Avoid bikebandit, filed bankruptcy, and sounds shady at that!

That's a shame. I use to buy a lot of parts from them, since I worked with the girlfriend of the original owner.

It's been a number of years since I bought anything from them though.
 
I think something like this happens when the original owner who built up the cachet sells or passes on the business. Many times the next owner is $$ oriented far more than customer service oriented and we get what we get. It's always a shame. It's good to see posts here about good shops and members who support local businesses when they can.
 
"Motorcycle Parts Seller BikeBandit Has Stolen $646,000 of Customers' Money and Disappeared, Says Bankruptcy Trustee."
 
CheapCycleParts is also closed. Their web site domain name is up for sale now.
HondaPartsNation and CyclePartsNation are still up.
 
Motorcyclists around the country are confused and frustrated by BikeBandit, a well-known online seller of motorcycle parts and gear. Starting in late 2021, customers have been complaining that orders are never delivered, and refund requests are never answered. BikeBandit’s online customer service chat is broken. Its phone number is dead.

If you know where to search online, you’ll learn that BikeBandit quietly filed for bankruptcy in February 2022. But there’s no indication of that on the retailer’s website, where up until the middle of April 2022, you could fill a shopping cart, enter your payment info, and send your money to a defunct company that had no way to fulfill your order. Recently, one thing has changed: If you try to place an order today, you’ll be told the item is “on backorder.” But aside from that, the site is still running, even though the company is not.



 
Oldtimer memories…

Many years ago I bought my ST1100 40amp alternator upgrade parts from them for a darn nice price at the time; and I negotiated/set up a package deal/price that a number of the old STRiders email LiSTserv folks used.

Others may remember those early days of the first online parts sites. They had their own proprietary part numbers so you couldn’t order by Honda part numbers unless you already knew them. We spent a lot of time on the LISTserv sharing Honda part numbers… compiling our own lists for reference. I organized my master list by Service manual chapters; plus special tools and Hondaline accessories part numbers. STill look at it occasionally. The prices of parts I recorded early on amaze me compared to today’s. Oh yeah… I still have a low quality parts CD that became available.

Time flies…. John
 
There should be legal consequences for managers / company directors / trustees who leave company portals open to receive orders from customers when there is zero chance of fulfillment. This is fraud.
 
Most likely a claim of "we forgot to shut down the money taking aspect of the site, so sorry" is enough to defend against fraud without proof of actually taking that money without attempting to fulfill orders.
But the (SOX) Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 might apply to the responsible and possibly culpable parties. It's a federal crime so good luck getting the Feds involved. Too bad for all those customers who lost money to Bike/Bandit though.
 
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