The Dealership Fixit Podcast

Triumph's Recall, MV Agusta's Money Trouble, and Two Dealers Who Have Lasted Over 100 Years | The Rundown

Here is what mattered in powersports this week, and what each story means for your store. Two kinds of stories this week. Brands under pressure: Triumph's first dirt bike gets recalled, MV Agusta admits it is hunting for cash, and KTM's newest bike is only as good as the allocation. And two dealers who just proved you can last. Kegel Harley-Davidson is the official oldest Harley dealer in the world at 114 years. Naults in New England is at 118 and started out selling Schwinn bicycles. The line between the two is simple. The ones that last have more than one leg to stand on. Polaris is building sleds for the military. CFMoto is buying into an NFL stadium. Turn 14 is bringing show-only parts pricing right before the fourth quarter. The lesson for a dealer is the same one every time. New units are not the only game. This week's rundown: Triumph recalls about 1,560 TF-450 motocross bikes in the US. The rocker arm can seize, the valves can break, and the fix is a whole new cylinder head. Twelve reports, one injury. This is the first real test of how Triumph backs its first dirt bike, and the owner is mad at Triumph but standing at your counter. MV Agusta says it is restructuring and looking for an outside investor. The statement pushes back on rumors but never says bikes are being built or shipped. What gets shaky first for an MV dealer: new units, parts, then warranty money. Why a cheap buy-in on a struggling brand is not cheap if the units never show up CFMoto is now the official side-by-side and ATV partner of the Minnesota Vikings. Close to 800 US dealers now. Why a stadium deal means your salesperson is not starting cold. Kegel Harley-Davidson in Rockford, Illinois, is the official oldest Harley dealer in the world. Same family since 1912. Retention is the whole game. Yamaha's 2027 WR450F. A new model year is a reason to call every owner in your file, and every trade is a clean used unit you sell twice. KTM's 2027 690 Rally. The ADV buyer spends on luggage, crash bars, and tires, and rides enough miles to keep your service bays full. The honest question is allocation. Husqvarna's 2027 TE300 Pro and FE350 Pro. Why the Pro badge gives your salesperson a step up and why the rider who stretches for it buys the good tires too. Naults Powersports has been open 118 years. It started as a Schwinn bicycle shop in 1908 and runs four stores today. Being old is the result, not the plan. Turn 14 is bringing buy-ready UTV parts and show-only pricing to the Sand Sports Super Show. Side-by-side unit margin is thin. The money is in wheels, roofs, light bars, and winches. Stock deep now. Polaris built a snowmobile for the military. You will never sell one, but it tells you the factory reads retail as soft and is spreading its bets. Smart dealers do the same. Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit Sponsor: https://ziidms.com/fixit Connect with Jacob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/ Follow the Fixit Online: https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit MotoHunt for Dealers: https://dealers.motohunt.com

Forget One Price. Think One Profit. What Powersports Can Steal From the Car World | Jason White

Every dealer says the same thing when the season slows down. We have no traffic. Jason White has counted the traffic, by hand, to check his door counters. His answer: you have plenty. You are just not doing good with it. Jason has run Fay Myers Motorcycle World in Colorado for 30 years. For the last ten he has also been a GM and now VP of Financial Services at Schomp Automotive Group, the car group famous for one price, one person, one hour. He sits on the board of A2Z Sync. He runs an F&I product agency. And he co-founded One Dealer Lane. Almost nobody has lived both worlds at the top like this. What we cover: Why most deals do not die on price. They die in the gaps nobody is measuring. Stopping the clock. The OEMs want fast lead responses. Fast is not the same as good. The one rule Jason lives by: you must measure to manage. Foot traffic, internet traffic, phone traffic. He has door counters in sales, parts, and service. Why the phone tracking excuse is dead. A VoIP system costs what your 1975 phone costs. Listen to your phone calls. Even your best people. If you want to get frustrated, do it on a Tuesday. The slow season lie. Peak season is shooting fish in a barrel. The off season shows who follows the process. The wait. Why a customer sitting in silence hurts more in a passion purchase than in a car deal. The pit pass and the dealership walk. Why they made the process longer and the timing never worked. The number one fix, and it sounds too simple: get the paper out of the deal. Why powersports pays one seventh of what auto pays for a CRM, and why it is not fair to expect the same results. The store with a CRM nobody uses. Some guys on the CRM, some on the DMS, some on a sticky note. How Jason forced the habit. The Schomp story. Lisa Schomp went one price in the early nineties, let go of the commission staff, and hired teachers. They went from third to first in market share. Forget one price. Think one profit. The lesson from Aaron Wallace that changed how Jason looks at every deal. Why Fay Myers still does not run one price, and the 190 Honda motorcycle variations that explain it. The line to write down: with transparency you get trust, and with trust you get speed. The FTC and the freight problem. Why BMW is the only OEM doing it right, and Jason's warning to an OEM this week about who ends up named in the lawsuit. Setup charges that are still based on labor math from the 1980s. F&I with no negotiation. Every customer pays the same price for every product. What it does to penetration. Retro before reinsurance, and the three to five products every store should carry. The digital menu. Three years ago Jason surveyed 100 dealers. Ten had one. The one thing to do this week: walk your own deal from handshake to keys and count how many times you type the same customer in. One Dealer Lane in sixty seconds, including the 25-year sticky-note salesman who said "I wish you had forced me sooner." Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit Connect with Jason White: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-white-6608b81/ One Dealer Lane: https://onedealerlane.com Sponsor: https://ziidms.com/fixit Connect with Jacob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/ Follow the Fixit Online: https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit MotoHunt for Dealers: https://dealers.motohunt.com

