[rtillery02]

Well, I haven't heard any scuttlebutt, but the local R/E dealer here in East Texas was in business for about 5 months then folded up the whole darn thing. Thought it was just gonna be the R/E line, but nope, completely shut the doors altogether after well over a decade of service. Now Dallas Tx. is the nearest dealership to me (bout 110 miles). I try to stay away from the dealers except to buy new bikes but it was nice havin a dealer 16 miles away.

[barenekd]

There is a complete list of the new dealers on the royalenfield.com page now. A lot of old ones are gone, but there seem to be a lot more dealers. The good dealers that were in business still are. There are at least two gone in SoCal. Oklahoma has none, but they never had a real one anyway, the one that was there has been gone for a few years. All he did was sell parts.
I alked to the new boss at the IMS Show in Long Beach for quite awhile and he says the emphasis is to get people introduced to the bike as they are still an unusual oddity in the US, so in setting up new dealers and having having people who are enthusiastic abut the bikes will help a lot. A lot of those dealers who are gone are the ones who shoved the bikes in the back corner and never really tried to sell them. They would try to "upgrade" any customers who showed interest in them. Most of us who've been around awhile know who they were and shouldn't be surprised that they aren't around any more. Their advertising is going to be reaching out beyond preaching to the choir. They are really working on having each dealer sell 50 bikes a year. He did tell me the #1 Texas dealer did sell 80 bikes last year. That guy knows how to turn them. I think these guys will turn things around for everyone.
Bare

[The Old Coot]

My dealer's still on the list.  Save me having to find the next closest dealer to go look at the new toys. 

[Guaire]

Bare - I just checked the dealer locator for California. Matt Capri South Bay MC isn't listed. Not what I expected.

[High On Octane]

Bare - I just checked the dealer locator for California. Matt Capri South Bay MC isn't listed. Not what I expected.

Maybe they gave up after their totally botched LSR attempt.     

[suitcasejefferson]

My closest dealer, 120 miles away, is mostly a scooter dealer, and carries Enfield only as a sideline. They don't do any work on them other than oil changes, which they probably don't do right given the weird Enfield oil change procedure. But, they can order parts. Actual parts, not just maintenance stuff and accessories.

The death of mom and pop shops pretty much ruined the motorcycle business, at least the dealer part. Almost all our local "dealers" are HUGE multibrand "powersports" emporiums. I'm sure these places cost well over 1 million $$$ to build, and the overhead is absurd. To fund all this, dealers sell at MSRP and then add on close to $1000 in totally bogus "fees" to every new bike and atv sold. Even cheap ones. A $4000 bike will cost $5000 before they even add on all the govt. stuff like sales tax (near 10% in my state) title, and registration. They also push service contracts and extended warranties hard. These are expensive, and almost pure profit for dealers. The dealer that I bought my Enfield from, a mom and pop place, didn't do any of that, and probably lost money on what they charged to deliver the bike to me. I do all my own work, so all I need is a place to buy parts.

Part of me wants to buy another Enfield before the prices double, but I am also afraid to do so because parts may not be available in the future.

A Taiwanese company called SYM produced a near clone of the old Honda SuperCub, and sold a couple hundred thousand of them in about 5 years, then quit making them, AND THE PARTS. The importer has no parts stock in the U.S., maybe none at all. Now all those owners are stuck with a bike they can't get parts for. So it CAN happen.

[Richard230]

Speaking about the "foggy future" I find the latest 900cc Triumph Bonneville interesting.  They have detuned the bike from the previous model's claimed 68 hp to 54 hp, while increasing the torque produced from 50 lb-ft to 60 lb-ft. Note that the new 900cc Triumph model has an even smaller fuel tank than the Royal Enfield 500cc singles. At least one manufacturer is going for more torque and less power (and better fuel economy), which is an interesting trend. Here is a link to an article about the new bike: 

http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/triumph/2016-triumph-street-twin-first-ride-review.html

[Arizoni]

Suitcase:  There is a Royal Enfield dealer right in your home town of Chandler, Arizona.

Whether you like the dealer or not, at least give them the acknowledgement of them existing.
Although they sent me down the street to Victory BMW to get some replacement oil filters, Royal Enfield parts are available in the area without driving all the way down to Tuscon.

[malky]

I do all my own work, so all I need is a place to buy parts.

Pardon me gents if I'm being ignorant, but does the site host not offer a mail order service on parts etc.?

[Richard230]

What's this about BMW oil filters fitting Royal Enfields? More info, please?

I have owned BMW motorcycles for the past 30 years and I have yet to see a BMW oil filter that would fit into a Royal Enfield engine.   

[Arizoni]

What's this about BMW oil filters fitting Royal Enfields? More info, please?

I didn't say BMW oil filters fit RE's.
Victory BMW was the dealer for Royal Enfield in Chandler, Arizona.

The Royal Enfield dealership has moved down the street  but for reasons beyond me, they don't carry the parts.  They just refer the customer back to Victory to buy parts.

I think if one were to look under the counter they would find that the two companies are owned by the same people.

[REpozer]

With RENA leading a Royal Enfield " rebranding " campaign, and most of the hired guns being old H-D propagandist.... I hope they don't maket RE as a cheap little brother to H-D. Didn't Buel do that?

I can  imagine myself going to a new dealer, pushing my way through a maze of t-shirts and jackets only to find a parts person with tons of attitude an no parts.

RENA , I doubt you will have more then one real chance to get this right.

Mean while, I worry about running out of parts for my vintage 2008 Royal Enfield AVL Bullet. Just like my buddy that owns a early 80s H-D Sportster can't find parts.