Issue #229 Future Shock | Honda, Had, Have, Bmw, Years

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Issue #229 Future Shock

Written by Nancy Irwin
Wednesday, 25 April 2007
The Toronto motorcycle community lost another shop this past year, McBride Cycle, which had been in operation for 97 years. Founded by Percy McBride in 1909, the venerable dealership was a family business that had seemed to flourish until its demise in the summer of 2006. The store’s passing leaves some questions in its wake and, ultimately, raises a few fears regarding the direction of the motorcycle industry in Canada. When Percy McBride first opened his doors nearly a century ago, his product lines included bicycles and sporting goods. But by 1914, he had added motorcycles to the store’s inventory, including Henderson, Ariel, BSA, and AJS. He expanded his offerings with the years to include Japanese- and German-built bikes. I bought my first BMW at McBride’s in 1987. That the store had become a historic institution over time was self-evident—the local section of the Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group used to hold monthly meetings there. But the nature of the global economy in the new millennium has forced changes to corporate philosophies. That hasn’t been good news for Mom and Pop operations, which includes even iconic outfits like McBride’s. WHEN BMW DOWNSIZED ITS CANADIAN DEALER NETWORK IN 1998, McBride Cycle was one of the affected stores. At that time there was a big brouhaha because BMW riders suddenly had nowhere in the Greater Toronto Area to go for parts or service. A call to BMW Canada at the time confirmed that the distributor was on the hunt for someone to open an exclusive store in Toronto but had not yet been successful in that pursuit. So, for the time being, BMW enthusiasts would have to go to Woodbridge to find their closest dealer, or to Oakville, located approximately an hour’s ride from downtown—a bit far when you’re broken down, and it’s well outside the city’s public transit service. At the time I was shocked and felt hung out to dry, which was not what I had expected from BMW. I was under the impression that Toronto was large enough to warrant a place where we could buy parts and get our bikes serviced locally. Somehow though, McBride Cycle reacquired its status as an official BMW dealer and would no longer have to order parts for its loyal customers through another shop, which staffers did in those “difficult” years. I remember there was a court case and that after things were resolved everyone was silent, as though nothing had ever happened. This, I’m sure, was a term of the agreement. And now I’ve learned that Honda will also terminate agreements with dealerships across the country and move toward single-line stores with a uniform look, the preferred corporate marketing model for both BMW and Harley-Davidson. It’s the way of the world, the new order, and it seems there is no loyalty to the old shops who kept the bikes of various manufacturers running and kept the necessary parts on hand for faithful customers. As the Old Guard, the McBride Cycles, die out so does the memory that this type of store ever made any contribution at all to motorcycling history. In the dogged pursuit of brand marketing, giant corporate entities such as Harley-Davidson have forced smaller enterprises to either change their names or close their doors. The new rules and the new school of thought is one-marque shopping, where every store looks exactly alike. Did all this have anything to do with the closing of McBride Cycle, sent into receivership after 97 years? Could it have been that the younger generation went to school to learn business management and implemented ideas that were applicable only in a classroom? Could it have been the potential loss of Honda? I’m sure that losing BMW sales for those years came at a price. Or was it the hardship that many dealers have found trying to sell motorcycles in a province where insurance rates can equal purchase prices? It seems insurance has now become nearly impossible to obtain for many sport-oriented machines, and if you can’t insure a motor vehicle, why buy it? And now I’ve learned that most companies won’t write policies either for models older than a quarter-century. Soon, that will include mine too. I MOURN THE LOSS OF A STORE THAT FOR SO LONG HAD BEEN AN integral part of the motorcycle community and its closure brings to mind the memory of yet another shop that went down not so long ago, Ontario Honda. Owner Murray Brown was in it for 30 years, but after his business partner and best friend Ricky Andrews died he lost interest. He retired the business, sold the building and made his fortune there. My female riding group, the Toronto Amazons, took their bikes to Ontario Honda back in the days when women were treated like second-class citizens at most shops, but were routinely treated as equals whenever they entered the doors of that Queen St. East shop. I first walked into Ontario Honda in the early 1980s but only popped in on occasion to browse because I rode British in those days and dealt either with Firth’s on the Danforth, with British Cycle Supply out in Nova Scotia or with the various local enthusiasts who bought and traded parts. I also dealt directly with England, but my friends went to Ontario Honda. And now when I hear of someone looking for a place to service their Japanese motorcycle, I tell them 109 Cycle, which employs service manager Bill Tomlin, who for 25 years worked at Ontario Honda and mechanic Peter Volk, another ex-Ontario Honda staffer. They operate out of a commercial bay in Scarborough and the business has now become “The Place” to go for my riding circle. I’ve personally taken two of my Honda Rebel-riding female friends there. They also have a small but faithful following left over from the Ontario Honda days, and it’s not a dealership. So hopefully 109 Cycle won’t suffer like others who’ve had their dealer agreements pulled. And it only crosses my mind now that they don’t have a “won’t work on anything older than ten years” rule which can also really sting. I’m concerned though. With at least two long-established dealers now gone, I’m wondering if this is the way of the new millennium, and if before long there will be nothing but homogeneous shops with virtually nothing to set one apart from the other. Is this just Toronto or will it be the way of the world? Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.