BMW's Motorcycles Now Make More Money Than Its Cars, Used Prices Keep Climbing, and Credit Scores Slip | The Rundown

Here is what mattered in powersports this week, and what each story means for your store. At BMW, the motorcycle side just out-earned the car side. The bikes made about 230 million euros in profit in the first half of the year. The car side saw profit fall 45%. And here is the part to chew on. Motorrad sold slightly fewer bikes and still made more money on each one. Less discounting. A richer mix. Tighter inventory. The same discipline we have heard from Harley and Polaris. That theme runs through the whole week. The best used dealers are the ones who turn fast instead of holding out for every last dollar. And the dealers who keep saying yes to buyers are the ones with a deep lender bench, because credit scores on new loans are slipping. This week's rundown: BMW Motorrad profit up 8.5% while the car side fell 45%. Why fewer units and more profit is the healthy trick, and what to tell a customer on the fence. Suzuki's first wave of 2027 bikes. The new SV7GX sport crossover at about $8,600, 40th anniversary GSX-R1000s, and refreshed RM-Z dirt bikes. Three different buyers from one announcement. Why Suzuki's reservation program is smart. It tells you which buyers are serious. Kawasaki recalls about 3,500 supercharged Teryx H2 side-by-sides. A drive part can break and throw metal. Stop riding, free fix, and a reason to get your best customers back in the service drive. Club BRP drew more than 4,100 dealers from 81 countries. The new Responsible Rider Masterclass is free safety training, and free safety training is free customer retention. Dealer of the Year went to Sheridan Powersports for Can-Am and RideNow Chandler for Sea-Doo. Honda opened its 2027 National Technician Contest. $8,000 and a shot at Team USA. Why a tech who feels seen is a tech who stays. Used prices are running about 10% higher than last year. Trade equity is real, and it is rocket fuel for a new deal. Take every trade, no matter the badge. A Honda store should still appraise the Polaris that rolls in. Wholesale what you do not want to keep. One caution on used. Inventory is still high, and if the brands pile on new unit discounts, used values can drift down later. Credit scores on new auto loans fell from 723 to 716. More buyers under 580. Why a thin lender bench is how good customers walk out. Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit Connect with Jacob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/ Follow the Fixit Online: https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit MotoHunt for Dealers: https://dealers.motohunt.com Sponsor: https://ziidms.com/fixit

Holding Inventory Rarely Pays Off: The July Numbers and What to Do With Aged Units Right Now | Mike Murray, NPA

Back in May, Mike Murray told us April was the top and the market would bottom out around August. The July numbers are in. He was right. But there is a new wrinkle. About 6,500 units crossed the block in July. A year ago it was 5,000. That is 30% more bikes at the auction, the most for any July in three years. More supply plus the normal fall slide means a lot of red on the report. Domestic cruisers down 13%. Metric down 10%. PWC down 23%. Here is the part most dealers will miss. The actual dollars are still at or above last year in most categories. The drop feels worse than it is because spring was so strong. And the lowest prices of the year are sitting right in front of you for the next 30 to 60 days. Mike walks through where the extra bikes are coming from, why the clean ones still bring big money while the rough ones sit, and what to do with the units you took in too high this summer. He also gives away the pricing trick a dealer shared in a 20 group meeting last week. It works. What we cover: Why the slide came right on schedule, and why 2026 is still a little better than expected Where the extra 1,500 auction units came from. It is not repos. Repos are flat. More dealers are buying too. NPA saw about 10% more dealers show up this year. The three ways dealers use Direct Buy: the trade you do not want, the trade you are not sure about, and the unit that has aged out Sturgis: how NPA put numbers on non-Harley trades in a couple of minutes so the sales team could stay on the customer Why this is a buyer's market right now. More supply, less competition, and the northern dealers are already thinking about snow. The three things that decide what a bike is worth: how wanted it is, what shape it is in, and the miles Where the deals are. Clean low-mile bikes still get bid up. The one with a dent in the tank that needs $900 in recon is where the money is. The buying window: prices start climbing again in 30 to 45 days The unit you took in too high. Mike's answer: holding inventory rarely pays off. Cut it loose and put the money in something that turns. The dealer who turns his used inventory five times a year, and how he does it The 11,995 pricing trick Why clean Harleys keep pulling away from rough ones Why side by sides are holding up when everything else slid Why PWC fell off a cliff, and why not to panic about it Repos: flat, normal, nothing to worry about The $10,000 bike that is now an $8,000 bike, and the $1,000 loss that turned into $2,000 because nobody had a plan Book values dropping 2% to 4% on September 1, and why that is good news Trikes: why the book went one way and the real market went another The 60 to 90 day outlook The one thing to do this week: go watch an auction for 30 minutes Watch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit NPA Market Report: https://www.npauctions.com/cp/npa-market-report Reach Mike Murray: mmurray@npauctions.com Connect with Jacob: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/ Follow the Fixit Online: https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit MotoHunt for Dealers: https://dealers.motohunt.com Sponsor: https://www.ziidms.com/fixit

BRP Has Its Own Bank, Blackstone Buys MarineMax for $1.5 Billion, and the FTC Fines a Dealer $4 Million | This Week's Rundown

