Author Topic: Moto - International Seattle is closing.  (Read 18945 times)

Offline swooshdave

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #60 on: September 26, 2018, 04:35:01 PM »
Beautiful weather for a ride.  If you're looking for an excuse, that's a good 'un. 

Last time I went I think there was only 1 person I recognized from a year ago.  Nice people all, but different.

Three and a half hours each way. Through Seattle traffic. On a Friday. Which means more like five hours back home. Motivation is low... Might go to the coast instead.
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Offline Rhodan

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #61 on: September 26, 2018, 04:59:40 PM »
Three and a half hours each way. Through Seattle traffic. On a Friday. Which means more like five hours back home. Motivation is low... Might go to the coast instead.

Oh man, 3 1/2 hours IS more like 5 hours (or more).  Especially if you're coming through Tacoma at all.  I'd vote for a ride to the coast and I bet Dave would too.

Offline Kiwi_Roy

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #62 on: September 26, 2018, 05:43:20 PM »
From MI facebook page:

It is with great regret to inform you that Moto International will be closing our doors permanently.  Our last day open to the public will be September 29th, with a final closure date of October 15th.  We will continue to service bikes and fulfill existing parts orders to the best of our ability.  Stay tuned for info on where to bring your bikes for future service/warranty needs.  Motorcycle sales will be discontinued shortly, and currently all bikes are priced at our cost.  We will not be taking any more special orders, or booking new service appointments.  Look for deep discounts on all parts and accessories that are in stock.  We appreciate the support over the last 25 years, but are at the point where it�s no longer financially viable to keep the lights on.  Thank you for allowing us to serve you over the years�

Shoot, I might just have to venture down on Saturday, last chance to soak up a bit of the atmosphere.

It should be a big day, a chance to gather and swap stories, show our appreciation.
I wonder if we could entice Dave out.
« Last Edit: September 26, 2018, 10:03:36 PM by Kiwi_Roy »
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Offline Kiwi_Roy

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #63 on: September 27, 2018, 06:34:41 PM »
Bump

Come and help spend Rhodans money :evil:
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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #63 on: September 27, 2018, 06:34:41 PM »

Offline Rhodan

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #64 on: September 28, 2018, 12:19:01 PM »
So kind.   :rolleyes:   :laugh:

Based on the latest Facebook post, they plan on staying open to mid October now. 
That's not a huge change to their previous info:  they had planned to close to the public this weekend and then finish up stuff for two weeks afterwards.  Makes sense they stay open if folks are going to be around anyway.
« Last Edit: September 28, 2018, 12:19:57 PM by Rhodan »

Offline TimmyTheHog

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #65 on: September 28, 2018, 12:24:46 PM »
So kind.   :rolleyes:   :laugh:

Based on the latest Facebook post, they plan on staying open to mid October now. 
That's not a huge change to their previous info:  they had planned to close to the public this weekend and then finish up stuff for two weeks afterwards.  Makes sense they stay open if folks are going to be around anyway.

sooo....I get to spend your money? sweet  :evil:

lol...but I would assume they are trying to clean out the house before they are "officially" closed.

It usually cost more by trying to send all those items away than stay open a few more days...ya, been there done that...
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Offline Tom

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #66 on: September 28, 2018, 05:49:09 PM »
yes Daveis a GREAT stand up guy :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: ..I never met the new owners ...  I bought a white 80th anniversaryEV  demo bike from DAVE .. and he helped me immensely :bow: ...warranty work and also advice on on getting  a CAL VINTAGE from a guy in Hawaii  -- never have I ever dealt with dealer like Moto International .. when the 1400 came out I was working with Dave  to get one.....
   

What island? 
From the Deep Deep South out in left field.  There are no stupid questions.  There are however stupid people asking questions.  🤣, this includes me.  😉

Offline mcdammitt

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #67 on: September 28, 2018, 08:21:50 PM »
Every time I went to Seattle I would try to stop and say hello. Nice fellow that Dave. I would assume at least one of his Wrenches would be working on bikes somewhere in the area?
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Offline Cruzerdog

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #68 on: September 28, 2018, 11:34:31 PM »
What island?
the Big Island of 

Hawaii
John
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Offline Kiwi_Roy

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #69 on: September 29, 2018, 08:17:04 AM »
So kind.   :rolleyes:   :laugh:

Based on the latest Facebook post, they plan on staying open to mid October now. 
That's not a huge change to their previous info:  they had planned to close to the public this weekend and then finish up stuff for two weeks afterwards.  Makes sense they stay open if folks are going to be around anyway.

Oh Great
You have to go on Facebook to find out whats going on, who the hell uses Facebook?
Therin lies their demise, they should have been on Pintress

Oh well i'm all geared up to venture down there today.
I might see a few of you there, black Griso with BC plates, scruffy Guzzi jacket.
« Last Edit: September 29, 2018, 08:25:43 AM by Kiwi_Roy »
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Online Dave Swanson

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #70 on: September 29, 2018, 08:23:46 AM »
who the hell uses Facebook?


