Tom, I am having a good debate and I hope you are too.
I've never met Brent, the guy from BellaCorse even though he lives an hour away from me or Stewart from SRS and I've only met Eddy the one time.
Have I bought from all of them? Yes. Will I buy from all of them again? All except the one (which I won't name here) I would again, if I needed something. Would I shop around to see if I could get something reasonably the same for cheaper that I could easily modify myself? Yes. Would they lose me as a customer if I didn't feel that I was getting good service at a decent price? Darn right they would.
Now I'm not defending the guys that manufacture stuff for our bikes. I'm trying to explain, how I see things that you might misunderstand. I get this from personal experience. When I ran my business I tried to make a profit while using that profit to pay for not only my costs of the product but employee salaries, rent, utilities and yes money for me. That was why I was there in the first place. I like being my own boss but still need to make money to survive.
When a customer came in asking for a deal I do understand they are trying to get the best for their dollar but it seemed that they didn't understand that I had to make something or I wouldn't be there for them to have the option.
Originally the thread was about sending a letter to Cruiser Customizing about carrying products for our bikes I said that the providers of the products weren't the ones to approach but the manufacturers. I still hold to that point. That and these two points. One that the larger manufacturers aren't going to make anything for our bikes until they see a larger part of the market riding our bikes and two, that the guys manufacturing parts for us now aren't gouging us as you believe.
I've bought things from Kuryakyn through Dennis Kirk and J & P Cycles. The mirrors I bought for my bike were Kuryakyn's at I believe $70 plus a mount so that they would fit my bike. Biggest mistake of my life. The mirrors are the worst things to see with at highway speeds. I've just ordered a new set of mirrors through Eddy because of the ones that I saw he had and I was able to talk to him about them. They cost me $40. I can't say that the Kuryakyn's were cheaper ****** I'd say they are $70 overpriced. The personal touch I've gotten from the guys that sell to us in my eyes has a value too. You just have to decide what it is worth. If you don't agree with me, that is your choice and I can respect that but I don't think we can accuse any of these guys of being on the cover of Forbes anytime soon, we just aren't a large enough group to get them there.
