Madison, Wi. Guzzi dealer

[Chuck in Indiana]

We went to visit the Kid in Wisconsin this week (and attend a funeral for an old aviator) so stopped by the Guzzi dealer to commiserate. 
Nice guy, and an enthusiast..



He has several on the floor, but no V85. For those of you with a Flying Fortress.. I'm talking about you, Luap.. he has every custom carbon fiber piece you ever thought of.
https://vespamadison.com/

[adaven]

+1.
Genuinely wants to be helpful. He's smart, personable, and a good mechanic. I've bought a bunch of odds and ends, tires and accessories from them for a baby Breva and a Nevada. When I hear others complain about various Guzzi dealers I feel we are lucky to have him here.
This is a great example of, even if you can do your own work, please consider picking up your filters, gasket sets, tires, batteries, and assorted other stuff to help support him. If you have to pay a little more (not always, though), it is well worth it.

[Moto]

I remember talking with the original owner when this place opened up a few years ago. He was older. Is this new fellow the sole proprietor?

I'll make a point of buying some supplies there, after adaven's suggestion.

Moto

[Chuck in Indiana]

I remember talking with the original owner when this place opened up a few years ago. He was older. Is this new fellow the sole proprietor?

I'll make a point of buying some supplies there, after adaven's suggestion.

Moto

I *think* he is. At least the motorcycle/scooter part. He brought bikes to the Wisconsin rally..

[Roebling3]

When was the last time MG Cycles carried new MG's? (my favorite parts source). A friend bought a great looking used R100RT from them; a long time ago.  R3~

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

When was the last time MG Cycles carried new MG's? (my favorite parts source). A friend bought a great looking used R100RT from them; a long time ago.  R3~

MG Cycle was never a Guzzi dealer.
 

[Moto]

Yep, I think that's right.

Long ago they repaired Guzzis, and may have even sold used bikes. But they weren't an official dealer, and gave that up to concentrate on the parts business.

[Roebling3]

Didn't Dave Fulkerson race a Guzzi?  R3~

[Moto]

Didn't Dave Fulkerson race a Guzzi?  R3~

Yes, indeedy. See here:

http://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=18&zenid=20e287595b48949d132b11cb168fee5f

[adaven]

The fellow in the picture is Jeremy. The proprietor is Jeff Dunn. The Vespa/Guzzi portion of the business (sales and service) is (by all outward appearances) run by Jeremy while the main part of the operation is Dunn's Imports, a venerable imported car repair shop (service only). I am not sure of the nature of their business relationship but if you have Guzzi or Vespa questions you get Jeremy, for 4 wheelers you get one of the other guys. Some clues: Jeremy answers the phone, Jeff doesn't. Jeremy works some Saturdays, Jeff doesn't.
Jeff makes an appearance in one of Peter Egan's vignettes, loaning him a Vespa from the shop and going for a spin. The idea was to show Mr Egan that Vespas are a blast and make sense, especially as we age gracefully.

[Roebling3]

Thank you MOTO! That link is a great catch up for me. I finally recalled reading it; when it was fresh.
I'm assuming Dave et. al. are no longer racing? And Charlie Cole has been out of sight for too long. 
     Thanks again, MOTO.  Good fortune,  R3~

[TN Mark]

Good for them that a Vespa & Guzzi dealer can sustain their business by being open M-F 10:00a to 5:30p and be closed on Saturday and Sunday. I'm often surprised by the hours some business keep when they depend upon the general public for a living. Apparently, a lot more people in their area then I would suspect are available for Dunn's Import during what I used to consider 'normal' working hours. Good for them that they don't need to be open on Saturdays. Perhaps they have an internet parts business that rivals someone like MG Cycle.     

[Moto]

Good for them that a Vespa & Guzzi dealer can sustain their business by being open M-F 10:00a to 5:30p and be closed on Saturday and Sunday. I'm often surprised by the hours some business keep when they depend upon the general public for a living. Apparently, a lot more people in their area then I would suspect are available for Dunn's Import during what I used to consider 'normal' working hours. Good for them that they don't need to be open on Saturdays. Perhaps they have an internet parts business that rivals someone like MG Cycle.   

