A few weeks back I put out a request for listers to help me find a few reliable foreign dealers who might be able to help me find parts for my NC-16, and the response was gratifying. So it's time to share what I've come up with.
I've been thinking about putting together a "source list" for gray-market and vintage bike parts from the info I've compiled, and this is as good a time as any. With a telephone, an internet connection, and a credit card, you can get just about any part you could ever want...you just have to wait a week or two to receive it. First of all, you need to find a market where your bike was sold if you're dealing with a gray-market bike. Canada, England, Australia, and New Zealand are all good bets. Then there are the continental European sources: Holland, Germany & France (I thought language differences would be a problem, but for the most part, they aren't--they usually speak English as well). If it's a vintage bike and sold in the US, these same sources are also good bets for finding parts that you've thought for years were 'NLA' (no longer available). Firstly: the guys on the VFR list have been dealing with a particular Canadian Honda dealer who has shown a real interest in VFR's for a long time: Dynamo Humm in Quebec. We buy things like bodywork in colors that were never sent to the US from them. Their prices are pretty good, too, when you take into account the exchange rate (they invoice you in Canadian dollars, but your credit card is charged in US dollars...very favorable to us). Matt is the fellow to speak with. Call them 1 pm to 3 pm Central time, or e-mail them anytime. I just leave my credit card number on file with them. They'll get parts for other bikes that were sold in Canada but not the US, too, of course: Dynamo Humm 1-888-822-3966 www.dynamohumm.com As good and convenient as they are, I've found that they're not really specialists in getting truly "hard to find" parts. For that, you want to use David Silver Spares in England. These guys are REALLY good at finding the difficult, out-of-stock stuff. You'll pay a bit more for parts from them because of shipping, but hey, if you need it and they're the only ones who can come up with it, what's it matter? For obsolete parts for a really old Honda, they're one of the best. You'll actually get your parts FASTER than you will from Dynamo Humm! David Silver Spares http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk When searching for really hard-to-get parts, it's helpful to understand how Honda is set up internationally: Honda Japan has set up DISTRIBUTORSHIPS on each continent. These distributorships are completely independent of each other, and largely independent from Japan. Each has their own policies on EVERYTHING: parts inventory, service, warranty coverage, bikes they carry, etc. Examples are: American Honda Honda Canada Honda of England Honda Europe Honda South Africa Honda of Australia Honda of New Zealand and, Honda Japan What all this means to YOU is that just because ONE of these says the part you want is NLA, that doesn't mean that one of the OTHERS might not have it! They all keep their OWN inventories! And they're NOT inter-connected, because they're separate entities in separate countries. There's not any valid business reason for them to be interconnected, even in this age of computers. Each serves it's own customers in it's own market area, and has little incentive to service out-of-area customers. But they'll serve YOU, if you ask. You can tap into each of their systems by dealing with a retail dealer in each country. Like I said above: if a dealer in country "A" says a part is 'no longer available'...simply try a dealer in country "B", or "C" ..etc. Yes, this takes a bit of effort on your part...but how bad do you need the part? And with computers and the internet these days, it really isn't so time consuming, especially once you've discovered a good dealer in each market. Occasionally, you'll come across a website in another language. Usually, they'll have an American or British flag on the page that does an automatic translation. Sometimes they don't (another reason to love the French...). The simple solution is to use an automatic translator program: Babelfish: http://babel.altavista.com/translate.dyn It's not perfect, but it's good enough (some of the translations can be downright entertaining!). Besides, you've got part numbers for what you're looking for, don't you? (Of course you do. Don't even start looking internationally without part numbers) Part numbers don't change from market to market--not the Honda code, mind you...but the actual part number! With part numbers, an internet connection and a Visa/Mastercard, you can deal with anybody. A word about the dealers of last resort: the Japanese: they are the hardest to deal with even though they (nominally) speak English (but sometimes they can find parts NOBODY else can get). And shipping from Japan will eat your lunch. Always specify air shipping--ship via 'surface' from Japan, and you'll wait 3-4 months for delivery! Once again: how bad do you need the part? The following is a list of dealers I've come up with. I've dealt with several, but not all of them. All come highly recommended, and almost all are franchised Honda dealers: American: Honda of Milpitas -- VFR specialist http://www.hondamil.com/ Ron Ayers --discount parts--w/PARTS NUMBER DIAGRAMS http://www.ronayers.com/main.cfm Canada: Dynamo Humm 1-888-822-3966 www.dynamohumm.com List of contact #'s for ALL CANADIAN dealers, by province: http://he.honda.ca/motorcycles/dealers/default.asp England: David Silver Spares http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/index.html Lings http://www.lings.com/ Holland: Classic Motorcycle Supplies http://www.cmsnl.com/ France: http://www.bike-parts.fr/ Australia: -Ask for Carl Askew- http://www.motorcyclesonly.com New Zealand: Langlands Honda http://www.hondamotorcycles.co.nz/ Bikes'n'Bits http://www.bikesnbits.co.nz/ Japan: Japanese broker--Cars, Bikes, NEW BIKE PARTS http://www.isibike.com/faq.asp#m_e Used Honda parts_in_Japan http://www.oh-parts.co.jp/honda.htm Best regards, Fred If substitution He should try Just look that clerk Right in the eye And bellow: --Burma-Shave--
