Towne BMW Buffalo NY

Sill's Motor Sales Cleveland

wkoppa said:

My Uncle rode out of Sills when he first appeared on a visit to Michigan in the 60's. Never owned a car. He seemed to be having more fun than anyone I ever met. I figured as a young teenager that the motorcycle had something to do with it and I needed to get with he program when old enough. Fifty years later I still can't leave those motorcycles alone.

Wayne Koppa
Grayling, MI
#71,449 Life

Click to expand...

Sill's is small, but they have been in business since 1936. They started as an Indian dealership and went to BMW when Indian closed their doors. I do not take my biker any place else for service. I always use Sill's.

akbeemer said:

Trail’s End BMW in Fairbanks, AK was a one man operation for nearly 50 years. When George was forced to sell the franchise to the local Harley dealership in 2007 he was still running the dealership out of a 1950s era travel trailer with a cabin grafted on to it that doubled as his home. He used a wood stove for heat, had an outhouse and two ramshackle sheds were his only shop space. Every car he ever owned and every tire he ever changed were stored around his heavily wooded four acre lot. I do not recall a single square inch of BMW approved, color coordinated tile.

Click to expand...

George could be cantankerous. When you showed up there it was best not to be too demanding or critical in any way. If he became offended and decided he didn't like you you might as well have been talking to the trees. If he decided he liked you he would go out of his way to help you, but otherwise he might just simply tell you to take yourself and your bike someplace else - any place else as long as it was off his property.

That was the Trail's End version of customer service.

Towne BMW

I am in Churchville as well. Sad to see Country Rode close, and now Towne. Will be interested to see where anyone in this area goes for service. Looks like Cleveland would be the closest at this point.

desperado2 said:

Sad to see Country Rode close, and now Towne. Will be interested to see where anyone in this area goes for service. Looks like Cleveland would be the closest at this point.

Click to expand...

Sad, indeed. I was up in Webster, NY, and stopped by the site of Country Rode Motowerks. Sure enough, just an empty building with a big "Available" sign out front.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, the closest BMW Motorrad dealer now appears to be Budd's just north of Hamilton in Ontario: https://www.buddsmotorrad.com/

I will have to contact them to see if there would be any issues servicing US spec BMW bikes...

Harry

BMW corporate has decided that in the United States they need about 150 dealerships to support US sales and allow those dealerships to be profitable. That does not mean one on every corner convenient to all of us. From my house the nearest is 400 miles, the next is 450 miles, and I patronize Engle Motors 1100 miles away.

I do not like the demise of some of the old dealerships. But I don't want BMW Motorrad USA to reign over bankrupt and losing dealerships either. I have never yet met a 5 brand (YamaKawaHonSuzBMW) dealership I was happy with so simply grafting two bikes on the floor of one of these is not (IMHO) the answer.

As silly as it might sound I have had great luck patronizing a couple of BMW - Harley Davidson shops. (Michelers in Wisconsin and Grand Junction in Colorado). With on road problems both have served me better than well. And the very best have been BMW-Triumph dealerships or BMW only shops, but they are few and far between.

If you wish to be a BMW owner and rider, the facts are that dealerships might be few and far between. Moreso in the Midwest and Great Plains than the east coast and west coast. Living in Texas I snicker and sneer when I hear folks complain about dealerships an hour away. My grocery store and hardware store are an hour away. If you need a dealership a few miles away you will need to buy a Honda or a Harley. If you want a BMW you need to understand the spread of those 150 dealerships.

Just does not make sense, I guess

I just don't understand how after Towne jumped trough all the hoops to get and was granted a BMW motorcycle dealership, BMW could pull it before they could ever get truely established.
If what I hear about BMW's issues with square footage of the showroom are correct then BMW is just plain goofy.

I know Country Rode closed because the owners retired and no one purchased the dealership. Towne would have been well withing the 150 mile limit.

Just a stupid way for BMW North America to do buiness as far as I am concerned.

But, I have airhead bikes and BMW Motorad does not care about them anyway, so a dealership is moot point for me. I will stick to my independent shop. St.

