TO Cycle. Might be good for service, but parts are overpriced

[Tim]

I've bought parts from them in the past, and while they may have a computerized inventory, and can find you a part when you need it, for scrap stuff like kickstarter levers, they suck ass.

I need a different kicker for my XS650 - one that will better clear the rearsets. So out came their box of kickstarts, and I found one that would have fit the shaft of the 650, and that I could have made fit more easily than the stock lever.

Thinking I'm going to pay $10 or so for a crappy old kickstarter, I tell the guy I want this one and ask how much. He diligently looks it up in the computer system, and quotes me a frakkin stoopid price of $45.

Told him he could keep his $2 hunk of scrap metal for another 10 years in the cardboard box with the rest of them and that I'd pick one up for $5 at the next swap meet.

 

[bobjohnson]

This is the place down on lakeshore, right? Theyre good if you need parts ASAP but thats about it... I needed new mirrors last summer when i accidentally dropped BOTH of them on the same day (long story...) TO Cycle was the only place that had aftermarket mirrors to fit a vintage honda in stock in the city.

I checked with them when i needed some motionpro manometer adaptors, and they were really really overpriced. Ordered them from Parker Bros for like 1/2 the price. I had to wait a day but it was worth it to save like 20 dollars.

 

[Tripler]

I need a different kicker for my XS650 - one that will better clear the rearsets.


Would an xs850sg be a suitable candidate ? PM me Doug

 

[DrJ]

That old Ralph sure has his ways. I've had mixed experiences with buying parts at TO Cycles. Their computerized inventory is handy sometime. I wanted a shorter brake cable for my CB350 and Ralph went through all his Honda cables and came out with one from a CR motocross that was shorter and would work for $15 which was fair. Another time I spotted a NOS gasket set in a box and offered him $20 for it. Instead of taking my very reasonable offer for something very few people want, Ralph told me he has to go through the box and look up all the prices of every gasket kit. Well I just put it back and left.

 

[Drewski]

Ya, I don't think Ralph really cares about selling the parts. If you want it, you end up dealing with him and depending on his mood...

I bought a old "wreak of a FZ600" from him really cheap. I kept what I wanted and sold the rest for the same $$ I spent on it! But then I bought a Z1 tank and paid too much! Win some, loose some.

There was talk a couple of years ago that he was gonna sell his business, but how do you put a price on a business like that? It's really not worth what it's worth, if you know what I mean. Even if you go through the books, you really don't necessarily have an accurate picture. ???

 

[BANDIT]

I made one call many years ago to them, this is sorta how it went:
Me: Hey, I'm looking for a motor for an 85 Yammy Maxim-X
TO: Gimme a minute, yeh, got one
Me: How many miles on it
TO: Dunno
Me: Is it a runner
TO: Dunno
ME: Is it complete
TO: Dunno
Me: So, how much
TO: Thousand dollars
Me: speechless!
Me: So, you don't know if it runs, don't know if it's complete, have no idea how many miles are on it, but you do know you want a thousand bucks!
TO: Yep!
Me: Click, buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Like I said, only called them once.

 

[bobjohnson]

Yeah, i just had a similar experience this weekend. Needed a new RH carb for my 450, so i went to TO cycle assuming theyd have something. They did, they had a new set of 500T carbs. The kid who works there tells me theyre 300 bucks for the pair, but i can probably talk him down. I asked the kid to unpackage them so i can take a look, because im not dropping that much money on carbs i cant return if theyre ruined. They were haggered, 40 years of grime and really really oxidized, jets in the right carb were brown from rust and one of the floats was seriously seized up, and the throttle plate was stuck shut. As im looking at it, Ralph comes over and starts giving me shit, asking me why im tearing apart his inventory. I told him im not going to buy carbs sight unseen, and i want to know if im going to need to buy any more parts to fix these carbs. Then he got all defensive saying its his store and his rules and if i dont like it, too bad because "Im the king, i can do whatever i want because i have the parts". I know he goes off like that so i just let him ramble, then asked him how much he wants for the carbs.

300 bucks EACH, because thats the list price from Honda. I told him flat out these carbs look like theyve been recovered from a sunken ship and id pay 150 max for the pair. He took it, but he wasnt happy about it. Probably realised theyd sit on the shelf for another 40 years if i didnt buy them. It took me 8 hours, a trip to Lowes for 20 dollars worth of screws, and 1 rebuild kit to rebuild those carbs, thats how wrecked and dirty they were.

 

[Nanahan Man]

Try Ontario Cycle Salvage on Kingston Rd. for parts.
Sometimes you can go in the back and search for what you want.
416-699-6198