Motoxtreme

[ejcycles]

Originally Posted by mrhyak

That has been going on since day-1 by Lifan dealers, and most other China bike dealers.

This is incorrect information. American Lifan did some drop shipping in 2003-2004, direct from the distributor in Texas. In 2005 Lifan (China) cleaned house on American Lifan because it is Illegal in The USA for a Distributor to sell to the General Public, {Federal Law}. In 2005 the only person that was left that was of the original A. Lifan people was Frank our parts person. Peter Xie, Shawn Blauth & Jeff {tech.} where hired in to prevent and this from happening and follow the rules of our Federal DMV system for distributors. They did experiment with e~Bay sales and that went down the toilet. In 2007 from my understanding direct from Shawn any Motor Vehicle Dealer that is set up with them (A. L.) can have bikes Drop-shipped from Texas. Brian was the first in 2007 to be able to advertise this, per Shawn.

{The contract that I signed with A. Lifan in 2005 says No Drop-shipping at all will be tolerated, no e~Bay sales will be tolerated and All American Lifan vehicles must be Assembled, Prepped & Final PDI done by The Dealer that sells them to cover the warranty.}

Apparently the rules have changed... Any American Lifan Dealer can have a bike drop-shipped from Texas, unless the Dealers State has laws against is like Ohio does. The bikes don't need to be assembled, prepped and pdi'ed by the selling dealer... I guess.

Everyone here or most of you know my feelings on drop shipping and why.
We will see what happens to Drop-shipping in 2008 in The USA as there is some work on a bill to completely stop Drop-shipping of New Motor Vehicles of any kind.

[Q]

I would hate to see drop shipping stopped. American Lifan doesn't yet have a large dealer network so getting a bike in a place like Bend Oregon just wouldn't happen without it. As long as the buyer understands that some assembly is required, where is the problem?

Q

[katoranger]

Bill is probably being push by the big four jap makers who are feeling the crunch from these china bikes.

I understand where Bruce is coming from on drop shipping too, but in order for alot of us to get a china bike it needs to be shipped to us. I have two dealers within a reasonable mileage distance, but with traffic would take me hours to get to.

Allen

[panamarandy]

after reading all the nice things here about this dealer, I wish I woulda bought a bike from him instead of a tank, which has all sorts of problems.

[SpeedSouth]

I called Brian on Monday and placed my order around 3:30pm I picked up my bike from Estes at about 2pm today (Friday).

As expected, everything has been smooth with no surprises.

Well, maybe one surprise, but it's not important to me. I expected an email telling me it had shipped and maybe a tracking number, which I did not get. No big deal. It doesn't effect anything. I did call Brian yesterday to confirm it had shipped and he seemed shocked I didn't get an email. He said to look for a call Monday, maybe Tuesday, but it came early. Sweet!

I got the bike assembled and everything installed except a few small parts like the front fender and the hand guards....and the battery.

I'll post again after I get the MSO, tag and insurance....but to this point my experience w/ Brian has been excellent.


Thanks Brian!

[iMoose]

I hope they don't stop the GOOD drop-shippers. Otherwise I bet the prices go up. Then you will have to make an even bigger leap of faith in the quality of the bikes. Then they won't be such a bargain. I bet the big 4 would LOVE that, and probably support the legislation too. It's just like economics class: Supply decreases, price increases.

Just when I thought there was truly an alternative, somebody is trying to control it. For no reason other than to squeeze more of YOUR money into THEIR pockets. The R&D involved in production of these bikes isn't going to be the reason for an increase in price, it's going to be marketing that formulates how much MORE they can get away with charging YOU. But they'll say it's R&D or better service or warranty service with their vast dealer network. That's just as shady as the bait-and-switch guys, IMO.

They are already in production, have been for years, and even better versions of what we see here in the states are already being sold in other markets. Let the market decide the victors, not the "State" with legal constraints. That's a capital "S" as in OPPRESSION!
Let freedom reign. Not the dollar. (or yen for that matter)

[mrhyak]

There is nothing wrong with shipping. You can even buy a new car and have
it shipped to your home, why not a bike? Not everyone has a dealer nearby
where they live so shipping is necessary.

[ejcycles]

No you can't,
Not without the Dealer fully Assembling, Prepping & PDIing the vehicle first. Then they will deliver it to your home.

But You can Not buy a car that isn't fully taken care of prior to it's delivery to where it's going!!!!


I would gladly deliver a bike that is fully Assembled, Prepped & PDIed to a customer, they will pay for the delivery also, just as a Car Dealer Charges.

[mrhyak]

My parents purchased a car from a dealer in Texas and had it delivered to them via a car hauling service because local dealers didn't have the exact model/features they wanted, but they already knew what car they wanted.

Go ahead and tell me it can't be done, I know better then that.

[Jim]

I think what he is saying is you can't buy a car in a crate needing assembly (a new car that is)

[katoranger]

The selling dealer had done the prep work before shipping the car. It was still bought from a dealer and not drop shipped from a warehouse.

Ohio law prevents Bruce from making sales off of his business location. He can deliver, but the actual money transaction and sale needs to be done at his location.

I think GA is the same way.

Other states may allow it.

Allen

[driller]

Brian is awsome :!:

[iMoose]

You CAN buy cars in kit form though. Not the big three. Not a 2008 Ford F-150, but a 1956 Ford F-150. Replicas of cars they have made in the past. Or something completely modern, new, and original. Comes in a crate and you put it together yourself. In every stage of assembly you wish to pay for. Usually at a very small percentage of what an original costs.
Yeah, this has gotten pretty far off topic. :roll:

[Jim]

That's why I said "new cars" I didn't mean kit cars or old cars

[iMoose]

When you title a kit car in this state(FL), it's a NEW car unless you use an old pre-emissions regulated motor.

A friend of my mother's built a Porsche Speedster kit and used a '57 bug as the donor car. He's able to use an authentic 1957 Florida plate. His title says 1957 VW Speedster! It performs better than the original in every way! For about $16,000.

Another guy at work built an ATOM which uses a 750cc motorcycle engine in a 4 wheeled tube-steel chassis. His is titled as a 2007, the year he built it. I think it's the quickest car I've EVER been in. Cost him $25,000. That BBC show TopGear tested one and it beat alot of supercars that cost $100,000+ around the track. Don't think it has a top though.

I know I'm splitting hairs.

There's even a shop in St. Petersburg that takes old-ass 60's Mustang "turd" 6-cylinder cars and puts in modern fuel-injected V-8's, brakes, suspensions, interiors, and all-new wiring. He usually sells them repainted and all for $20k! WITH A 3 YEAR WARRANTY