Are we getting new blood in the Guzzi World?

[rjamesohio]

I went to a Euro Bike nite in Cincinnati last week for the first time in quite a while.

In the old days - I'd be one of the FEW Guzzis showing up. Last week - I saw perhaps 10-15 NEW Guzzis ride in together! I believe there were more Guzzis than BMWs!

Oddly - if I rode my Cali 1100i to this event - which I didn't - I would have been likely the oldest Guzzi there!

Significant? Or just an anamoly?

[oldbike54]

 Interesting , what age group were the V7 owners primarily ?

 Dusty

[Lannis]

I went to a Euro Bike nite in Cincinnati last week for the first time in quite a while.

In the old days - I'd be one of the FEW Guzzis showing up. Last week - I saw perhaps 10-15 NEW Guzzis ride in together! I believe there were more Guzzis than BMWs!

Oddly - if I rode my Cali 1100i to this event - which I didn't - I would have been likely the oldest Guzzi there!

Significant? Or just an anamoly?

Every place I go ... our monthly Guzzi gatherings, big events like MidOhio, and just on the road, I see young motorcycle riders in general and young Guzzi riders taking the place of those who have gone on.

At our last Guzzi lunch, there were 20 people and 10 of them were NOT old gray-headed guys like me wondering how long they will keep riding.

We always think that our job, our knowledge, our hobbies, and the world will die out when we do.   It ain't gonna happen!

Lannis

[Huzo]

I used to worry about “our” marque dying out..
Until I came to the realisation that there are thousands of “old farts” being produced every day. Exactly the same as the birth rate, strangely enough..

[ohiorider]

I am glad to hear that younger riders are filling the void.  We really need some younger riders to take up the slack.

Bob

[LowRyter]

I've seen a few late model small blocks riding around, typically when I am in a car on another branded bike.   Don, local shop owner, has only sold a couple of them.  It would be nice to have a get together but when I run into someone on a Guzzi none have been on WG and don't seem that interested. 

[frans belgium]

Definitely.  My dealer reports selling more V85's in the last 3 months than overall sales of all models the year before. A lot of them rode different makes before, unlike in the past, where only Guzzi riders bought new Guzzis.

[T4halo]

Over on ADVrider many of the guys commenting on their new V85tt’s are new Guzzi owners. Great news.

T4

[canuck750]

I have seen more young riders on the newer V7 iterations in the past year than ever before, talked to a couple when I had the chance and they all responded how they love the bikes!

[Tusayan]

Yes

[rjamesohio]

Definitely.  My dealer reports selling more V85's in the last 3 months than overall sales of all models the year before. A lot of them rode different makes before, unlike in the past, where only Guzzi riders bought new Guzzis.

Can't really give you a demographic snapshot because I was catching up with my 'old' friends. LOL There DO seem to be some younger riders jumping on Guzzis though, which is great!

There seem to be a lot of V7s, Grisos, and a emerging # of V85s.

[LowRyter]

Maybe I should put a flier at Don's store on OKC advising of the Okie Rally?

[Lannis]

 LOL There DO seem to be some younger riders jumping on Guzzis though, which is great!

"Younger" doesn't imply what it used to.    A lot of "younger" guys I know are getting knee replacements, arterial stents, and like that.

In a store, I'll get waited on by what I think is a middle-schooler and it turns out they've graduated college ....

Lannis

[bodine99]

Around here not too many Guzzi's, not many dealers in Fl. Many 20-35 yr. olds on XL's, Hinkley Bonny's, Ducati scramblers, Motard's and med. new CC Japanese twins and vintage Inline 4's. Many sport bikes & tons of geezers on HD & big Indians ADV's seem to being getting more popular also

[Bud]

Hey guys better tone this down, if Moto Guzzi hears about this they will find a way to screw it up !

[vintagehoarder]

Cadre is now one of the top volume dealers, I think his presence is being seen in the Cincinnati area.

[s1120]

It is great to see new blood for sure... and great bikes that people want.. Maybe someone up high might notice and think that maybe they want to figure out how to stop bleeding dealers...   The younger generations demand much more from their dealer network..  What good is bringing them through the door... then losing then shortly after because the dealers close..

