If you need motorcycle parts or accessories, or you even want a brand-new bike, and you can’t, or won’t go to a dealer, then the industry is moving to help. Both Kawasaki and Yamaha have announced home delivery programs, delivering products to customer’s homes in the US market.

Like every other out-of-the-ordinary incident in the moto-industry these days, this is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The move comes despite a recent announcement from the US’s federal government, which declared powersports employees to be essential workers. The language used was very broad :“Workers critical to the manufacturing, distribution, sales, rental, leasing, repair, and maintenance of vehicles and other transportation equipment (including electric vehicle charging stations) and the supply chains that enable these operations to facilitate continuity of travel-related operations for essential workers.” Sounds like dealerships should be able to open, if they want to??

But, not every dealership wants to open, over concerns of employee health, or profit margin viability. Many customers would choose not to leave house to visit a dealership, even if they had the opportunity to do so legally. That’s where the announcements from Kawasaki and then Yamaha came from. They’re both taking their business to customers directly.

The details on the Yamaha program seem to be in flux, but Kawasaki’s announcement laid out a two-part approach. Parts, accessories, stuff that could be shipped directly from central locations—that’s going to be sent to customers via couriers. Bikes, ATVs and other vehicles will be delivered in-person by dealership staff, so they can go over the setup, maintenance and safety instructions that a customer would most likely want.

Both the Kawasaki and Yamaha programs won’t be running across the whole country, as COVID-19 quarantine regulations aren’t the same across all the states. If you’re curious as to whether your local dealership is taking part, your best bet is to give them a call.