DMC Stoke closing in the summer and new dealership being opened as part of Staffordshire Triumph group, to be called Ducati Stoke.
I think that expecting motorcycle dealers to have separate dealerships for every brand is harmful. There is not the volume of sales being generated to sustain this practice. I was very happy with Riders in Cardiff when they sold Ducati, Harley and BMW. They closed after being expected to have 3 individual sales rooms. Now there is no one in Cardiff that I wish to deal with.
Thought they had when they left Romford mate? Only been there once and I won’t ever be making it twice. Absolute twat of a place to get to.
I don't think you can give Kawasakis away so quite why anyone would want to be a dealer is beyond me. A nearby Ducati dealer who was also Kawasaki could not get rid of them, some stores were discounting them massively and selling at a loss and hoping back end money would bail them out. It didn’t. He got rid of them last year and is now solus Ducati. He said even Chris Walker wanted rid of them and he is Kawasaki through and through.
We ride to Maldon a fair bit as we’ve got a good route there from home. IIRC Hyside had some ‘classic’ bikes round the back but it’s all Kwak now. I am not a frequent visitor there as I’m a) not in the market and b) if I was I’d probably buy elsewhere.
Many years ago I bought an 851 from a certain newcastle dealer who were then so bad with after service that I bought my next 2 ducatis 250 miles away and took the bike there whenever they needed servicing. Last year I bought a streetfighter and that was nearly 100 miles away. With bikes like these i would go to the best and not the nearest.
