Dealer purchase vs Direct

Any preference?
My preference is to purchase direct and put together myself but curious if it's recommended to purchase through dealer.. perhaps for better support?

Mostly when the dealer got some profit of the sale he might be more inclined to help you faster when he has to do warranty work.
Cost is the same, you can still put it together yourself if you ask the dealer.

Erwin P said:

Mostly when the dealer got some profit of the sale he might be more inclined to help you faster when he has to do warranty work.
Cost is the same, you can still put it together yourself if you ask the dealer.

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Yes you will get better support when you buy from the local dealer. I did not and when I went to get inspected they made this more than clear to me. Now that some warranty work must go through authorized dealers I would recommend getting one from them to ensure when a big issue happens you have a willing partner.

My dealer is the best they race bikes and ride starks themselves,
they even put a bike together for me bespoke.
I would recommend mid coast moto in coffs harbour any day,
if you want a stark on the east coast of Australia.

Extending this question to Stark OEM parts.

Do you order parts from a dealer or directly from Stark website?
Do dealers have the same prices (particularly in the EU) as shown on the website?
Who is quicker?

Thanks.

In the Netherlands it's 1 on 1 the same price. Factory is quicker though unless the dealer has stock.
I combine a little. Just enough at the dealer to keep him happy enough to help me out every once in a while.

Thanks, Erwin.

If anybody is considering a set of plastics for the Varg (body kit), get it now from some dealer that has it in stock and at the old price.
In the past few days Stark raised the price by 40% from 130 to 180 euro.
I didn't notice any price change for other parts.

I asked one dealer and he wants 20% markup on top of that and four weeks for delivery, so that's not happening.

You mean the MX or EX?
I just ordered an EX set a few weeks ago. Much cheaper than the MX 1.0 part.

I bought both my Starks from a local dealer who had previously sold me my KTMs. I have had bad luck with mail order on big tickets. Plus, even on little tickets I have had stuff missing or the wrong thing shows up. I wasn't taking that chance for $10,000+.

Plus, on my first Stark there was a hiccup with some of the paperwork and the dealer took care of it seamlessly for me. I like to get my bike new with as few hiccups as possible that I have to take care of --I have already worked hard enough to pay for it. On top of that, if you do have problem without a dealer you will have to deal with the "call center" and no matter what industry you are in it is always the same suckage with that --digital/email turn around is no better.

If you walk into a dealer with a need for a bike for missing parts or warranty that you didn't buy from them or purchased mail order we all l know the place in the queue you get... I don't care what the OEM says that is the way it works in reality.

Dealers are no panacea for sure, there can be problems with them they didn't get the reputation as stealerships for nothing. I fortunately had a dealer I have worked with for years with many purchases and service. He and the folks that work there ride Starks and like them along with their ICE bikes. That is usually a good sign to me. There have been postings (unverified) about not so good Stark dealers. If you have dealer you know and trust that would be my rec.

OpaTsupa said:

Thanks, Erwin.

If anybody is considering a set of plastics for the Varg (body kit), get it now from some dealer that has it in stock and at the old price.
In the past few days Stark raised the price by 40% from 130 to 180 euro.
I didn't notice any price change for other parts.

I asked one dealer and he wants 20% markup on top of that and four weeks for delivery, so that's not happening.

Click to expand...

I am. I slid off a highway trestle and my plastics and carbon fiber got really damaged. I had to reinforce the rear fender mounts with washers because the fender mount fasteners got pulled through the plastic. It wasn't a crash just a slide down on the plastics and then an entanglement but my bike looks like it was crashed.

BTW I usually buy all my replacement parts from the Stark website, though I have bought some stuff from ECR Parts - Parts for Electric Dirt Bikes and eMoto and they have been really good for me at least.