How far would you or do you travel to your nearest dealer ?

[Meloman]

I live in Southern Oregon and currently the nearest Moto Guzzi dealers are 6 1/2 to 8 1/2 hours away. I’ve owned every major brand of motorcycle except Moto Guzzi and am intrigued by the new V7 850. I do my own servicing but the thought of a 7 or 8 hour drive one way for any warranty work is kind of a deal breaker. I will go test ride one when they come out but even if I fell in love with it, I’d have to think long and hard before pulling the trigger. I currently own 2 Royal Enfields, a Himalayan and an Interceptor 650 and that dealer is 3 hours from home. That’s the furthest I’ve ever gone to buy a bike.

So all you MG fans out there, how far do you or would you go to your nearest dealer ?

[lucky phil]

I live in Southern Oregon and currently the nearest Moto Guzzi dealers are 6 1/2 to 8 1/2 hours away. I’ve owned every major brand of motorcycle except Moto Guzzi and am intrigued by the new V7 850. I do my own servicing but the thought of a 7 or 8 hour drive one way for any warranty work is kind of a deal breaker. I will go test ride one when they come out but even if I fell in love with it, I’d have to think long and hard before pulling the trigger. I currently own 2 Royal Enfields, a Himalayan and an Interceptor 650 and that dealer is 3 hours from home. That’s the furthest I’ve ever gone to buy a bike.

So all you MG fans out there, how far do you or would you go to your nearest dealer ?

You need to identify the rationale for visiting the dealer. Do you mean to purchase or service? To me personally it doesn't matter a great deal within reason because once I've taken delivery I never need to return for servicing or warranty work. Motointernational used to have customers from all over the country on a fly ride deal. They even sold bikes in winter that the customers didn't fly out to take delivery until the spring/summer and ride them home.

Ciao

[ChuckH]

I live in middle IN, south of Indy, and bought my '12 Stelvio from Rose Farms in Woodstock, IL, about 350 miles or so away.  I pretty well bought it over the phone, although I had visited that dealer a few times before the purchase.  My wife and I traveled there when I picked it up and rode it home.  Jim B. had it well set up and ready to go.

I did my own maintenance and minor repair using parts I received via UPS from Rose Farms.  I was able to schedule minor warranty work while I was out on a trip...stay in a Woodstock motel, Jim would do the repairs in a day, back on the road the next day.  If I had had a major repair to be done on warranty, I would have trailered the bike to him and returned when the work was done.

It was a workable situation.  You just have to be confident in your mechanical ability, be able to plan ahead for your general maintenance work and have a good rapport with the Service and Parts people at your dealership.

Ride safe.

[Huzo]

If I’m in trouble deeper than I can get out of, I travel to Roper’s wrench emporium..
He’s not very good, but I’ll make do until better comes along..
Oh BTW..786 km.

[LesP]

I know someone who just did a 1600 km (1000 miles ?) return trip for a service on a Moto Guzzi 1400.

[Huzo]

I know someone who just did a 1600 km (1000 miles ?) return trip for a service on a Moto Guzzi 1400.

Well, he did buy it to ride I guess..

[blu guzz]

i am  very fortunate to have the dealer in the city i live in.  however, with both my 1400 and v85, there has been very little reason to go there.  i could have done what i needed to do by mail. the v85 has needed nothing at all in 12,000 miles.  since the new v7 will be based on that platform, i would expect similar performance from it.

[blackbuell]

I used to travel from greater Cincinnati to Riders Hill in Dahlonega, GA to have work done on the Norge that I Bought there. Thankfully, Cadre Cycle in Cincinnati became a Guzzi dealership a few years ago.

Jon

[Perazzimx14]

Why not wait for something used to come up f/s and either ship it in or do a F-N-R if not local. Seems a shame to buy new and pay the premium so you have warranty and not realistically be able to use it.

Warranty is really about the only benefit of buying new.

[LesP]

Well, he did buy it to ride I guess..

Yes he would be guilty of that.
I do not have much time for dealerships, the number plate surround they installed says it all.



There was a recall on the centre stand pivot (Africa Twin) that was a circlip replacement that is in plain view. 
I stopped at a Brisbane dealership and they said I would need to leave the bike there (for days) for it to be replaced (30 second job ?)

Thanks but no thanks.

[Huzo]

Why not wait for something used to come up f/s and either ship it in or do a F-N-R if not local. Seems a shame to buy new and pay the premium so you have warranty and not realistically be able to use it.

Warranty is really about the only benefit of buying new.

And the small matter of supporting the company..
Do you think that only buying used Guzzi’s is a good way of keeping the brand afloat ?

[Huzo]

Yes he would be guilty of that.
I do not have much time for dealerships, the number plate surround they installed says it all.

