Today, I experienced a contrast so stark and revealing by comparing experiences with two local Salt Lake City motorcycle shops. One good, one not so good.
I have been shopping online for the perfect pair of adventure dualsport riding pants. After striking out on my search for Rukka Allroad pants, which I determined after extensive research to be possibly exactly the pants I was looking for, I turned my attention to another brand and model, the Rev’It Dakar pants. Rukka is a legendary Finnish brand known for quality workmanship, 5-year warranty, and of course, a certain Euro cool factor. In my mind, they also stand out for being virtually unattainable. As Darth Nater can attest, Rukka gear does it all. The only problem is, there is only one place to get them in the U.S., from a distributor in Arizona. Said distributor had nothing in stock when I called to inquire, and their online store is so archaic, it didn’t inspire confidence to say the least. Bartman recommended giving Rev’It a look. I was pleased to find out that Salt Lake Motorsports was a stocking dealer of Rev’It gear, as well as being the local Ducati dealer here in the Beehive State.
I settled on the Rev’It Dakar model and was able to visit their store and try on the pants, which resulted in a purchase. I wanted to try them on with my Sidi Crossfire SRS boots to make sure the fit was right. The young woman who helped said no problem, take them home and try them on with your boots, and if you have second thoughts or any doubts about size or fit, just bring them back. She put them on a hanger and zipped them up in a Salt Lake Motorsports garment bag, as if I had just bought an Armani suit. Now that is what I call friendly service.
The not so good experience was with one of the local KTM dealers, Edge Motorsports. I called to inquire about getting my bike in for an oil change and minor service in advance of the Trans-America Trail trip, with the May 17th departure date looming. The surly voice of the young lady on the phone at their service department assured me they were three weeks out on being able to work on my bike, and I was basically SOL. I have a hard time imagining there is no way they could squeeze it in, but it was the attitude of the person on the phone that turned me off the most. Take it or leave it. So I am going to change the oil myself and probably wing it on rebuilding my leaking hydraulic clutch master cylinder. Too bad Salt Lake Motorsports isn’t a KTM dealer.