Here is what matters in powersports this week, and what each story actually means for your store. The Dealership fiXit Rundown cuts through the headlines and tells you how the week's news lands on your floor, in your service bay, and in your next conversation with a customer. No fluff, just the stories that matter and the angle a dealer can actually use. This week's rundown: BRP launches its own captive lender, BRP Financial Services, built with Octane. What a factory-owned bank means when a customer sits at your desk to buy a Can-Am, Sea-Doo, or Ski-Doo, and the upside and the catch for your store Blackstone's Safe Harbor buys MarineMax, the largest boat retailer in the country, for $1.5 billion all cash. Why Wall Street money moving into recreation tells you what your own store could be worth Can-Am reveals its 2027 side-by-sides and ATVs: a ground-up Defender HD10 with 80 horsepower, factory-installed accessory packages, a smoother Maverick R, and big 10.25 inch screens with offline maps What is actually working on social media for dealers right now, and why real video of your people beats polished unit photos every time The US and Canada tariff fight is back, with new taxes set for September 8th, and why it lands on your sticker price whether you sell north or south of the border The FTC and the state of Connecticut hit a Nissan dealer with a $4 million settlement over pricing. Why the same rules are aimed right at powersports and what trips dealers up The cheap end of the used market is drying up. A three-year-old vehicle just hit a record price, and what that means for the value of the trade sitting in your customer's garage The MIC bought MotorcycleIndustryJobs.com, the main hiring board for our industry, and why staffing is the quiet bottleneck choking most stores The profit hiding in your showroom: why how you lay out your floor and your gear wall is a real profit center most dealers treat as an afterthought AIMExpo 2027 is locked in for Orlando, March 3rd through 5th, and how to actually get value out of the trip Watch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit⁠ Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/⁠ Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit⁠ MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠ Sponsor: https://www.ziidms.com/fixit NADA Dealer Connect discount code: MOTOHUNT20

Dealers for Dealers: Why DealerConnect 2026 Is the One Event You Should Not Miss This Year | Tigra Tsujikawa & Steve Gotoski, NPDA

Most industry events are big trade shows where you get talked at all day and everyone is trying to sell you something. DealerConnect is the opposite. It is dealers sitting across from dealers, trading real numbers and real fixes, in a room built for it. I have been to every DealerConnect since the beginning, and it has a different feel than the big shows. More intimate. More real. This year it runs September 19 to 21 at the Hilton in downtown Columbus, Ohio, presented by AppOne, and it is the biggest one yet. I sat down with two people from the NPDA, the National Powersports Dealer Association. Tigra Tsujikawa is the Events Director who builds DealerConnect every year. Steve Gotoski just joined as Membership and Marketing Director after over a decade at the AMA. We get into what the event is, what you will learn, and the real reason a dealer should make the trip. What we cover: Why the NPDA is the missing third leg of the stool: the MIC serves the OEMs, the AMA serves the riders, and the NPDA finally represents the dealers who connect them What the association does behind the scenes so a busy dealer does not have to, from FTC advocacy to legislation that could hurt your business Why every dealer belongs, from a one-person shop to a 300-employee group What DealerConnect actually is: education and networking built by dealers, for dealers What a day looks like: the schedule, the meals, the AppOne welcome reception, and why the moments in between the sessions matter most 20 sessions this year, double the education, covering sales, employees, finance, AI, succession planning, pre-owned strategy, and dealership culture The brand new FTC compliance session and why it is the most timely one on the agenda Why the room is intentionally intimate, and how less noise means more real conversations and better takeaways The NPDA partner ecosystem: insurance, financing, training, and legal partners who get powersports and are there to help, not just sell The honest logistics: how to plan your trip and why DealerConnect is worth the time out of the store The week-stacking angle: the Harley-Davidson dealer meeting starts the day after in Milwaukee, so DealerConnect ends early to make it easy to hit both The education workbook and post-event QR code so you can catch the sessions you miss You do not have to be a member to attend, plus a special this year: buy a DealerConnect ticket and get membership for $99 The big beautiful bill win: how the NPDA helped get a tax write-off for financing interest on American-made powersports vehicles Where to register and why the hotel block closes August 28th Use code MotoHunt20 for a discount on registration. Service and accessory dealers, contact connect@npda.org or Tigra directly about a special registration built for you. Watch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit⁠ Register for DealerConnect 2026: ⁠https://www.npda.org⁠ Connect with Tigra Tsujikawa: ⁠tigra@npda.org ⁠Connect with Steve Gotoski: ⁠steve@npda.org ⁠Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/⁠ Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit⁠ MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠

Yamaha Stops Building Its Own Side-by-Sides, Polaris Drops a 275HP RZR, and 7 More Stories Dealers Need This Week | The Rundown

