Quote:
Originally Posted by Wild Dog
Benelli TNT 600 is chinese as they come. The only Italian thing that benelli now has is the name. Benelli is owned by Qianjiang and the motorcycles are china made.
The whole idea of the "High end" Chinese motorcycle is that they are being sold by official delears at an official store. Not at some random website.
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I always romanticize about motorcycles in the US having a more important role in transportation as opposed to a weekend-warrior luxury so that a one-make dealership could possibly make economic sense. Having a cafe to hang out at would be a definite lifestyle bonus, as well
That is how they are marketed here. Not at all mail-ordered. SSR is the US distributor and if you do not have an SSR dealer nearby, you cannot buy a Benelli (perhaps they have a few dealers sprinkled around-attached to another brand most likely-where they don't sell SSR bikes but do sell Benelli). I have seen the SSR XF250 offered through mail-order a few years back, and one can find their low-end pitbikes on mail-order sites currently (eg. like their 70cc bikes), but I am guessing they no longer will allow their dual-sport (or any of their street bikes) to be mail-ordered and definitely not their Benelli line-up to be mail-ordered.
Lifan has tried for years to establish a dealer network, and the last time they were in the US (the GY-5 days) before getting booted for trying to pull a 'Volkswagen' by fudging the numbers on a 2-stroke scooter (as well as getting in hot water in their partnership with Wildfire AND Lifan's own issues with the GY-2 dual-sport) circa 2010 or thereabouts they were establishing a dealer network. Back then, they did relent and allow mail-ordering to happen only if one did not have a brick and mortar dealership within X miles. The regrouped American Lifan headquartered in the L.A. area circa 2015-ish or thereabouts also was establishing dealers, but also allows mail-ordering, although I am not aware if there are protected areas if one is a within a certain distance to a physical dealership.
I have even thought of opening a Lifan dealership here in Yuma, AZ. But, Yuma tends to be a mysterious place where ideas come to die and burn up in the intense desert heat, so even having a dealership selling low-cost, decent quality bikes in a lower income city like Yuma would probably result in a bankruptcy. Kronik Racing's owner was considering moving Kronik to Yuma due to his wanting to get out of California's extreme regulatory environment but being close enough to be near his in-laws in the Imperial Valley, but even he has second thoughts and is thinking of elsewhere, LOL.