Sad Day BCM Closing

[Ducaholic]

Originally Posted by webman

I think without Bruce Meyers at the helm, the shop just lost alot of credibility and became just another dealer with a couple of techs. IMHO for a successfull Duc shop you have to do more then sell and fix bikes. You have to have "the guy" who has a reputation for doing things in the Duc world. Wether its building fast engines, fabracating parts,doing things others can't/won't, promoting track days,racing ect. Think Bruce Meyers,Jeff Nash,Mark Sutton, and Sebastion.
Back in 03 I shipped my race bike up to BCM to have it freshed for the 04 season. BCM shipped it back,I took it to the track to test were it promptly blew the head gasket. After I called Bruce at BCM "HE" jumped on a plane from NH with any parts he might need and repaired it in my garage for free. Even though it was a race bike. And the part that failed was a modified race part. 1036 kit(100mm) cracked cylinder on my 996.

Wow! I'm sad to hear the news, but not that surprised. With the sad state of the economy it is not easy being in the "retail" business. I agree Bruce was and is "the man" and even though Leslie gave it a good try, it was never the same. Some things were better and some were not, but Bruce really made the difference. Much of the nature or personality of the shop changed in the past few years. First Bruce, Susie and Kris were gone, then Jay and finally Eric. Miles was very good and very friendly and Kyle was awesome as well. It just wasn't enough in the end. RIP BCM

[Teufelhund]

$100-$115 labor rate was not better.

[woodmanr]

I've dealt with BCM a few times, and really wasn't impressed. I had heard so much about them, about how great they were. To me, it just seemed like another shop. And as for prices, they were always consistently pretty high

I was looking to buy an FIM Ultimap chip for the 996 engine, and i was shopping around. They said BCM was a dealer, so i called them, and was told something like $310 dollars. So, after a bit more shopping, i came across Silverback Performance in Minnesota SilverBack-HomePage and they were offering the chip for 150ish. When questioned how they were so much cheaper then BCM, they responded because they sold the chips to BCM

[TheDesmoPilot]

Why didn't Hailwood say this first??

[993twin]

Disastrous.

Although I fully and completely understand it, this is a great loss for sure.

Well, as far as some of these other comments,....I've known and patronized the shop under both Bruce and Leslie, and I have high regard for both! I'm a little surprised that Leslie would be getting a bit of a hard time / disrespect from this board. I suspect that not many folks on this or any other board have actually owned or even ran a Ducati shop, and might not have an appreciation for how much work it actually is, relative to the meager financial return that such a business allows.

Personally, I enjoyed my dealings with BCM under Leslie's direction, and have only the finest things to say about not only Leslie, but also Miles, Kyle and the rest of the shop. Leslie always told me the straight scoop w/o any bullshit or varnish..always appreciated.

One last point...to whomever claimed that Bruce sold BCM to a "NYC slick type"...exactly whom are you talking about? I don't recall there being another owner but Leslie, and I know that you couldn't possibly be confusing Leslie with a "NYC slick type!" Anyone who knows Leslie even just a little would be disabused of that notion straight away.

Leslie, Miles, Kyle...good luck gents! Sad to see the shop close, but sometimes it just has to happen.

Bill-

[TrickLidz]

Talked to Leslie briefly today (got 20% off parts and free shipping~~ ) and all he said about the closing was "Family comes first"
Good Luck.

[998R]

Leslie (and the rest of the guys) are a great bunch.

I remember Leslie giving me some good advice (which I ignored, unfortunately) about competing in the Ducati Concorso. Basically, lots of politics involved in the judging, in his humble opinion. I knew it wasn't so. Of course, I was wrong.

Went to Mid-Ohio where my super track ready 998R was beaten in the "Performance" category by an essentially stock Bostrom 998S with some shiny bits added, none having anything to do with zing...all bling. I provided my BCM dyno results, list of parts, engine work done, etc. It meant nothing, apparently. I needed flames on the side of the bike to make it go faster. I was stunned when they made the announcement, and had to bite my tongue. I left, vowing never to "compete" in anything like that again. As a sidebar, one of the three judges was contacted by me months later and told me that he could definately obtain a Corse CF mag swingarm cover for me. After months of begging for a status report, I ended up with nothing, calls not returned, etc.

The good news is that the superb parts that BCM installed on my bike in preparation for the Concorso were the perfect upgrades to complete the bike, and I don't regret installing them for one second. Thank you BCM!

[hailwood]

Just did not want you to spend money for the wrong reason.....ie winning the contest when I knew they would pick some hunk o junk over your superior bike. Same thing they did to me!

Thanks,

Leslie