OEM Turn Signal Flasher - WTF?

My turn signal flasher has been on it's way out for the past week or so - It would work for the first couple of turns, then overheat I guess. So, just out of curiousity, I called the local Kawa dealer to check the price and availability - holy shizzle! The dealer wants $50 for a part that I picked up at Autozone for $2.50 - WTF!?

Is this the case with most OEM parts? Should I not even bother to check other parts in the future? They also wanted $10 for the oil filter that was $4 at a local cycle shop.

Most standard items like spark plugs, bulbs, oil filters are usually much cheaper than at a Kawi dealership.

This has been talked about before, but here goes again.

Kawi does not manufacture simple stuff like bulbs, spark plugs, etc. Most often they buy them directly from the manufacturer (spark plugs=NGK or Nipondenso, bulbs=Stanley, etc) or a wholesale distributor.
Obviously they purchase in bulk, but at times won't get much of a price break for an excessively huge order.
As odd as it sounds, that initial purchase is then broken up and "sold" (at a slight profit) to the indivdual warehouses/distribution centers.
They in turn sell the item(s) to the individual dealerships, who in turn sell it to you and I.
So basically almost any given part not manufactured directly by KMC will have been sold 3-4 times before reaching the consumer, and generally can be as much (or more) as 100 times the original price it started out as. :pinch: :ohmy:

This is how it was done when I worked at a Kawi dealership in the late 80's/early 90's, and I doubt it's changed since.

Post edited by: RetroRiceRocketRider, at: 2006/07/26 23:57

The difference between the Kawasaki part and the Autozone part is the Kawasaki part works, where every part at Autozone is made in China. Did this flasher work? You got dang lucky if it did.

Actually Ron, the part worked great - at least for the 3 hours that I rode the bike since it was installed. If it only lasts a month, I figure that I would have to buy 20 of the AutoZone parts before I hit the cost of one Kawa part. I highly doubt that I'll need to replace that bugger 3 or 4 times, let alone 20.

Post edited by: chopstar, at: 2006/07/27 13:53

Edit.
I deleted my post. I didn't realize that Chopstar had already replaced his old flasher.

Post edited by: ltdrider, at: 2006/07/27 11:46

ltdrider wrote:

Edit.
I deleted my post. I didn't realize that Chopstar had already replaced his old flasher.<br><br>Post edited by: ltdrider, at: 2006/07/27 11:46

I actually learned about the AutoZone flasher from a post that you replied to - so a late thanks to you ltdrider!