AKsuited said:

Sad, indeed. I was up in Webster, NY, and stopped by the site of Country Rode Motowerks. Sure enough, just an empty building with a big "Available" sign out front.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, the closest BMW Motorrad dealer now appears to be Budd's just north of Hamilton in Ontario: https://www.buddsmotorrad.com/

I will have to contact them to see if there would be any issues servicing US spec BMW bikes...

Harry

Click to expand...

I called Bud's. They assured me they would have no problem in servicing US bikes.

vcheng said:

I called Bud's. They assured me they would have no problem in servicing US bikes.

Click to expand...

Good. Thank you.

Harry

OGOBRacing said:

If there is a downside to owning a BMW it is the weak dealer network. Now, I would want the company to have competent dealers and get rid of any that are not, but the network is too few and far between.

Click to expand...

Agree totally.

OGOBRacing said:

If there is a downside to owning a BMW it is the weak dealer network. Now, I would want the company to have competent dealers and get rid of any that are not, but the network is too few and far between.

Click to expand...

Agree

STEVENRANKIN said:

I just don't understand how after Towne jumped trough all the hoops to get and was granted a BMW motorcycle dealership, BMW could pull it before they could ever get truely established.

Click to expand...

BMW Motorrad didn't pull the franchise; Towne decided they didn't want it.

vcheng said:

I called Bud's. They assured me they would have no problem in servicing US bikes.

Click to expand...

I've taken my bike to Budds' once for service and was very impressed. I do see some potential problems with cross border service and will call John Parker today for clarification. Specifically, I'm concerned about warranty and recalls. BMW Motorrad USA gives a two year parts and labor warranty when BMW parts are installed by a BMW dealer. I don't yet know what BMW Motorrad Canada's policy is, nor how it works for work done in one country and a warranty claim made in another. The 12 year extended fuel strip warranty is a separate issue by itself. Regarding recalls, Transport Canada doesn't always issue the same recalls as NHTSA, and recalls in a particular country are usually specified by VIN, so again I'll need to see how this really works.

vcheng said:

I called Bud's. They assured me they would have no problem in servicing US bikes.

Click to expand...

Just as Detroit BMW has never had a problem servicing my Canadian bikes.

BMW pulled the plug

According to my information, BMW pulled the plug on Towne's dealership.

It makes no sense for Towne to go through all the hoops and start to build a new show room if they did not want the motorcycle franchise.

BMW does not force motorcycle dealership onto car dealerships.

Most of this is BMW's boutique expectations of dealers. This attitude is what put many good mom and pop shops out of business.

My sources told me that, after the fiasco a few years ago with another potential Western NY dealer, BMW Motorrad asked Towne if they would take on the franchise. But, I suppose it really doesn't make much difference. One way or another, we have no local dealer.

kthutchinson said:

But, I suppose it really doesn't make much difference. One way or another, we have no local dealer.

Click to expand...

Exactly. Time to move on to a different topic?

Paul_F said:

If you cross the border and head to Burlington, ON, Bud's BMW is only about 1 1/2 hours away and your dollar is worth about $1.30 as of compared to the Canadian buck. John Parker is their head bike mechanic.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info on Bud’s. I’m also trying to decide best way to get service out of Rochester. I had chance to stop in to Kissel Motorsports in PA and very nice people with new expanded showroom and service department, but very out of the way for me.

I have nexus so getting to Hamilton shouldn’t be too bad. I’ll try them for the next service.

If you're heading to Budds' from New York in the morning, get an early start. Once you cross the skyway at Hamilton and start heading into Toronto, morning rush hour traffic can slow to a crawl. It may be better to find a side road.

bhackleman said:

Thanks for the info on Bud’s. I’m also trying to decide best way to get service out of Rochester. I had chance to stop in to Kissel Motorsports in PA and very nice people with new expanded showroom and service department, but very out of the way for me.

I have nexus so getting to Hamilton shouldn’t be too bad. I’ll try them for the next service.

Click to expand...

I'm about 65 miles south of Rochester. Kissel's is 27 miles further away from me than Budd's, but there should be almost no traffic. Close decision. I will also have to renew my passport soon to enable a trip to Budd's, or more accurately, to be able to get back into the US from Budd's...It's possible I might save money with the exchange rate issue if I patronize Budd's.

Remember you'll be paying the 13% harmonized sales tax (HST) in Ontario.

If you start going back and forth across the border, Global Entry and NEXUS combined could make each transition much faster.