It is worth sharing a grievance, but lets be cautious. These businesses do support events which promote motorcycling. They let people put posters on their windows, and for some they actually do offer reasonable service. If I ever owned a brand new motorcycle, I'd go to a dealer as long as the warranty was in place.
When Chris (and before him Dean) worked at Yamaha, I actually went there before the www. Since he left, I only go online. Being a parts person is actually a certifiable journeyman trade, but not all parts people are true journeymen. I don't think its a big paying business so parts people are often just above the coffee maker/ floor sweeper. Contrast with the parts guys at Chieftain Auto Parts; they know everything, usually have it, and know what to use if you want to ad lib.
Having said the above, my experience with Cycle North was similar. I was in a hurry to replace fork seals on the Rebel bobber because I had a buyer for it. I went to Cycle North rather than the www. The young parts boy (I am being ageist here) at first said they were in stock. Turns out only one was in stock, but the second should arrive "over night or two days at the most." Ended up being over a week and costing 4 times as much as they were offered by a bunch of on-line sellers.
If the dealers could get the correct parts fast, I would still go to them, even if they cost more. That just hasn't happened in years. Remember, we are talking about old bikes. The dealers have little incentive to compete with the online sellers for old stuff. You cannot even get Mukuni jets locally anymore.
Peace & persistence, Dennis