Here is what matters in powersports this week, and what each story actually means for your store. The Dealership fiXit Rundown cuts through the headlines and tells you how the week's news lands on your floor, in your service bay, and in your next conversation with a customer. This week's rundown: Yamaha is ending in-house side-by-side production in the US after the 2026 model year. What that really means, why it is not the same as quitting the category, and how to talk to your Wolverine and Viking customers about parts, service, and warranty Why your 2026 Yamaha side-by-sides on the floor right now might be the last in-house units ever built, and how to tell that story to a buyer Polaris reveals its 2027 lineup: a 275 horsepower RZR Pro R Boost, a brand new air-controlled CVT called Numatix that cuts cabin noise up to 40%, and a $6,999 Sportsman 500 that covers the budget buyer CFMoto's new X-Force: 154 horsepower for under $24,000 and why the value brands are not the joke they were 10 years ago Sea-Doo rumored to push its top skis to 350 horsepower for 2027, and why the current 325 units are where the value is sitting right now New motorcycle sales up 1.9% through Q2 per the MIC, and what a cooling but growing market means for how you sell the back half of the year Sonic Automotive's powersports arm is on fire, up 53%, and what big money buying into powersports means for what your store is worth BMW spy shots point to an M 1300 GS, the first M badge on its flagship adventure bike, and why a halo bike drives showroom traffic An Italian firm claims a 2.5 billion euro bid for Ducati while Volkswagen says it is not for sale, and the one line to know if a customer brings it up KTM recalls Husqvarna and GasGas dirt bikes over a front brake defect, and how to turn warranty work into traffic, trust, and a possible sale Plus DealerConnect 2026 is coming to Columbus, and why this dealer-to-dealer event is worth the trip NPDA Dealer Connect 2026 discount code: MOTOHUNT20 Watch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit⁠ Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/⁠ Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit⁠ MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠

Fix Your Pricing Before the FTC Does: What Every Powersports Dealer Needs to Know Right Now | Anne Gambardella, VADA

The rule everyone was scared of got struck down. The enforcement did not. And the people who watch this closely believe powersports dealers are next. Anne Gambardella is the General Counsel and Executive Vice President at the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association. She has spent years helping dealers navigate advertising and pricing compliance, and she came on to break down exactly what the FTC wants, what it is going after, and what a dealer needs to do about it this week. In plain English, with real steps you can take at your store. This one is tactical. We get past the headlines and into what actually has to change on your website, your third-party listings, and even your salespeople's social media posts. What we cover: Why the CARS Rule getting struck down did not make dealers safe, and how the FTC enforces one dealer at a time under its existing authority The core rule in one sentence: the most prominent price in your ad has to include every fee except government charges What actually comes out of the price, only tag, title, and registration, and what has to stay in, freight, setup, and doc or processing fees Why the low-advertised-price game that has run for 30 years is now the thing that gets you flagged How rebates work now: you can list them, but you cannot pull a rebate most people do not qualify for out of the advertised price The 97 warning letters, what they really mean, and why a dealer who did not get one is not safe, just not on the list yet Why this is not really a new rule in many states, and how it may already be illegal where you operate The powersports reality: freight and setup fees the dealer did not create but still has to include in the price Why "call for price" is not the loophole dealers think it is, and how lying on the phone is still a deceptive practice The social media trap: how one salesperson posting a price can become an advertising violation for the whole store Why your price has to match everywhere, your site, third-party listings, and social, and how to document your pricing updates The trust numbers that prove customers want this: 86% worry about hidden fees, 76% do not trust dealer pricing, 29% walk to another dealer over price doubt The real cost of getting caught: penalties north of $50,000 per violation, plus state action, franchise risk, and reputation damage Why transparency is a competitive edge, not a loss, and the exact three moves to fix your pricing this week Watch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit⁠ Learn more (VADA, FTC resources): ⁠https://www.vada.com⁠ Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/⁠ Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit⁠ MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠ Get $20 off your Dealer Connect 2026 registration with code "MOTOHUNT20"

Weekly Rundown: Harley Doubles Dealer Profit + The Trade-In Wave

The week in powersports, made for dealers. This week: Harley says dealer profit should double off its Back to the Bricks plan, powersports used values are running about 10% over last year, Polaris raises its full-year numbers, the NPDA pushes to fix the freight and setup fight, why 20 groups are still a dealer's best edge, and a Honda CBR600RR recall you should know. Plus quick hits on SEMA, e-bikes, a Royal Enfield drop, and Harley's 2026 Deadwood. 🏍️ Brought to you by MotoHunt. Grow your store: https://dealers.motohunt.com 📺 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dealershipfixit 🤝 Connect with Jacob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/ 🎧 Follow the show so you never miss a Rundown.

Why Your Dealership Keeps Hiring the Wrong People: Two Powersports Recruiters Break It Down | Jaye Sanders & Kevin Vaughn

Most hiring conversations start too late. They start with where to post the job. This one starts three steps earlier, with whether you even know what you are hiring for. We brought two powersports recruiters together for this one, and they come at it from opposite sides of the table. Jaye Sanders is a Talent Partner at Dream Team Referrals and Managing Director at Powersports Listings on the M&A side, so she sees how your team affects what your store is actually worth. Kevin Vaughn, who goes by Elvis, just founded Coreline Search, and he was a General Manager at House of Harley-Davidson until a few months ago. He has been GM at three different dealerships and came up from the sales floor all the way to the top seat. Between the two of them you get both sides. Kevin speaks for the dealer who has to make the hire. Jaye speaks for the person deciding whether to take it. It gets honest, it gets a little spicy, and it is packed with things a dealer can act on this week. Watch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit⁠ Connect with Jaye Sanders (Dream Team Referrals): ⁠520-850-0236 Connect with Kevin "Elvis" Vaughn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elvisvaughn/ Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/⁠ Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit⁠ MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠

Throwback: Why the Best Dealers Learn From Outside the Industry | Tristan Wright, The Business Sherpa