They have been open on Saturdays in the past, and I expect they will be this summer. (Don't forget our winter has just ended!)

I think the car repair business is probably where their profits mostly come from, based on my limited observations.

Moto

EDIT: I'm pretty sure they've had the Vespa/Guzzi storefront open on Saturdays right through most of the winter. I bet it's just a confusion on the webpage, showing the car repair hours without differentiating them from the other. (It's three or four miles up the main drag from me, so I go by pretty often.)

M.

[adaven]

Open Saturday A.M.
I picked up an oil filter a week ago on a Saturday. There was one guy. The shop was locked up but the showroom was open. We went to the repair shop to get the parts and locked up the showroom while we were next door.
Its a family business and they run it as such. Jeremy wasn't there when I picked up my stuff because he had to watch his kids.
I think a great place to work is with a business that allows you fit your life into your life. Helps keep good people around.
To my knowledge, they have a website, but that is the extent of their internet presence.

[Moto]

Open Saturday A.M.
I picked up an oil filter a week ago on a Saturday. There was one guy. The shop was locked up but the showroom was open. We went to the repair shop to get the parts and locked up the showroom while we were next door.
Its a family business and they run it as such. Jeremy wasn't there when I picked up my stuff because he had to watch his kids.
I think a great place to work is with a business that allows you fit your life into your life. Helps keep good people around.
To my knowledge, they have a website, but that is the extent of their internet presence.

So the Guzzi repairs are done on-site now? I remember being told they would be done off-site when the shop first opened.

Moto

[yackee]

They were initially just a Vespa dealer. Madison used to have a surprisingly vibrant "moped" market (as we call 50cc scooters here), with the college students using them extensively to get around campus and the downtown area. Unfortunately the previous mayor got a bee in his bonnet about the proliferation of mopeds and changed the local ordinance that allowed mopeds to be parked on sidewalk terraces (as along as the mopeds didn't obstruct the sidewalk). Now, mopeds have to park in on-street, metered automobile spaces, of which there are precious few. So the main advantage of commuting on a moped--ease of parking--no longer exists. The predictable result has been a crash in the local moped market. I wonder if Dunn's has seen a decline in their vespa sales as a result. I would imagine that the Guzzi line was subsidized by students buying vespas.

[adaven]

Yeah, they do the work on site. There may be limitations on the generation of Guzzi that they repair, or the magnitude of the repair, but, in general, the newer stuff can be repaired there as far as I know. I heard that, in the past, it had been outsourced to a guy down the road but not any more.

All you guys with the old stuff do your own work anyway, don't you? Quickly hammer out a forge and a lathe, maybe a compressor, get Guzzidiag and you are all set. I am envious of those skills.

I believe that Vespas are more adult vehicles. Students buy the cheap stuff, Spree, Metropolitan, Zuma, assorted generic scooters. You don't see many genuine Vespas on campus. If Dunn's was counting on students to any extent they would be in sad shape.

As long as we are on the subject, they have a used MP3 500 for sale. I don't know anything about it, but the price seems fair.

[Moto]

Yes, to be honest, there's little chance I'd be willing to pay someone else to do the things I can do with my own forge and lathe.   

I think you're right about students and Vespas. As for MP3 500's, I got a test ride on one from the Madison dealer, and just didn't see the point. Maybe someone can explain it to me someday.

Moto

[adaven]

The appeal of the MP3 to me is that I have a spinal stenosis and don't trust that my left leg is going to be there every time I need it, especially over the next few years. So the idea that I can stop without having to trust my leg is appealing.

The year I spent in Spain, watching the MP3s fly around the roundabouts was what first drew me to them. They still seem a little goofy here in the U.S.

However, as full disclosure, I've never been on one and, like you, might not enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

A sidecar rig is probably the ticket.

[bad Chad]

I was told that no vehicle could keep up with a MP3 descending a mountain.