Facebook has some of the best motorcycle content on the internet.  There are "pages" devoted to every type of motorcycle you can imagine.  The Moto Guzzi pages are very popular.   You are missing out if not on FB.  It is what you make it. 
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Offline Kiwi_Roy

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #71 on: September 29, 2018, 08:42:14 AM »
Oh dear, i've ruffled some feathers

 :grin:
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Moto Guzzi - making electricians out of riders since March 15 1921

Online Dave Swanson

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #72 on: September 29, 2018, 08:45:42 AM »
No ruffling here.   :wink:  Just don't like a fellow Guzzi guy missing out.   :grin:
Dave Swanson - Northern IL
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Offline Kiwi_Roy

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #73 on: September 29, 2018, 09:32:48 AM »
IMHO facebook is more like somewhere to go to post a picture of your cat while you are having the latest coffee at Starbucks
If they had really wanted to get the word out they should have posted it here on Wild Guzzi.

it's a beautiful day today, theres no guarantee of fine weather next week so i will go today
Cheers Dave

Roy



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Moto Guzzi - making electricians out of riders since March 15 1921

Offline Rhodan

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #74 on: September 29, 2018, 11:59:32 AM »
If they had really wanted to get the word out they should have posted it here on Wild Guzzi.
:laugh: True 'dat.

I wish they'd kept up both their website and continued their Craigslist postings.  :shrug:  I've never owned a dealership though so I really have no idea what it takes to keep one in the black.

Offline Rhodan

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #75 on: September 29, 2018, 12:27:55 PM »
If anyone wants to buy a bike,today is the last day for that.  They will be open a couple more weeks but no bike sales.
« Last Edit: September 29, 2018, 12:41:58 PM by Rhodan »

Offline Kiwi Dave

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #76 on: September 29, 2018, 02:45:55 PM »
IMHO facebook is more like somewhere to go to post a picture of your cat while you are having the latest coffee at Starbucks
If they had really wanted to get the word out they should have posted it here on Wild Guzzi.

Agree entirely.

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #77 on: September 29, 2018, 03:22:38 PM »
IMHO facebook is more like somewhere to go to post a picture of your cat while you are having the latest coffee at Starbucks
If they had really wanted to get the word out they should have posted it here on Wild Guzzi.

it's a beautiful day today, theres no guarantee of fine weather next week so i will go today
Cheers Dave

Roy

And here on Wildguzzi they reach how many active users at any one time? Maybe a few hundred. On Facebook, they likely reach thousands. Maybe what they should have done was call each and every customer, that has ever bought anything from them, on the phone and tell them personally.  :wink:

Facebook has some of the best motorcycle content on the internet.  There are "pages" devoted to every type of motorcycle you can imagine.  The Moto Guzzi pages are very popular.   You are missing out if not on FB.  It is what you make it. 

 :thumb: :thumb:
Charlie

Offline Kiwi_Roy

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #78 on: September 29, 2018, 03:50:51 PM »
I tried to talk Rhodan into buying the beautiful blue V7 III, she was clutching her purse strings too tight. She'll be sorry tomorrow.


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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #79 on: September 29, 2018, 03:56:57 PM »
And here on Wildguzzi they reach how many active users at any one time? Maybe a few hundred. On Facebook, they likely reach thousands. Maybe what they should have done was call each and every customer, that has ever bought anything from them, on the phone and tell them personally.  :wink:

 :thumb: :thumb:

 WG sees over 2000 visitors everyday, on a slow day.

 Dusty

stormshearon

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #80 on: September 29, 2018, 04:09:33 PM »
I think the demise might have something to do with the new owner not really understanding Guzzi owners\buyers - hence the reliance on facebook, in what seems to have been an attempt to draw in newer customers (read 'younger', 'hipper'). I met the guy at the 25 year celebration at the shop when Dave was introducing him. My riding buddy and I chatted a bit - he did not really seem to know much about the mark at all. We were not impressed but hoped for the best.

Oh well, water under the bridge now.

Offline Huzo

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #81 on: September 29, 2018, 05:09:01 PM »
I've no knowlege whatsoever about MI in Seattle, but sounds like a great era has come to a sad close.
In the same vein.
I have solid links with Paul Harris (ex Corsa Italiana in London) and have spent a lot of time socially as well in his company and are privy to some of the facts surrounding the business closure in Walton on Thames.
 Most of the up's and down's of bike shop life were able to be ridden out, but the combination of a relentless stream of two bob tyre kickers who wanted to screw him down to the last quid and Piaggio bending him over a barrel and (you know what) dry, resulted in a wonderful business and lifestyle being driven into the ashes..
How about a bloke who turns up to buy a new bike, owns it for a day or two then decides it isn't for him, brings it back and the business has to accept it and inexplicably then is lumbered with a second hand Guzzi to try and sell.
I did not think such a situation was conceivable...
Just an indication of the crap that you have to deal with.
Very sad.
« Last Edit: September 29, 2018, 05:16:11 PM by Huzo »

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #82 on: September 29, 2018, 05:19:23 PM »
I think the demise might have something to do with the new owner not really understanding Guzzi owners\buyers - hence the reliance on facebook, in what seems to have been an attempt to draw in newer customers (read 'younger', 'hipper'). I met the guy at the 25 year celebration at the shop when Dave was introducing him. My riding buddy and I chatted a bit - he did not really seem to know much about the mark at all. We were not impressed but hoped for the best.