This one is a throwback and the lessons apply to every dealer principal and owner listening. Tristan Wright is a business coach from Australia known as the Business Sherpa. He is not from the powersports world, and that is exactly why this conversation is valuable. Tristan built his first company to seven figures by his mid-twenties, then lost it all, over $200,000 in debt and his marriage along with it. He took ownership, rebuilt the business, systematized it so it did not need him, and sold it. Now he helps other owners climb their own mountain. In this conversation, Tristan makes the case that the principles holding a dealership back are the same ones holding back any business, and that the owners who win are the ones willing to step outside their own industry, step away from the daily grind, and stay open-minded enough to change. What we cover: What a Business Sherpa actually is and why every owner climbing a mountain needs a guide who has been to the top Tristan's story: seven figures by 25, lost it all by 27, and the ownership mindset that turned it around Why letting go of ego and arrogance is the first step to growth The 90-day rule: why Tristan will not coach a client unless they commit to four days fully disconnected every quarter Why running at 60 to 70% all the time is what happens when you never step away to recharge Why working on the business matters more than working in the business The trap of the owner who will not delegate the mundane jobs and stays stuck because of it Why 20 groups and masterminds help, but are not enough on their own Why so many dealers do not dream big enough and just aim to match the shop down the road The real difference between open-minded and closed-minded owners, and why it determines who succeeds Why what worked in the past will not carry you forward, and why growth requires discomfort The one or two dealers in any market who already look outside the industry and are pulling ahead because of it Watch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit⁠ Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/⁠ Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit⁠ MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠

Throwback: The Passion Problem Killing Dealership Profitability | Michael Jones Sr, Master Technician

This one is a throwback and the lessons still land hard. Michael Jones Sr is a master technician out of Charlotte, North Carolina, with a couple of decades in the automotive world before he gave it all up to go twist wrenches on motorcycles. He spent about ten years across nearly ten different powersports and motorcycle dealerships, and he came on the show to talk about something a lot of people in this industry feel but do not say out loud: the passion has slipped, and it is costing dealers money. In this conversation with, Michael makes the case that passion and professionalism are not soft ideas. They are directly tied to how profitable a service department is, how loyal customers become, and how a dealership stands out when everyone is pushing the same metal. What we cover: Why passion starts in the employee parking lot and how to spot a disconnect The gun store comparison: why every employee there knows their product and why motorcycle shops often do not How employee burnout and social media scrolling quietly drain the profitability of a service department The parts-guy-at-the-bench workflow that saves the mechanic time and makes the shop more money Why the 10-year-and-older rule is a mindset, not a fact, and what dealers miss by turning that work away Pulling back the curtain: why engaging service customers in how things work builds loyalty and repeat business Why so many younger customers have never been around machines and how dealers can bring them in Michael's own story as a customer and the service manager who always tells him what is next Why texting a customer the owner's manual PDF beats hoping they read the paper copy The professionalism gap that separates a confident dealership from one that gets caught flat-footed The Chrome Mafia story: how one independent shop built a riding culture that a four-brand, 30-year dealership could not match Why getting 30 to 40% of your staff riding changes everything Watch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit⁠ Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/⁠ Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit⁠ MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠

1,200 Used Bikes a Year, No Dealer Fees, and a Second Store in 120 Days: Inside Lucky U Cycles with Jeremy Coon

Jeremy Coon sells around 1,200 pre-owned motorcycles a year out of a single store in Wildwood, Florida. No new franchises. No floor plan. No dealer fees. Just a used-bike machine he built from the ground up starting at 23 years old. In 2026 he took over a second location in Fort Myers and tripled the store's sales in his first 120 days. He went from 19 units a month to 70. This is one of the most honest, tactical conversations we have had on the show. Jeremy does not hold back. He walks through how he sources at volume, how he prices to turn, why he refuses to charge dealer fees, and what actually changes when you go from one store to two. If you sell used, want to sell more used, or are thinking about opening a second store, this one is a roadmap. What we cover: Why pre-owned is a full-time job with no truck dropping off new bikes every week How Jeremy sources 1,200-plus bikes a year and why trades and street buys beat the auction The stat that says it all: 1,200 bikes sold last year, only 5 bought from the auction, about 30 sent to it Why chasing the auction is where a lot of dealers go wrong on fees, freight, and bikes they never even ride Buying right: why he makes his money the day he buys the unit The 20,000-mile rule his full-time buyer is not allowed to break How the market shifts under you: nobody wants the bike today that everybody wanted three years ago Pricing to the real market and why NADA is always chasing behind the actual selling price Why a bike sitting 30 days is devaluing every single day and wasting your ad spend The no dealer fees philosophy and why it is a marketing weapon when everyone around you piles on fees The buy here pay here lever most dealers do not have, and the $1.5 million on the books bringing $30,000 a month in interest We Sell Fun: how a real riding culture turns into a sales and marketing engine Why customers drive two hours and pay full price to buy from a store that feels like family The blueprint approach to building a team that stays 16 to 19 years The honest story of acquiring a 25-year-old dealership and taking it from 19 to 70 bikes a month Going from pure pre-owned to running Piaggio new-unit franchises with Vespa, Aprilia, and Moto Guzzi Why watching your expenses and floor plan is the number one thing that keeps a used operation profitable His honest advice for any dealer thinking about opening a second store Watch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit⁠ Connect with Jeremy Coon: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-coon-b5107a289/⁠ Lucky U Cycles: ⁠https://luckyucycles.com⁠ Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/⁠ Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit⁠ MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠

Master the Job in Front of You, Teach the Job Below You: Chase Vance on Climbing the Dealership Ladder

Chase Vance has a resume that is almost unheard of in this industry. He started on the parts counter in 2008 and worked his way up through every single seat in the store. Sales, finance, general manager, regional director, managing partner, and then National Director of Business Development at RideNow Powersports, the largest dealer group in the country. He recently stepped into a new chapter as Director of Operations at the Zia and Lonestar Powersports Group. This is one of the most complete career conversations we have done on the show. We pull a lesson from every seat Chase has held, get into what actually breaks when you scale a dealer group, and have an honest talk about growth, burnout, and building a career you can sustain in this industry. If you are trying to climb the ladder, build a team, or grow a group, this episode is a roadmap. What we cover: The one thing Chase wishes he knew on day one behind the parts counter Why the parts department is about problem solving and personalization, not just handing someone a battery The CARE framework: Create A Rare Experience, and why it is the ultimate retention tool How to compete with Amazon and RevZilla through human interaction and the art of the follow-up Why the toughest thing Chase had to learn was the CRM and the discipline of follow-up What separates a good salesperson from an average one, and the Ken Griffey Jr. lesson about mastering the basics Why new salespeople fail when they try to get too cute and cut corners The F&I lesson: you have to know and believe in the product, and why packaging beats a laundry list Why the needs assessment matters more than product penetration in the box The biggest shift moving from one department to running the whole store: time management and selective urgency Why departments cannot operate in silos and how sales sells the first one but service sells the next four What breaks when you scale from one rooftop to many and the power of a 30,000 foot view Why standardizing your tech stack matters, and how MotoHunt across a group lets operators phone a friend The honest advice on scaling: if your store is broken now, a second one will only stack problems Why being able to step out of a store is the real telltale sign of a well-run dealership The candid story of stepping out of operations and why Chase calls it a step forward, not a step back The Clay Wallace philosophy: master the job in front of you, be a student of the job ahead, be a teacher of the job below Why the number one thing blocking your growth is not having your replacement ready The mindset for a long career: keep the little kid excitement every time you put the key in the door Chase's work with Veterans Xtreme Adventures and why it matters to him Watch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit Connect with Chase Vance: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chase-vance-7685b4148/ Veterans Xtreme Adventures: https://www.vetsxtreme.com/ Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry/ Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠

April Was the Peak. Now Comes the Slide. What Every Dealer Should Do With Used Inventory Right Now | NPA Market Update

April was the top. May confirmed it. Now we are heading into the slide that always bottoms out around August. The question is whether your used inventory is positioned for it. Mike Murray from National Powersport Auctions is back for our pre-owned market update, and this one matters because we are at the turning point in the season. We walk through the May data, compare it to where we were in April, and get into exactly what dealers should be doing right now with the bikes sitting on their lot. This conversation goes deeper than the numbers. Mike makes the case for why dealers are too fixated on book values, why the actual selling price tells a truer story, and how to think about a trade you take in today as a unit you might still own in September. What we cover: Why April was the high water mark and what the slide into August actually looks like How values can be up year over year and softening month to month at the same time The book value problem: why dealers fixate on JD Power and why the real market often moves faster than the book Why a clean late-model R6 can sell for thousands over a brand new one, and what that teaches about pricing to the market instead of the book Where Black Book and NPA's own value guide fit into the picture Why early June auctions in San Diego came in stronger than expected and what that says about dealer confidence The fuel price wildcard and whether it is actually moving metric cruiser demand Domestic cruisers: still the leader, but the price to book story versus the actual dollar story are very different The $4,000 spread between a clean Harley and a rough one, and why condition and miles matter more than the book Metric cruisers: why the small May uptick is probably a flash in the pan Sport bikes: bouncing around the peak, why dealers who follow the niche are crushing it, and why you cannot have too many MX cooling off and why product mix and cleanliness drive that number more than demand ATV: the standout still climbing, and why used side by sides finally hit their stride Side by side: the seasonal flattening, the regional differences, and why cabbed-out luxury units hold value The inventory turn framework: the 0 to 30, 60, 90, and 120 day buckets and why Mike built them aggressive on purpose The real cost of holding a unit: how a $10,000 bike costs around $356 a month and nearly $2,900 over 90 days once you add opportunity cost Why an 18% gross over 12 months might actually be a 3% loss Proactive pricing: how to get ahead of the softening market instead of chasing it down The exit strategy: NPA Direct Buy, consignment, and why you should never wish a wholesale unit into a retail customer Watch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit?si=xGw636a89UUDAK20⁠ Connect with Mike Murray (NPA): ⁠mmurray@npauctions.com ⁠NPA Market Reports: ⁠https://www.npauctions.com/cp/npa-market-report⁠ Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry⁠ Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit⁠ MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠

Throwback: Stop Chasing Facebook Likes. Here's What Actually Grows a Dealership. | Joe Iribarren, Beyond Creative

