Triumphrat

07-06-2004

Just looking for some feedback and experiences with dealers and service in the New York City area. The only NYC dealer I know of is Gold Coast Motorsports, where I purchased my '02 Bonneville from. I can't believe that there isn't one in the city!!?! Any non-dealer shops that do good work on new Triumphs?

Gold Coast is pretty good overall. The service/parts department worked with me to try to fix my front brake caliper at less of an expense to me. Though this ended up not happening and it took about a month, I believe they were working on it for my benefit. They also seem too backed up probably because they are the only local dealer. They're willing to spend some time on the phone to address concerns and I appreciate that.
With sales, I felt a little underappreciated. Maybe I am not looking to drop $15K on a new bike, but the $7500 I am spending should warrant more responsiveness than I received. Positive customer relations are critical to me. I want my dealer for any major purchase to be someone I know cares about the product and cares about the customer that keeps him in business, from the guy that buys a $24,000 Rocket III to the one that buys a jacket or a lock.

sangsters · 07-06-2004

Brian,

A good friend of mine bought his S3 from Gold Coast. He had nothing but problems with them. From not being able to get a service appointment to the bike not being close to ready when promised. As to ordering of parts? Eight weeks he waited. And in that eighth week they called asking if he wanted them to order the parts!

I bought my S4 from Cycle Connection. The sales guy (Bill) is excellent. Rides Triumphs, loves 'em. The service manager (Joe) has been great to me. Getting me my bike when promised, and even squeezing me in (this past Friday).

To my knowledge there are no dealers in Manhattan. If you have someone willing to give you a ride home (and back -- though there is a bus from Port Authority) I would highly recommend them.

07-06-2004

Wow. That sucks for your friend. Makes me think that maybe it was just BS while I was waiting. Thanks for the info on Cycle Connection, I will check them out.

Yarvis · 08-01-2004

bri9lives:
My name is Yarvis, we are neighbors, I live on Staten Island and lived in Brooklyn. I had Gold Coast do my first service when I bought my bike from Great Bay in November 2002. I didn't have a problem with them but I have heard some rather unpleasant stories about them. (and it's a shame, they treated me very well and seemed to want my repair business.Gold Coast also sponsors a Rat Pack I used to ride with) All I can say is, if they don't treat you right go to another dealer. I am currently using Freehold Honda-Triumph in Freehold, NJ. Not because Gold Coast did anything negative really to me, but because going to Freehold is more convienient for me. I don't have to fight the traffic on the Belt Pkwy and usually traffic heading out to Route 9 in NJ is so much better. The folks at Freehold have been very pleasant to deal with and they fixed my bike right the FIRST time, the only time I had a warranty issue with my 2001 Adventurer. (true it took almost 2 months, but it wasn't their fault) Triumph had closed for the holidays and then they didn't authorize the correct repair initially, so Freehold was replacing all these parts for no reason.
They had to replace my sub wiring electrical harness. Anyway, I am using a fellow in upstate NY who works primarily on BMW's but he has and does work on ALL brands of bikes. I just took my Triumph to him about 2 weeks ago. All I would have needed to bring was the oil filter and crush washer, because he would have used the BMW synthetic oil that a Triumph dealer told him he could have used. The name of his shop is Beemercycles, he is located in Elmsford, NY a short ride from the Tappan Zee. He and his only mechanic are well in tune to our bikes. They allow you to watch them work on your bike. His mechanic Stephen knew exactly how to remove our oil filters (on the triple the filter is held in place with some gizmos and gadgets) He definitely knew what he was doing. Let me know if you want his number and if you want me to take you up there so you can learn the route. From my house to Elmsford via the NJ Tpke and the Pallisades Pkwy is about an hour and 20 minutes taking it easy. Sorry for the long post. Hope to hook up. Where are you in Brooklyn by the way?

Gdsila · 08-04-2004

Further out on Long Island is Ramp Indian which recently picked up triumph. they have a website you could check out. I went to the Triumph truck there and they seemed to understand why a lot of people have negative views of dealers. they might be worth checking out. And probably cheaper/closer than Freehold. Maybe you should check out a couple of dealers Before you NEED them to get a better idea of who you'll want to use. Just a thought. Ride safe.

Yarvis · 08-04-2004

Gdsila:
Ramp was indeed a Indian dealer, and now that it looks that Indian might be making a comeback, I can see them picking up that line of mototcycles again. They had gone thru a major amount of money to make that dealership what it was, a premiere Indian dealership. Now don't get me wrong, I took a ride out there just as they were going to pick up the Triumph line, and they seemed very committed to it. But I don't think they are going to be any cheaper and definitely not any closer to bri9lives. Freehold is less than 45 minutes from my house on Staten Island, and if bri9lives is close to me, then he is looking at roughly the same amount of time in a commute.
Ramp is well over an hour and 20 minutes away from my house. In any event, your idea of checking out these dealers BEFORE you need them sounds like an excellent piece of advice, you certainly can't go wrong there!