Oh well, water under the bridge now.

Moto International has had a Facebook page since 2010!
Charlie

Offline TN Mark

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #83 on: September 29, 2018, 05:51:46 PM »
WG sees over 2000 visitors everyday, on a slow day.

 Dusty

There are two USA owned Victory forums that each get thousands of hits a day. The Facebook Victory Owners pages get 10's of thousands of hits a day. There's no comparison where the majority of people are looking at information, pictures, bikes and parts for sale etc. I'd doubt the two Victory forums, eBay and Craigslist combined would come close to matching the traffic volume on Facebook.

I follow several Guzzi pages on Facebook and see a lot of information their that doesn't seem to get noticed here for days, if at all. Personally, I hate 95% of what companies like Facebook and Google stand for. But there's simply no denying the sheer volume of traffic that's available for those who are interested.

Maybe the situation with Moto Guzzi is different from most other brands and manufacturers. Or maybe it's mostly the same.
« Last Edit: September 30, 2018, 08:25:25 AM by TN Mark »

Offline Kiwi_Roy

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #84 on: September 30, 2018, 03:37:11 PM »
You get 10,000 visits a day on Facebook, so what
50 or 100 prospective customers in the door is what you need, not someone looking at your site from the other side of the country.
I took the time to travel from Vancouver to Seattle and no-one asked me if I was interested in looking at a new Guzzi, perhaps they could see I wasn't.
Anyway I guess someone else will pick up the Guzzi dealership for Seattle, I just feel sad that a once thriving dealership is no longer.
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Moto Guzzi - making electricians out of riders since March 15 1921

Offline TimmyTheHog

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #85 on: September 30, 2018, 03:47:24 PM »
I just feel sad that a once thriving dealership is no longer.

You and me both...

Saw the photo they posted in Facebook *gasp*...

The whole floor looks so empty without the bikes there :(
Life isn't WHAT IS at the end.
It is HOW and WHAT you are doing to get there.

03 Honda Shadow Spirit - The Purple Beast (SOLD)
15 Guzz V7 Stone - The Red Chick (SOLD)
18 BMW R1200GS Rallye - The Blue Streak (SOLD)

Currently Bikeless...*cry*

Offline TN Mark

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #86 on: September 30, 2018, 04:36:44 PM »
I sure hope Dave R and any other owners if there were any got paid 100% up front with the sale and he (they) wasn’t (weren’t) counting on payments over time for any of the purchase price.

Offline Rhodan

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #87 on: October 01, 2018, 11:39:33 AM »
Timmy, that picture was a hard one to see and I've only been going to the dealership a few years.  I can't imagine how you'd feel if you were one of the riders who had been with them for 25.

Roy, it was great to see you and your Griso but a shame no one asked if you were looking for a bike.  Hopefully you found some deals on parts n such.
The V7 wasn't the bike for me that day.  It's strange because I rode a V7iii Stone about a year ago and had an absolute BLAST on it.  Felt like a hooligan bike.  Not sure if it was me or that particular V7 I rode on Saturday but I didn't get the same joy.  I knew it was the right decision when I rode away and didn't have to fight an urge to go back and change my mind.  Ah well, something will come along to part me from my money.  Maybe a V85 TT?  It'll be interesting to see what November brings.

Offline TimmyTheHog

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #88 on: October 01, 2018, 03:26:17 PM »
Timmy, that picture was a hard one to see and I've only been going to the dealership a few years.  I can't imagine how you'd feel if you were one of the riders who had been with them for 25.

I am fairly new to the whole guzzi family, but even just for the quick 4~5 years (just before David's retirement), the atmosphere was slowly changing.

Even then, seeing the empty shop especially knowing it was quite vibrant in the past, the feeling is like staring at your old house where your newborn grew up on...

All the memories and all the mishaps...quite a tear jerking moment...for me anyway.
Life isn't WHAT IS at the end.
It is HOW and WHAT you are doing to get there.

03 Honda Shadow Spirit - The Purple Beast (SOLD)
15 Guzz V7 Stone - The Red Chick (SOLD)
18 BMW R1200GS Rallye - The Blue Streak (SOLD)

Currently Bikeless...*cry*

Offline Jose Mendez

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Re: Moto - International Seattle is closing.
« Reply #89 on: October 01, 2018, 03:59:14 PM »




Fond memories of my Rear Drive on the Moto - International shop floor.

I was very fortunate that they were able to get me in for repairs when I visited the Great Northwest.

 

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