This is a throwback, and the lessons are arguably more relevant now than when we recorded it. In this conversation with Brian Croft, Joe breaks down why dealers keep measuring the wrong things on social media, what actually drives growth, and the single most underused tool he sees across nearly every dealership he walks into. If your dealership posts on social media and you are not sure if any of it is working, this one is for you. What we cover: Why branding and marketing get dismissed as fluff, and the surgeon analogy that explains why that is a mistake The hard truth about Facebook likes: why chasing them is a waste of your time Why posting pictures of your customers does almost nothing for your next potential customer What happened when Facebook went pay-to-play around 2015 and 2016, and why your follower count stopped mattering The fishing industry case study: growing a page from 14,000 to 170,000 likes and what actually drove the value Why consistency in your marketing pays off more than almost anything else The Facebook group strategy that 99% of dealerships are completely ignoring Why Facebook groups generate more meaningful interaction than your business page ever will The crunchy mom group example that explains exactly why niche, local, passion-based groups work Why powersports is the perfect industry for a dealership group: local plus passion The difference in tone between a page and a group, and why people let their guard down in groups Selling a lifestyle versus selling a product, and where each one belongs Watch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit?si=xGw636a89UUDAK20⁠ Connect with Joe Iribarren: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/beyondcreative/⁠ Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry⁠ Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit⁠ MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠

Throwback: The Elvis Story and Why You Should Never Judge a Customer by Their Cover | Joe Johnson, Tucker Powersports

This one is a throwback and it is one of the best stories we have ever had on the show. Joe Johnson spent over a decade inside dealerships across finance, sales, parts, and service before moving to the wholesale distribution side with Tucker Powersports, where he has spent more than a decade training parts staff and partnering with dealers to help them grow. He also hosts the Powersports and People podcast. Relationships are his whole game. In this conversation with Brian Croft, Joe tells the Elvis story, a customer experience lesson from his days running one of the largest Kawasaki dealerships in the country that every salesperson and parts person needs to hear. Then he breaks down the idea box, a simple framework for generating creativity and ideas in a team that feels completely stuck. No fluff. Just real lessons that still hit today. What we cover: How a distributor rep earns the trust to actually train a dealer's staff, and why that trust is a responsibility Joe's approach to walking into a dealership and finding the real gaps, what he calls getting nosy The difference between being an asset and being a visitor, and why that distinction matters The Elvis story: the customer who walked in looking like he came off the streets and changed how an entire dealership thought about judging people Why 8 out of 10 customers still want to touch and feel a product in the store even after buying online The three things a dealership delivers that an online store never can: customer experience, a source of information, and assurance of the purchase The idea box framework explained step by step, the tool Joe uses to generate ideas when a team has none The real-world example of how the idea box turned an ordinary laundry hamper into a multi-million dollar business Why most dealership meetings fail and what a productive one actually needs Two books Joe recommends for anyone who wants to think more creatively Watch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit?si=xGw636a89UUDAK20⁠ Connect with Joe Johnson: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-johnson-16b4841a6/⁠ Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry⁠ Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit⁠ MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠

Throwback: The Product That Keeps Riders in the Saddle Longer | Craig Johnson, Founder of Wild Ass Seats

This one is a throwback and it still hits. Craig Johnson is the founder of Wild Ass Seats, a Minnesota-based manufacturer of premium motorcycle air cushions built in an FDA-approved medical device facility. He started the company about 10 years ago and has spent the better part of the last decade traveling the country, working shows, and building one of the most loyal product followings in the powersports accessories space. In this conversation with Brian, Craig talks about what drives him to keep pushing, why the best dealers are the ones willing to get educated on products rather than just looking for what is new, and what happens when a manufacturer has inventory but the distribution chain is broken. He also dropped a line that every parts manager and every dealer rep should hear: if they are not selling your product, they do not know enough about it yet. That is still true. What we cover: What keeps Craig going after a decade of building Wild Ass from the ground up The pressure mapping test Craig ran against competitors at a local medical supply facility and what it showed Why customer stories, not sales numbers, are the real fuel for a founder The training portal Wild Ass built to incentivize dealer reps and parts staff to get educated Why asking what is new is the wrong question — and what dealers should be asking instead The manufacturer's perspective on supply chain blame: how dealers blame the brand when the distributor is the actual problem How a great product can sit in a warehouse while the floor sells nothing because nobody passed on the knowledge Wild Ass's 10th anniversary expansion into UTVs, cars, trucks, tractors, and stadium seating Why this product is no longer just for long-distance motorcycle riders Watch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit?si=xGw636a89UUDAK20⁠ Connect with Craig Johnson: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/wildasscraig/⁠ Wild Ass Seats: ⁠https://www.wild-ass.com⁠ Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry⁠ Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit⁠ MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠

