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Ultimate Motorsports Now Closed In Knoxville TN

11K views 32 replies 16 participants last post by  Rocket XIII 
#1 ·
This completely sucks bad. My bike is not even a year old, and the next nearest Triumph dealer is over 150 miles away. I don't want to sound selfish, but as far as I am concerned any warranty work is going to be way too much of a hassle. DAMMIT!!!
Well I'm off to rip the AI and O2 sensors out since it doesn't matter now.:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
#2 ·
I have been expecting this. It looked to me like they might be going out at about this time last year too. I tried to buy a BMW K1600GT from them in October 2011 and I could not even get Perry to return my calls. Repeated attempts to even discuss getting that bike were just flat ignored. They've been very short on inventory lately, so it makes sense if they've closed.

The Triumph part of their dealership was the reincarnation of Destination which had been a few miles to the west of the Ultimate location. The ownership there struck me as incompetent too.

I ended up buying my K1600GT at MAX in NH, and then when the GT was delayed in customs, I switched to a GTL. I was a cash buyer, and MAX was only too happy to get my business.

Ultimate was only too happy to give me the business.

The service manager at Ultimate was the only competent guy on their staff. He was the only competent guy from Destination too. I will miss him.

Lucky for me that I am not too far from Castle Powersports in Hendersonville. I like them quite well. There's supposed to be a Triumph dealer down in Ringold, Georgia too.
 
#3 ·
Yeah it looks like the north Ga. location will be my closet bet, but is still 85 miles away. Frankly I can already tell that any problems I now have with my bike will come down to me weighing the situation and most likely fixing it myself at a cost.
I agree the service manager there was great. Good thing I just had my oil leak fixed there a week ago.
 
#5 ·
More like an hour and a half, and that's if the bike is ride-able....looks like I might be investing in a trailer. This stinks.
 
#8 ·
Castle in Hendersonville is a strong dealership with excellent and very accomodating service shop. I have a Thrux and StripleR and they have worked on both.
But I have also reverted to the closer BMW shop 'cause the trek to Castle is sometimes a hassle, so I get the PITA factor.
 
#11 ·
I bought my T100 at Destination back in '03. They made me a decent deal, but service was only average and the parts department was a train wreck. I know many folks get into motorcycle sales because they love bikes, but I often wish they would approach it as more of a business enterprise so they would be around for a while...
 
#13 ·
I stopped at Ultimate this morning when I was in Farragut and Knoxville on another errand. There were small signs on the various doors, each proclaiming that they were closed for inventory and with an apology for the inconvenience.

There were several vehicles in the parking lot, and there were obviously a few employees inside. Piles of boxes of parts were staged near the main doors as though waiting for return to Triumph and other manufacturers.

Today is a Monday, so it would be normal for them to be closed. But when I called last week during normal business hours, I got their voice mail which apologized for being busy and requested that I leave a message so that they could call me right back. They never returned calls even when they were in their hay day, so I did not bother to leave a message. That might be part of why they're in trouble.

I have to admit, I am curious to know their status. Maybe they will reopen with different management.
 
#14 ·
My dealer quit selling Triumph some time ago and it's a good long haul to the next dealer. Triumph gives it's dealers a bad time, insisting that they should make very big investments is showrooms; investments that aren't justified by the number of bikes they can sell in a year. I was told by a dealer in Maine who sells both brands that BMW is even more annoying. Harley drove many dealers out of business by making them spend too much money on showrooms, stock, and parts. It has been this way for a long time. The Japanese seem to just want someone selling their bikes so they have huge networks.

I wouldn't buy a trailer quite yet. I'm at 57 thousand miles and my only breakdown was a failed crank position sensor (a generic item not made by Triumph) and I was clear across the country in Oregon when that happened so a trailer wouldn't have helped.

Regards, Chuck
 
#15 ·
Triumph gives it's dealers a bad time, insisting that they should make very big investments is showrooms; investments that aren't justified by the number of bikes they can sell in a year. I was told by a dealer in Maine who sells both brands that BMW is even more annoying.
Honda can be just as bad. We have NO Honda dealers in about a 75 mile radius here anymore because the old dealers failed in the recession and potential new owners could not come to terms with American Honda on the showroom issues. The existing showrooms would not be approved under new contracts.

Honda, Harley, BMW, Triumph .... they all would prefer that the dealer have a large, one marque, modern showroom. The rules aren't applied uniformly because some dealers move enough bikes that the importer doesn't want to let push come to shove. An example where the importer (BMW) gave ground was at BMW Motorcycles of Daytona Beach where Ducati and Triumph were added and given large amounts of showroom space at the expense of BMW.

Japanese seem to just want someone selling their bikes so they have huge networks.
It varies (see Honda discussion above), but many dealers do carry multiple marques. The idea of the UJM (universal Japanese motorcycle) is still alive.

One problem for dealers that carry multiple marques is that it becomes difficult to obtain and maintain solid service personnel. If you don't have guys who have been specifically trained for modern diagnosis methods on the systems that are supported by the importer, it is very hard to support the customer when a bike has problems.
 
#16 ·
I think I've been to that dealer. A multi-line dealer as I recall, just off the freeway and across the street from a Harley dealer. If my still foggy brain is correct, they only 'dabbled' in Triumph.

