Lost another small Business in Minneapolis,MN

mbarr10 · 01-02-2020, 05:29 PM

Another small business gone. Here in Minneapolis, MN we lost another "Icon" Small business after 43 years. Midwest Cycle Supply, 43rd and Nicolet south. 2 major suppliers for me since I purchased my 2016 Vaquero. My initial Dealer that I purchased my bike from The Hitching Post , and my main tire purchase and install and parts place, Midwest Cycle Supplies.. So Sad. Now the nearest places for me are 30 and 50 miles apart, for any kind of Warrantee service. And they differed a lot in the types of service. 50 miles has towing but it is 130.00. Unless you count Joe Shit the Ragman places, Like ROYS, which does OK but are not Brand specific in the repairs and do not do Kawi Warrantee work. . Please purchase locally, I only placed orders with Midwest at a 5-10 dollar increase from Amazon, but got to hold it and take it outside to see how it fit and looked before I bought it. A Very satisfying Experience !! And they were only 20 blocks away from the house.

**smokier** · 01-04-2020, 07:10 AM

Greetings MBarr,

Sorry to learn two of your favorite haunts are no longer there. We have become a society of DISCOUNTS, DISCARDS and ONLINE CONVENIENCE. What we are trading away is CUSTOMER SERVICE and KNOWLEDGE.

While John Parham (JP Cycles) had zero respect for METRIC motorcycles. His staff was (is) always friendly and knowledgeable. They will let you take a part out to your bike and compare, look, size and see. They would help you find a bit or piece that would help you accomplish whatever mod you were trying to make.

I prefer mom-n-pop GAS stations. There is a guy trying to make a living, as opposed to a corporation trying to drive profits to the bottom line. I'll pay the extra two cents per gallon. Just me, sorry for the rant.

Ride safe,
Smokier

ponch · 01-05-2020, 08:23 PM

Where I live now is very corporate. RideNow and GOAZ own a lot of the bike dealerships. Cars are AutoNation, Penske, Chapman and Earnhart for the most part. Quality almost always suffers when companies get bigger and expand because they are forced to drive down costs to make a profit. I am experiencing it where I work, which is a state university. Shift Left management. I've seen the results in medicine. Multidoctor practices where you're lucky to get 15 minutes with a doctor at best, usually a physicians assistant or nurse practitioner now as they work cheaper. In IT where I work it's about having the lowest paid people do as much work as possible. Drive costs down and according to management, raise quality, which is a lie. Anyway, I feel your pain. Quality isn't job 1 anymore.

backinthesaddleagain · 01-08-2020, 07:07 PM

Dr. Mudspringer up in Mounds View. They have been around forever and Randy is a top notch guy.

**Rookie13** · 01-10-2020, 08:53 PM

That sucks to hear about Mike. Really miss the Hitching Post since you mention them. Still went to those guys even after I first moved back to Rochester. They really new my SuperMagna well and treated me like a best friend any time I walked in the door.

01-02-2020, 05:29 PM	#1
mbarr10 Sr. Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Minneapolis Posts: 1,565	Lost another small Business in Minneapolis,MN Another small business gone. Here in Minneapolis, MN we lost another "Icon" Small business after 43 years. Midwest Cycle Supply, 43rd and Nicolet south. 2 major suppliers for me since I purchased my 2016 Vaquero. My initial Dealer that I purchased my bike from The Hitching Post , and my main tire purchase and install and parts place, Midwest Cycle Supplies.. So Sad. Now the nearest places for me are 30 and 50 miles apart, for any kind of Warrantee service. And they differed a lot in the types of service. 50 miles has towing but it is 130.00. Unless you count Joe Shit the Ragman places, Like ROYS, which does OK but are not Brand specific in the repairs and do not do Kawi Warrantee work. . Please purchase locally, I only placed orders with Midwest at a 5-10 dollar increase from Amazon, but got to hold it and take it outside to see how it fit and looked before I bought it. A Very satisfying Experience !! And they were only 20 blocks away from the house. __________________ Please post back after you have solved any issues 2016 1700 Vaquero 10/4/2016 2007 1500 Classic W/ Reckless Fairing, 42,000 miles 2004 600 Honda Shadow 18,000 miles 1989 500 Honda CX Custom 55,000 miles 1973 400 Kawi Triple 5,000 miles Login or Register to Remove Ads
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01-04-2020, 07:10 AM	#2
smokier Join Date: May 2015 Location: DBQ Iowa Posts: 1,807	Support your local - non chain businesses Greetings MBarr, Sorry to learn two of your favorite haunts are no longer there. We have become a society of DISCOUNTS, DISCARDS and ONLINE CONVENIENCE. What we are trading away is CUSTOMER SERVICE and KNOWLEDGE. While John Parham (JP Cycles) had zero respect for METRIC motorcycles. His staff was (is) always friendly and knowledgeable. They will let you take a part out to your bike and compare, look, size and see. They would help you find a bit or piece that would help you accomplish whatever mod you were trying to make. I prefer mom-n-pop GAS stations. There is a guy trying to make a living, as opposed to a corporation trying to drive profits to the bottom line. I'll pay the extra two cents per gallon. Just me, sorry for the rant. Ride safe, Smokier __________________ You only get one, so "Make it the best day ever!" 2014 Victory Cross County Tour Blue Fire Gloss (BFG) "Cruella" Brides Ride: 2012 Victory Crossroads in Sunset Red "Ruby" Previous Vulcans: '15 Vaquero, '12 Vaquero, '10 1700 Nomad, '04 1500 Classic, '01 1500 Classic, '88 Vulcan 750 VROC # 10967 \| VBA # 3115
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01-05-2020, 08:23 PM	#3
ponch Sr. Contributor Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Way East Valley Posts: 12,017	Where I live now is very corporate. RideNow and GOAZ own a lot of the bike dealerships. Cars are AutoNation, Penske, Chapman and Earnhart for the most part. Quality almost always suffers when companies get bigger and expand because they are forced to drive down costs to make a profit. I am experiencing it where I work, which is a state university. Shift Left management. I've seen the results in medicine. Multidoctor practices where you're lucky to get 15 minutes with a doctor at best, usually a physicians assistant or nurse practitioner now as they work cheaper. In IT where I work it's about having the lowest paid people do as much work as possible. Drive costs down and according to management, raise quality, which is a lie. Anyway, I feel your pain. Quality isn't job 1 anymore. __________________ Ponch VBA 0019 VROC 8109-R BMWMOA 162849 BMWRA 41335 BMW: When you care enough to ride the very best. My Motorrad Blog My Motorrad YouTube 2009 BMW R1200RT Previous bikes:2007 Nomad \| 2001 Vulcan 800 Classic \| 1984 GPz750 \| 1978 KZ1000A2 Rallies: Custer '09\|Prairie Du Chien '10\|Crescent City '11
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01-10-2020, 08:53 PM	#5
Rookie13 Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Rochester, Minnesota Posts: 179	That sucks to hear about Mike. Really miss the Hitching Post since you mention them. Still went to those guys even after I first moved back to Rochester. They really new my SuperMagna well and treated me like a best friend any time I walked in the door. __________________ A nation of sheep will soon have a government of wolves- Edward R. Marrow Login or Register to Remove Ads
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01-08-2020, 07:07 PM	#4
backinthesaddleagain Jr. Member Join Date: Jun 2019 Location: MN/WI Posts: 6	Dr. Mudspringer up in Mounds View. They have been around forever and Randy is a top notch guy.
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