16 Business Books Every Powersports Dealer Should Read: A Joint Episode with PSB Power Hour's Brendan Baker

No topic outline. No pre-shared lists. Just two people who live inside the powersports industry every day comparing notes on the books that actually changed how they think. Jacob Berry from Dealership fiXit and Brendan Baker from PSB Power Hour sat down for a joint episode to share the business books that hit hardest in the past year and talk about why they matter for dealers, operators, and anyone in a leadership role in this industry. 1. How to Win Friends and Influence People — Dale CarnegieThe first book Jacob picked up on his audiobook journey. The foundation for every people and sales conversation in this episode. 2. Never Split the Difference — Chris VossFBI hostage negotiator turned business negotiation coach. Jacob calls it one of the best strategy books on how to talk to people in any situation. 3. The Laws of Human Nature — Robert GreeneOld but powerful. The idea that people buy emotionally and justify logically maps directly to every powersports sale. 4. Magnetic Marketing — Dan KennedyThe OG of direct response marketing. Stop chasing customers and build marketing that attracts them. One is the loneliest number. 5. $100M Leads — Alex HormoziDistribution beats creativity. Dealers who post daily win attention. Dealers who wait lose market share. 6. $100M Offers — Alex HormoziMost businesses fail because the offer is weak, not the execution. Engineer deals, do not discount them. 7. $100M Money Models — Alex HormoziThe third in the series. Revenue stability comes from stacking predictable models. One-time sales are fragile. 8. Velocity 2.0 — Dale PollakThe only book on this list written specifically for dealerships. Inventory turn beats margin hoarding. Speed creates leverage. 9. Buy Back Your Time — Dan MartellTime is your most expensive asset. Delegate outcomes, not tasks. If you are the bottleneck, your growth is already capped. 10. 12 Rules for Life — Jordan B. PetersonResponsibility precedes progress. Discipline beats motivation. Clean up your own house before criticizing other systems. 11. Extreme Ownership — Jocko WillinkLeaders own outcomes. No excuses. If sales are down, start with yourself. 12. CEO Excellence — Carolyn DewarHigh-level leaders think differently than operators. Culture is modeled, not declared. 13. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People — Stephen CoveyBrendan's go-to. Effectiveness is not about doing more things faster. It is about doing the right things in the right order. The four quadrant matrix is something every dealer principal needs on their wall. 14. The Art of War — Sun TzuAncient military strategy that maps to business chess. Victory goes to whoever understands the terrain, knows themselves, and moves at the right moment. 15. 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History — Andrew Ross SorkinBoth Jacob and Brendan are reading this one right now. The parallels to today's market are striking. The danger of assuming this time is different. 16. How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships — Leil LowndesBrendan's pick for anyone who deals with people. 92 specific, practical moves for every conversation situation. Emotional Intelligence 2.0 — Travis Bradberry and Jean GreavesBrendan referenced emotional intelligence as an underrated skill set for dealer operators and salespeople. Libby App — Free audiobooks and ebooks through your local library card.Available at: https://libbyapp.com Watch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit?si=xGw636a89UUDAK20⁠ Connect with Brendan Baker (PSB): https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-baker-b744629/ PSB Power Hour Podcast: https://powersportsbusiness.com/powersports-business-power-hour/ Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry⁠ Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit⁠ MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠

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The F&I Process, the Product Stack, the Pay Plan, and the Lender Strategy That Separates Elite Dealers with Alex Reyes

The national average F&I per copy in powersports is $370. Alex Reyes and his team are targeting $1,000 as their floor, not their ceiling. Alex is the General Manager at Broward Motorsports Treasure Coast in Hobe Sound, Florida, part of an eight-location group. He has spent the better part of the last decade building and running the F&I operation at one of the most active powersports dealer groups in the country. Three-time PSB Magazine 40 Under 40. MPN author. Featured on Auto Finance News with Synchrony. And he came from automotive at Hyundai Motor, which gives him a benchmark most powersports F&I people never had. This is the most comprehensive F&I conversation we have ever done on this podcast. We go from the product menu all the way to pay plans, lender strategy, the digital customer, and what metrics a GM should be watching every single week. What we cover: Why the $370 powersports average vs $2,500 automotive F&I gap comes down to habits, training, and focus, not talent Alex's first career move into powersports and why the emotional nature of the purchase changes the entire F&I conversation Why financing is still an afterthought at too many stores and the simple script to shift that conversation at the point of sale The 400% rule: offer every product, every customer, every time with 100% effort The two non-negotiable products in any powersports F&I office and why ESC is not an upsell, it is a safety net Why 85% of powersports repossessions trace back to mechanical failure and what that means for every service contract conversation The GAP math: when to offer it at full LTV, what to say at 70% or under, and when to leave it out Prepaid maintenance as a VIP retention tool, saving customers 30-40% while bringing them back to your service bay How Alex built a near-prime and subprime lending program at Broward from scratch and why a single-lender strategy is a one-hand-tied-behind-your-back problem The Synchrony Outdoors card as a cross-departmental revenue tool that works across sales, parts, and service The used bike lending reality: LTVs are different, CITs need to move fast, and MotoHunt helps you buy right in the first place Alex's unorthodox F&I handoff: the business manager gets involved the moment credit is submitted, not at the end The "tour de ride" concept and how Broward turns the wait time before the box into a dealership relationship builder How to handle time in the box without killing the customer experience and the Jimmy at school story The baseball farm league approach to building F&I talent from the ground up Why pay plans based on product mix produce better behavior than pay plans based on sheer PVR volume The three numbers a GM has to watch every week: cash to finance ratio, penetration by product, and CIT What an F&I training program actually looks like and why Rob Greenwald gets the call when Alex needs outside help The CRM cadence for declined deals and why a no today is a lead for later Soft pulls, VIP appointment setting, and where Broward draws the line on digital delivery What Alex looks at first when a GM suspects their F&I department is underperforming Why penetration rates tell a better story than PVR and what to do when they are out of balance Watch on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@dealershipfixit?si=xGw636a89UUDAK20⁠ Connect with Alex Reyes: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-r-a97a321a0/⁠ Broward Motorsports Treasure Coast: ⁠https://www.browardmotorsportstreasurecoast.com⁠ PowerSports HQ (Alex's YouTube): ⁠https://youtube.com/@PowersportsHQAlex⁠ Connect with Jacob: ⁠https://linkedin.com/in/jacob-b-berry⁠ Follow the Fixit Online: ⁠https://linktr.ee/dealershipfixit⁠ MotoHunt for Dealers: ⁠https://dealers.motohunt.com⁠

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