/M
 
#18 ·
Ultimate was a significant Triumph dealer if typical Spring inventory and accessory displays are any indication. Of course they also had BMW, Aprilia, KTM, Polaris, Victory, Suzuki, and probably a few others. No H-D dealer nearby that I am aware of.

Destination, the Euro-focused forerunner of Ultimate, had BMW, Moto Guzzi, Ducati, Vespa, Triumph, and probably others. They did not have much floor space devoted to Triumph as a rule. No H-D dealer there either.

Castle has a decent Triumph inventory and I think there is an H-D dealer not too far away on the same road. They have a decent Triumph inventory as a rule.

Man-O-War Harley in Lexington is visible from I-75 and has a Triumph dealer that might be argued to be a dabbler right next door. The Triumph dealer there has quite a few brands on the floor, although their Triumph inventory isn't terrible.

In any event, Ultimate does not have signage to indicate that they are closing the doors for good. It looks like a re-organization so far.
 
#17 ·
All the new motorcycle shops in my town closed up. At one time there were 3 here, no Triumphs. I have to go 35 miles away to see the Triumph dealer and the last time I was in there they weren't selling all that many of them. They are a multi-dealer so I hope they always carry the Triumph line. I'm trying to help out by buying 2 of them from them.
 
#20 ·
" Triumph gives it's dealers a bad time, insisting that they should make very big investments is showrooms; investments that aren't justified by the number of bikes they can sell in a year."

"Harley drove many dealers out of business by making them spend too much money on showrooms, stock, and parts."

+1...It's not a coincidence--Triumph hired one of the top executives from Hardley a few years ago. Wrong time, wrong economy, and very wrong business practices by Triumph USA (possibly Triumph corporate, itself), IMHO.

My dealer has not had a Triumph in his store in many months, and I will be surprised to see one.

The good news is the Bonnies require little maintenance that one cannot do themselves. Check your valves at 12K miles and if they need shimming, rent a trailer then--or ride it to a good dealer a few hundred miles away and stay overnight and ride back home the next day. You will likely never need to adjust the valves again, IMHO. I only have 33K miles on my '03...2 valves needed shimming at 12K. Measured again at 24K and all measured the same as the post 12K valve shimming. :D

If I had a dealer as close as 35 miles, I would take a long way to the dealer, anyway--I try to never turn off the key on my twin before I have ridden at least 50 miles--100 is even better, IMHO.
 
#22 ·
I think I posted earlier that a local dealership was looking to take on Triumph and he found them very difficult to deal with. Every time he agreed to one of their demands, they'd make another. They were quite inflexible. He was within a week or two of having bikes in the showroom and the pushed again. That one was too much and he backed out.

Triumph also had difficulty understanding that motorcycles don't sell at all in Maine during the winter. It's currently 0°F here and motorcycles are the farthest thing from anyone's mind. Many local dealers are therefore in reality "part time" motorcycle dealerships. In late autumn any motorcycles that are still on hand go into storage and there are precious few bikes on the showroom floor until March. Right now most dealerships are pushing snowmobiles and various sorts of ATVs. This was unacceptable to Triumph. They couldn't understand why my local dealer wouldn't want to keep all models of Triumphs on the floor year round. I still hope that they will make a deal sometime, but I'm not optimistic.

I now have to travel 80 miles to the next Triumph dealer. The good news is that they sell lots of Triumphs and always have 25 to 30 on display on the showroom floor at all time. Unfortunately they have other issues. They have also been a Suzuki car dealership and now Suzuki will no longer export cars to the USA.

Tough economic times I guess. Let's hope that somehow Triumph will be able to continue to expand it's dealer network.
 
#23 ·
Triumph also had difficulty understanding that motorcycles don't sell at all in Maine during the winter. It's currently 0°F here and motorcycles are the farthest thing from anyone's mind.
VZshadow,

I used to live in Jackman. That's why I always fought the urge to buy one, not enough riding time to make it worth my while; then I moved to the U.P. of Michigan -where in reality it's not that much better- and broke down and bought the Scrammy. I may have gained a couple weeks to a month or so of riding time on either end.
 
#31 ·
Something interesting happened today. As I mentioned above, the prospects of a local Triumph dealership fell through last spring. I wrote to Triumph headquarters in Georgia to encourage them to please revisit that prospect. Today they called me to acknowledge my letter and thank me. I missed the call and got a nice voice mail. I don't know if it will do any good but it sounds like they are listening.
 
#32 ·
Today's e-mail brought a general announcement from Pandora's European Motorsports down in Chattanooga. The announcement said that they wanted to be sure that Knoxville riders of Triumph, Ducati, and BMW knew that they were there to provide support. They even said that they were offering complimentary pick up and delivery in Knoxville.

Although complimentary delivery in Knoxville doesn't help me since I live about equidistant from Knoxville and Chattanooga, it may help others.

The Pandora dealership is located at 4784 Hwy 58.

They appear to be going all out to provide customer relationship building activities, including a special program this weekend on the History of Triumph.
 
#33 ·
I went to the www.pandorasmotorsports.com web site and they do not mention Triumph, so I called and talked to someone on the phone.

He said that they did not yet have a dealer code, but that they would be carrying Triumph and that more details should be available by the end of the month.

They are offering breakfast and lunch on Saturday, and the program on History of Triumph is on Saturday, although I don't know the specific start time. It sounded like it would be "at lunch."

Chattanooga is in the Eastern time zone for those to the west.
 
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