle sales and service remains to be seen. I had my Aprilia Caponord serviced there a couple of times in years gone by and I had some unpleasant experience with the old owner and would never buy a machine from him.

RideNow doesn't enjoy the best reputation at their bigger stores but their BMW shop seems to do okay. Tyler Carlson is the general manager of the BMW store and will be overseeing AZ Superbike also.
We met Tylor Carlson at Victory BMW when I was looking to buy a BMW GS. My wife fell in love with a new Vespa GTV300, and he helped us work the deals for both. We were happy with our prices, and they delivered both bikes to our home the next day.

After riding several weeks we each realized that neither of us was happy. I found my body was more unhappy riding off road than my mind was and Tracey wanted see more than what the Vespa was capable taking her to see. So back to Victory we went to plead our case.

We made a deal to trade in the GS for an RT, and my wife picked up a 2009 Silverwing. Once again, Tylor worked his magic and made the deals happen. We couldn't be any happier with the sales staff, parts and service department at Victory BMW.

As for GoAZ ...... nice looking store. :roll:
 
#25 ·
BTW, here is a partial e-mail I received from Victory BMW earlier this week ....

"People have been driving by and seeing the scaffolding and asking, "what's up?" Well it's pretty simple really. We are making some improvements to the building and remodeling a portion of our showroom. When it's completed, we think you'll be surprised at the results. In the meantime, read on. Let us catch you up on upcoming events.
Introducing Indian Motorcycle of Chandler

You read it correctly. It's coming soon and we are taking pre-orders on the new Indian Chief. We will be sending another newsletter out, so stay tuned"​

 
#26 ·
As for GoAZ ...... nice looking store. :roll:
LOL.

It really is a crap shoot when you walk into dealers. I'd done some business over the years with a certain other Honda dealer and tried to buy an new Gold Wing from them in '06. Twice, two days apart, they rolled the bike out for delivery to me and both times it had electrical issues before I even took delivery. I canceled the sale and moved on.

I'm glad you had a good experience with Victory. They are owned by the same people (Coulter Group) that owns RideNow. Tyler seems like a good guy, we've traded some e-mails in the past about vintage bike stuff and he's definitely a motorcycle guy and I think that helps a lot in how the store is run. I used to ride a '92 R100RT that I bought new there and when Coulter first took over the store it was pretty much a joke for a long time.

I'll visit GoAZ again for fun and to shop accessories and I'd buy a bike from them again but I'd have to see their service department looking a lot more squared away before I'd take a bike there for service.
 
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