Need reccomendation on parts I should carry.

[Shawn808]

Hi all
Sorry for posting so much, you Vino guys are just so nice! Kind of reminds me of the miata.net fourm I also belong to, great community!

I was wondering if any of you could reccomend any universal parts I could carry at my coffee shop/Vino Scoot Cafe. Are things like Grips and mirrors pretty universal?

Here is a list of what I plan on carrying thus far.

Oil
Mirrors (hopefully for scooters there is a l fit one?)
Batterys
Spark Plugs
Tires
Jet Kits (this universal?)
Scooter Covers (for rain and such)
Turn signals
Bulbs
Handle bar grips
Seat covers


I emailed Provoscooter.com inquiring about wholesaling their products last week but no response thus far. :( I dont know if they have any universal products since the only scooters down here are Abruzzis (Vino knock offs) and a whole lots of Hondas and Derbis.

Well if any of you have any other reccomendations for me I would love to hear it. I am currently working on the new signs now and having Tshirts made for my employees. Lets hope this works! WISH ME LUCK!!!

Thanks
Shawn C.
Owner Gotta Java Espresso/Vino Scoot Cafe

[sooznd]

Shawn
How about carrying gsome accessories like baskets or trunks, rear racks & scooter related or mod stickers.
Also some type of battery charger--like the battery tender.

good luck with your coffe/scooter business!

[XPS1210]

well... as far as parts...

The jets are 1/2 univeral... there are only a few "Styles" and scooters take a small (tiny) size jet so you could get away with 10 or so sizes of the 4 or so types and not loose out to much if they don't sell... They retail for around $5.00 each or so...

Air filters, are a sort of univeral... all depending on your market, as well as available carb sizes for the scooters there...

clutch springs and rollers are halfway universal... I think that yamaha has one stock size and then the aftermarket use a hair bigger... These are a wearable part and need to be replaced after a few hundred to thousand miles depending on bike and conditions of riding...

I agree with the accessories, IE: 1/2 helmets, rear luggage racks, goggles (shatter resistant), riding gloves, even the horrible aftermarket mirrors...

Might be a good thing to try and get something set up for floor board diamond plating... I know that kind of stuff sells but are VERY hard to come by... most people that have it end up making it themself...

Belts (however there are lots of different size, styles, and brands)

universal side stand... 1/2 way hot item... Most people would get one for under $30 just to have one...

windshields, once again a large range of styles and such... however there was one on eBay this week that mounted off the mirrors... instead of on the handlebars which on scooters don't work for most...

[DCVino2002]

Hey Shawn, if you get T-Shirts made up for your shop, maybe you could offer

[marylandmark]

Put me in for one as well!

[Shawn808]

Hi everyone
Thank you so much for your input. My main fear now is that I will lose or not get any new coffee sales at my coffee shop. Since the public is so quick to "Label" you. I may be known as "that scooter place that sells coffee". When I rather be known as "that coffee place that has scooter parts". Since the coffee buying public from a business point of view is much larger. Not to mention I will only start off selling scooter "parts" which isnt going to move as much since I dont offer services and rentals/sales in the begining. I will have Tshirts made and you guys will be the 1st to see them, plus shots of the shop. But this new thing my friend brought up about niching my market not in the coffee buying "public" is really getting me worried.

Any ideas?

[King Vino]

Don't worry about posting, believe me you're not posting all that much. If you're just starting out, I'd worry more about initial product and service before aftermarket. You may want to focus on the rental mark as well with the tourism depending on which island you are on.

[marylandmark]

How many scoot rental shops are where you are at?

I remember saying you were not right in the heart of the tour zone, however you could rent a few scoots out of your shop to start with that have some aftermarket items on them. That will give you exposure and maybe people will stop by to ask about that cool basket or buddy seat they saw on one of your scoots. Most of the time if not in the heart of the tourist zone means your lease is cheaper- meaning you can rent your scooters cheaper than they can as well.

[King Vino]

He's doing the coffee shop thing too remember. Forgot to mention I moved this to the Lifestyles forum because I don't have a better forum to move it to. I wish Erich would add a few new forums, but since this thread did not directly pertain to the Vino, but scootering in general I moved it here.

[scooterconvert]

You know, it seems that the whole coffee shop crowd trend started in Europe as did riding scooters around. I could see riding your scooter down for a latte or something becoming the "thing to do"; like if you have a scooter, that's the place to go! My town has a few gathering places for harley riders - nomatter what time of day, there's always harleys out front. Scooters gotta have a place like that. I know there's more than a few in SF. Then again, I could be totally wrong! Here I go rambling... :p