Superbike Factory Crawley now open
Discussion
As requested on the P&H thread, my review of the place following my 30 minute visit this morning:
The main showroom area has been totally decluttered & open plan. Bare whitewash walls with industrial carpet & floor tiles. Good lighting & what looks like a new heating/aircon system. What used to be the Honda showroom is now a clothing/accessory outlet.
I recognised at least 4 of the ex P&H staff, including the parts bloke with bald head & beard, & also the previous clothing lady (South African ????). I'm guessing there are more ex P&H staff in the service department.
Anyway, parking was limited, probably due to the 100 or so people in the shop. The range of bikes is vast, including all the big manufacturers. There were some Triumph Rocket 3s which looked nice. Indian, HD, Ducati, BMW, RE, all the Japanese stuff etc etc.
Pretty much all the stock appeared to be in very good cosmetic condition - they even bothered to lube most of the chains by the looks of it!
So yes, I was actually pretty impressed, but the proof will be in the pudding if/when I buy from them. It will be interesting to get feedback from others who take the plunge, particularly with regard to service & any potential warranty issues.
Oh, there was a nice coffee machine available!
The main showroom area has been totally decluttered & open plan. Bare whitewash walls with industrial carpet & floor tiles. Good lighting & what looks like a new heating/aircon system. What used to be the Honda showroom is now a clothing/accessory outlet.
I recognised at least 4 of the ex P&H staff, including the parts bloke with bald head & beard, & also the previous clothing lady (South African ????). I'm guessing there are more ex P&H staff in the service department.
Anyway, parking was limited, probably due to the 100 or so people in the shop. The range of bikes is vast, including all the big manufacturers. There were some Triumph Rocket 3s which looked nice. Indian, HD, Ducati, BMW, RE, all the Japanese stuff etc etc.
Pretty much all the stock appeared to be in very good cosmetic condition - they even bothered to lube most of the chains by the looks of it!
So yes, I was actually pretty impressed, but the proof will be in the pudding if/when I buy from them. It will be interesting to get feedback from others who take the plunge, particularly with regard to service & any potential warranty issues.
Oh, there was a nice coffee machine available!
Just back from an opening day trip as well. It was rammed in every sense (see picture).
Thoughts are...
1/ Great resource to have so many bikes in one place locally. The answer to the "I have 5k to spend but don't know what I want" for anyone local is to go along and see.
2/ For most mainstream bikes there are 2-5 of the same model, so great to be able to see changes over the years and see if they are important to you. E.g. Pannier change on Z1000sx
3/ It is more like a big local bike shop than P&H with more bikes, with a greater range of bikes, condition, and modifications.
4/ Having a K6 a logical step would be a 2016 GSXR, so looked at this. https://superbikefactory.co.uk/2016-suzuki-gsxr100... Low mileage but must have been hard miles. Looking at other prices (on eBay) it looks about right money wise, lower mileage but likely not as good condition as those with more miles.
5/ Point four not a criticism, the Red VFR800 they have is better than the one I looked at at Honda Chiswick a while back. Overall everything was pretty tidy.
P&H always felt slightly out of place (to me). At places like Rykas. Newlands, and that place outside Arundel there seem very few brand new high end bikes. I appreciate the full spectrum of riders are not necessarily represented at bike gatherings, but Superbike Factory feels more representative of the bikes I see on the roads.
If/when I come to replace something I would definitely go along if they had a model I was interested in.
Thoughts are...
1/ Great resource to have so many bikes in one place locally. The answer to the "I have 5k to spend but don't know what I want" for anyone local is to go along and see.
2/ For most mainstream bikes there are 2-5 of the same model, so great to be able to see changes over the years and see if they are important to you. E.g. Pannier change on Z1000sx
3/ It is more like a big local bike shop than P&H with more bikes, with a greater range of bikes, condition, and modifications.
4/ Having a K6 a logical step would be a 2016 GSXR, so looked at this. https://superbikefactory.co.uk/2016-suzuki-gsxr100... Low mileage but must have been hard miles. Looking at other prices (on eBay) it looks about right money wise, lower mileage but likely not as good condition as those with more miles.
5/ Point four not a criticism, the Red VFR800 they have is better than the one I looked at at Honda Chiswick a while back. Overall everything was pretty tidy.
P&H always felt slightly out of place (to me). At places like Rykas. Newlands, and that place outside Arundel there seem very few brand new high end bikes. I appreciate the full spectrum of riders are not necessarily represented at bike gatherings, but Superbike Factory feels more representative of the bikes I see on the roads.
If/when I come to replace something I would definitely go along if they had a model I was interested in.
As said above the advantage of somewhere like this is for the casual buyer who's not quite sure of what they want (aka Me)
At least 3 of my last few bikes have been bought by wandering round a showroom and thinking 'oh that looks nice'
it's okay looking on Autotrader if you're looking for a particular model and comparing prices but you can't beat a good physical look.
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