Exclusive Moto Guzzi dealer.

[voncrump]

Righto Guzzi people.
Close your eyes and imagine a shop that just sells Moto Guzzi and no other brand.
Can such a place exist?
Well yes it can, Thunderbike in Perth Western Australia.
Mario is a great bloke and the shop is full of Guzzis.
















Cheers, voncrump

[twowings]

 

[Tom]

Hope he's making money and turning a profit.

[voncrump]

I will try and get a link to a good article.

http://www.bikeshedtimes.com/thunderbikes-mario-poggioli-perths-guzzi-guru/

See if that works.
Cheers, voncrump

[pete roper]

It’s possible to turn a profit on Guzzi. It’s just a matter of doing it right.

Mario has been the ‘Go To’ bloke in Oz since his ex-boss was the importer back in the eighties. When he died Mario took over the biz and has been running strong ever since. He’s my first port of call for anything on the older bikes as he has comprehensive stock and I tend to concentrate on post 2,000 stuff nowadays. Having said that we’ve had a run on roller kits and I ran out of 0.85mm head gaskets so I called him up and sure enough he had them too. It’s a rare thing for him not to have what you want. He had a set of 750 Gilardonis just sitting there for the 750S we did last year.

Top bloke and I always try and use him if I can as having a ‘Local’ supplier with good stock makes a world of difference. “Use it or loose it” as the saying goes.

Pete

[Diploman]

That is truly extraordinary to see a commercially-viable, Guzzi-only dealership.  Congratulations to Mario - clearly he is doing something very right, and something that eludes most other dealerships.  I suspect that Mario has not only a very special aptitude and commitment to customer service, but he must have both highly-developed mechanical aptitude and a knowledge base, as well as a good sense of entrepreneurship/business administration.  I think it is very rare to find all those talents in one individual.  Bravo, Mario!

Successful Guzzi-only counterpart dealerships here in the US have been few if any:  The current closest (to my knowledge) are perhaps Cadre Cycle in Blue Ash Ohio (new Guzzi and used many marques), Hamlin Cycle in Bethel Connecticut (Guzzi/Aprilia/Triumph certified tech), and Moto International in Seattle (Guzzi/Aprilia).  The one thing all three of these dealerships have in common is a charismatic, knowledgable, customer-oriented individual who can inspire trust and loyalty in customers.  Cadre seems to have a good reputation and appears to be doing well currently, as is Hamlin.  MI is an institution built on the exceptional talent of the (now retired) Dave Richardson.  But it is, sadly, a rarity for a US dealership to prosper with Guzzi as its only or headline brand.  Guzzi is, after all, a unique niche bike, with a limited but loyal following on WildGuzzi and elsewhere, but an unfortunately constrained image/exposure/familiarity with the US motorcycling public at large.  If it were otherwise, more Americans would be able to say "Guzzi" properly.

[Matteo]

Portland OR dealer did well enough with Guzzi to add Aprilia, as did Moto International in Seattle.

[jlburgess]

Cascade or T.S.S.?
One is better now!  The other sells new Triumphs and blows up your battery on a dyno test.

[vintagehoarder]

We have a very successful one in Cincinnati Ohio with Enzo Miller and Cadre Cycles/Moto Guzzi of Cincinnati! 

Wonderful folks and a great shop. They are doing quite well as a Moto Guzzi only Dealer!  If your in the area, check them out. 

Feel lucky to have them in my region!  Here is a little video I produced for them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYAWHJulSEQ

[Mike Harper]

Righto Guzzi people.
Close your eyes and imagine a shop that just sells Moto Guzzi and no other brand.
Can such a place exist?
Well yes it can, Thunderbike in Perth Western Australia.
Mario is a great bloke and the shop is full of Guzzis.

I don't see this as much of a feat??
We have been solo Moto Guzzi for 35 years now and we are still here.
Before 1983 we were handling multiple brands, but most of them died off and were not replaced in our lineup.

Check us out  www.harpermoto.com

Curtis, Mike and Alice

[Tusayan]

A Moto Guzzi dealer in Australia is operating in market where motorcycles have relatively high retail cost, and where service is as widely spaced as it is in remote areas of the US.  That's traditionally been good for marketing classic Italian bikes that are long lived and rebuildable. 

[Murray]

Righto Guzzi people.
Close your eyes and imagine a shop that just sells Moto Guzzi and no other brand.
Can such a place exist?
Well yes it can, Thunderbike in Perth Western Australia.
Mario is a great bloke and the shop is full of Guzzis.


