Parts Canada

[jm_foote]

Shopping for parts in Canada (sorry to my international brethren, but this is only for us!).

Most parts that need to be / can be ordered through a local distributor up here in Canada, come through a middle man called Parts Canada.

A lot of suppliers in the States can not ship directly to people or distributors in Canada. They need to go through Parts Canada. This can be good because the prices are cheaper (economy of scale) and homogeneous.

If you need a chain, electronic dyna ignition, etc, these guys import them, then sell them to your local distributor.

They have an online catalog for parts and prices at

http://www.partscanada.com/catalogue/

Also have a list of local distributors. You can check the price of the parts here and compare them to buying them from, say, bikebandit. They should all be the same regardless of the guy you are purchasing them from. If your local shop is selling these parts for more than the list price, don't buy them.

Chains are much cheaper to buy local than to buy from bikebandit, by the way

[rkubik]

also

there are two similar outfits with catalogues online:

Motovan: www.motovan.com
Steen Hansens: www.steenhansens.com

and these guys make some nice gear your dealer can get:

https://www.chokodesign.com

[Billyboy]

Cool beans, Rick and Jon.
I use parts Canada mostly, but I'll checkout the others.

[Guest]

I'm not so sure Parts Canada is necessarily a good thing....from what I understand, they attempt to control prices here by seeking to monopolize the industry....before ordering any part, the best thing to do is compare pricing, not forgetting to add shipping method/price into the equation. In many cases, you can procure a part from the U.S., pay shipping, and still come out way ahead than buying from P.C. Buying bike tires is a good example of this.
FWIW, I did some homework before buying chain/sprockets (530 conversion), and also tires (Pirelli Diablo), and came out way ahead using Z1 Enterprises for the chain kit and better than $100 per tire ahead using a U.S. vendor for the rubber.

Tony.

[Clone]

Parts Can, Motovan, Thibult are all distributors in Canada. I work for a place that has accounts with all three. The bonus is that i get the parts below list. That is pretty good. I don't think I will ever order from the states anymore. In a way it is bad, but i think only if you are after high end parts, those are seriously marked up. The regular maintenance stuff is pretty reasonable.

[jm_foote]

Thanks guys.

Tony, where do you get your rubber from?

[Guest]

Thanks guys.

Tony, where do you get your rubber from?

I went with http://www.imotorcyclestore.com/ as they had the best overall deal last year....shipping was a flat $10.00 on any amount of product over $100.00 total value....make sure to specify shipping to Canada via USPS.....their default carrier is UPS...rest assured, you will get a shaft along with your chain kit, if they ship via UPS.:razz:
Allow at least 2 weeks for shipping though, as USPS/Canada Post are notoriously slow getting stuff over the border.

Tony.

[Clone]

imotorcycle.com was a good place to get tires, the shipping was cheap, and definetly send it postal, not UPS, the brokerage fee will kill you. And they will undervalue your tires so you pay less duty at the post office. And yes it will take two if not three weeks.

[jm_foote]

Thanks guys!

[rcp]

Canadian tires & distributors

For tires, G Bourque will ship reasonably from Moncton, NB. I've had good prices from them, and less hassle than ordering cross the border:

http://www.gbourque.com/

I've got links to Distributor Catalogues here:

http://sentientmeat.ca/~rcp/motorcycle/#CANINFO

- Richard