[Diploman]

I remember when I first joined this forum around 1999, that smallblock Guzzi's garnered very few WG posts and were generally considered with disdain by the mainstream Guzzi crowd, nearly all of whom rode "real Guzzi's", ie, big blocks.  That dynamic has now evolved and turned around in a major way: the smallblock V7, V9 and smallblock derivative V85 have become the mainstays of Guzzi's current production and the likely basis for its future growth.  Like most other segments of motorcycledom, Moto Guzzi has been evolving in a downsizing direction: the V85 engine, not the 1400, is destined to be the principal basis for Guzzi's production in the near-to-medium term, perhaps until internal combustion engines are outlawed.  I think this is a healthy and rational evolution.  Who really needs a ponderous 1400-2L bike when a lively and more agile 850 will do most things better?  A minority of motorcyclists will continue to buy large-displacement bikes, seeking "performance" (ie. straight-line acceleration) or "comfort" (ie. large, heavy machines for long distance, major motorway travel), but the evidence to date strongly suggests that the majority of riders are and will be moving towards smaller, lighter, more agile and efficient modern bikes.  Bravo smallblocks!

[Tusayan]

Ducati did the same ‘switch to a souped up small block’ routine in the 80s, so its well trodden ground.  So far it looks to be working for Guzzi, as it did for Ducati.

[JRD]

Cadre is now one of the top volume dealers, I think his presence is being seen in the Cincinnati area.

Enzo Miller and the Cadre team are excellent: knowledgeable, experienced, fair, and helpful. They have a great reputation in SW Ohio and I agree that’s why we’re seeing more Guzzis in the Cincinnati area.

I bought my 2017 V7III from Enzo and I’m very pleased with the sale and service afterwards. Cadre’s an hour away from my home but always willing to help by phone or email. Nice little shop!

[rocker59]

   Like most other segments of motorcycledom, Moto Guzzi has been evolving in a downsizing direction: the V85 engine, not the 1400, is destined to be the principal basis for Guzzi's production in the near-to-medium term, perhaps until internal combustion engines are outlawed.  I think this is a healthy and rational evolution.  Who really needs a ponderous 1400-2L bike when a lively and more agile 850 will do most things better?   

...as Triumph announces its 2500cc Rocket 3   

[rocker59]

I remember when I first joined this forum around 1999, that smallblock Guzzi's garnered very few WG posts and were generally considered with disdain by the mainstream Guzzi crowd, nearly all of whom rode "real Guzzi's", ie, big blocks.  That dynamic has now evolved and turned around in a major way: the smallblock V7, V9 and smallblock derivative V85 have become the mainstays of Guzzi's current production and the likely basis for its future growth.   

Yes.  Guzzi is selling V7s and V9s by the thousands while Big Blocks over the past decade sold by the hundreds.  It won't take long  for "the Guzzi World" to be swamped with small blocks, while seeing a Big Block will be an oddity.  It's simply a numbers game.

Yes, the Guzzi community has changed.  Many of the buyers of the small blocks over the past decade have been younger non-traditional Guzzi buyers.  The community will continue to change as all the old gray beards, still clinging to their vintage big blocks, age out of motorcycling. 

It's really too bad... - signed an aging spine frame fan.

[John Ulrich]

Rocker hit the nail on the head.  I'm also seeing long-timers sell off the larger "iron" and adding a small block.

[Diploman]

Triumph, bless them, are woefully out of sync with the overall direction of motorcycling in introducing a revised, even-bigger-bore Rocket 3.  (I rode one of the early Rocket 3's years ago - it was mostly remarkable only for its massiveness.). Certainly, there will be a few extremists to whom this outlier appeals.  But this is a quirky segment-to-itself bike, confined in small numbers to a tiny niche.

[oldbike54]

Maybe I should put a flier at Don's store on OKC advising of the Okie Rally?

 Good idea .

 Dusty

[pete roper]

Oh I think that the strategy is working and good for Guzzi but it doesn't work for me, not because I don't want a smaller bike or think that smaller bikes are the way forward but because I think the smallblock is a lousy platform to do it with. I personally would prefer it if they shitcanned the whole transverse V concept and started anew. If the do persist with the smallblock it's got to get more valves and a Hi-Cam for me to take it seriously.

Pete

[Zinfan]

I linked an article in the V85 thread from the LA Times where they claim 70% of trade-ins for the V85 are from non-Guzzi owners so there is some new blood in the water I guess.

[JRD]

Yes, the Guzzi community has changed.  Many of the buyers of the small blocks over the past decade have been younger non-traditional Guzzi buyers.  The community will continue to change as all the old gray beards, still clinging to their vintage big blocks, age out of motorcycling.

Agree with Rocker, but here’s a Graybeard who bought his first Moto Guzzi at age 71 after admiring the classic big blocks for 40+ years. I bought a V7III Special because I needed something smaller, lighter, and lower than the big Beemers I’d been riding for decades. It’s also air cooled, ABS, and (at long last) a Guzzi. Fits me well and perfectly suited to the kind of riding I’m doing these days, local rather than long distance.

[Penderic]

[tasdisr]

Cadre is now one of the top volume dealers, I think his presence is being seen in the Cincinnati area.

I agree!!