Cheers, voncrump

Its just the local shop :P  Parts and the workshop make the money in a slap in the face for the just in time model he actually carried stock why in the most isolated capital city in the world its easier to get most Guzzi parts than a lot of parts from the big four. If you have a hunt around for Ewan McGreggors my ride my pride or whatever it was called the launch of the 1400 cali despite been four other Guzzi shops at the time, Mario's was the only one with any exposure in it. Been able to ring parts manufacturers up and abuse them in their own language when required probably also helps.

 Although he was saying recently he's losing customers to other brands due to the lack of a Lemans/ some kind of sports bike, most likely I will be in that category although I tend to hang onto my stuff so there will be a bit of servicing work for him through various old buckets of munt.

[Lcarlson]

Hamlin Cycles in Bethel CT was Guzzi only until recently, when he purchased the Aprilia franchise from another local dealer.

[voncrump]

Hats off for Harpers as well as any other shop that specialises in our bike of choice.
My original post was related to my recent visit to Thunderbike and I have the most respect for any shop that sticks to to their long term commitments to a brand and the customers.
Cheers, voncrump.

[tasdisr]

We have a very successful one in Cincinnati Ohio with Enzo Miller and Cadre Cycles/Moto Guzzi of Cincinnati! 

Wonderful folks and a great shop. They are doing quite well as a Moto Guzzi only Dealer!  If your in the area, check them out. 

Feel lucky to have them in my region!  Here is a little video I produced for them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYAWHJulSEQ

I will second that! Great people and fantastic customer service!

[Murray]

Thread bump well not worth starting a new thread. Dropped in in the last couple of days and had a chat to Mario it was kinda interesting, he was saying he has a load of customers with money and interested in buying something, except he's got nothing from Guzzi they are interested in. Most of them are 1100 sport daytona Lemans and CARC bike customers the round up? there is no interest in the V9's ie none, V7's shuffling out the door at a steady pace but its a 10 year old bike and not exactly setting the world on fire, the people who were going to purchase cali 1400's have purchased cali 1400's and a big chunk of his customer base that he's got nothing for.

 In 20 odd years he's be going as his own thing give or take its never been this bad from Guzzi nothing even on the horizon. He's in no danger of closing he doesn't have a floor plan having the get bikes out the door in a set period, workshop and spare parts will be as always.

[Sheepdog]

Downtown Powersports in Leesville, LA is Guzzi/Aprilia only (well they sell lawnmowers and side-by-sides, too).

[Roebling3]

Guzzi dealers taking on Aprilia (and vice versa), should be a good combination. Aprilia has a focus on real sport bikes plus several other models younger motorcyclists (and a few old duffers like me), find interesting. Aprilia's applied engine and suspension tech is is fairly broad based throughout their models.  Had Jim Hamlin acquired a spent Ape dealership a year ago, I might be riding a Dorsodoro.  R3~

[mechanicsavant]

Don't forget A-J cycles on RT.2 in Gill Ma. I've been doing business there since the early 90s! Bought several new & used bikes . They have been my go to shop . Even if the coffee is questionable the service has been great

[rodekyll]

Can someone tell me what makes a business a "Dealer"?

[Murray]

Can someone tell me what makes a business a "Dealer"?

Usually a direct relationship with the importer, as to Aprilia I have one, don't think I'll be buying another one anytime soon.

[bpreynolds]

It's hard to argue with history and long, long, very long trail of failed Guzzi delaerships and brand drops in the US.  If you're selling Geese for the money then you'll likely not be selling them long.  As Enzo (Cadre) even said to me, if he was in it for the money he probably would have gotten out early on.

[guzzisteve]

Can someone tell me what makes a business a "Dealer"?

Authorized to sell new bikes & parts, AND warranty service.

[Tom]

You also have to pay the distributor/company for the rights to be a dealer and floor their bikes.  They want an exclusive line of Moto Guzzis to be floored, so no other brands.  Out here, the importer is also the dealer for Piaggio.  It would never fly if you wanted to be a dealer for Moto Guzzi.  You'd have to be a Piaggio dealer and work through your competition to sell against them. 

[blu guzz]

If you want to make a million dollars selling Guzzi - start with two million.  Old joke.  I think there is room to make money if you run a small operation and are not getting killed for rent by your landlord.  Look at the hoops Harley and BMW put their dealers through and it is not surprising that the smallest downturn in the economy kills some of these dealers.  Whereas, if you start out as a repair shop with a solid rep and customer base and you add Guzzi without being forced to expand your shop 3 fold, you might just make a living if you are careful.