That’s actually correct, it’s a Southern Hemisphere bike.

[DougG]

Hi all,                                                                                                         3-22-21

Sheesh...I thought that me being a little over two hours away was bad, I'll count my blessings.  I get my tires locally, change my own oil, did a TPS by myself, do my own farkles(sp?).  If anything big happened, I'd trailer it. 

I did my last project bike about 18 years ago.   It was fun, but I realized that I'd rather be on the bike than under it.  (But that's just me).  Besides, I'm retired.  I don't have enough time to get involved with extended projects.   

Be well, stay well,
DougG

[JJ]

Here in "Vortex-Land" (aka, northern Arizona), the closest "official" Guzzi dealer is in Prescott, about 1.5 hours from my house.  There is another in Peoria, AZ (Phoeniz area) about 1.5 hours south.  I heard there is another one now in Apache Junction, AZ - about 2.5 hours south.

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

And the small matter of supporting the company..
Do you think that only buying used Guzzi’s is a good way of keeping the brand afloat ?

If Guzzi wants to sell new bikes via dealers, they sure as hell need to start acting like it.

I will never likely buy a new guzzi because of the lack of dealers!

Buying new from dealer only gives you warranty support. That is literally the only reason to buy new at a dealer. Of course if you have to travel hours to a dealer or buy a truck or trailer to get the bike there... you might as well not have the warranty.

If you buy a low-mile used bike you skip the depreciation- you are gonna have to maintain it yourself anyway, and it already has the break-in miles and enough running to hopefully reveal anything that you would need the warranty services for. Seems like a no-brainer to me. I will take a 2-year old bike with low miles outside warranty period at a 40-50% discount off dealer MSRP any day of the week.

I wanted a V7 Milano badly! But, I did not go for it because there is only one dealer in my state. AND that dealer is in the worst traffic, biggest PITA area to get to in my state.  Lo and behold, I waited 2 years and you can find a 4k miles (or less!)  Milano for $2-3k less than new sticker price and never have to set foot in the dealership.

[Ridgerider]

I'm really lucky.  The closest dealer to me is Hamlin's Cycles, and it's only 11 miles from my home!

[kingoffleece]

405 miles each way.  To Hamlin Cycles.

[decotriumph]

I am fortunate that my Moto Guzzi dealer where I've bought all my new ones is only about 45 miles away. The next closest is about 250 miles, then 400.

When I was a Triumph dealer in Indianapolis 20+ years ago, we once sold a Speed Triple to a customer in Maryland. He never brought it to us for service for some reason.

In 2000, while I still lived in Indiana, I bought a new Excelsior-Henderson from a dealer/friend in Pennsylvania, but E-H went out of business shortly after, so there was no warranty service anyway.

[usedtobefast]

If I was in your situation I'm not sure I would do it.    And for any warranty work, worse thing is you gotta drop it off and then go back later and pick it up, so two trips.  And if something happens to a brand new bike, a person is already a bit bummed out (or pissed or sad, etc) ... but then add that road trip on top of that and whew, what a pain.

Longest I driven for a new bike is ~3.5 hours but oddly enough I've driven 12 hours one way to pick up a used bike before! 

Let's see ...
12 hr + 12 hr to pick up used Stelvio
10 hr + 10 hr to pick up a Honda Pacific Coast with 2,500 miles on it!
6 hr + 6 hr to pick up my Quota

3.5 hr + 3.5 hr to pick up new Suzuki V-Strom 1000
2hr + 2hr to pick up brand new Racer
15 min + 15 min to pick up brand new Griso

OK, I'm messed up ... don't pay any attention to me. 

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

There's two dealers a mere 77 and 121 miles away, but I'm not sure I'd trust either of them to do any work.

[gerryp]

405 miles each way.

For me 50 miles one way is Not as close as Ridgerider's 11 miles but a hell of a lot better than KOF's 405 each way..

Gerry

[Wayne Orwig]

Well, my nearest dealer is 1 hour away. I contacted them and got a price on a new bike that is THOUSANDS of dollars above what others have stated they got it for.

So I emailed a dealer about 3 hours away. The answers to those emails were surprisingly lacking. (as in, I would ask if they have X. They simply answer, we have Y. I asked again do you have X. They answered yes, but another color. I asked how much for it. Never got an answer back.)

So I emailed a dealer 8 hours away. They emailed and said call. I called, a parts guy simply said we are busy.

I am hearing impaired, making phone calls is a challenge. I am now out to an 8 hour trip to try to get what I want. I am guessing I need to go farther, or give up and put my money back in the bank.

Either nobody is motivated to sell, or they are swamped with sales.

[DesertPilot]

Ten miles.  It's brutal!  But we must bear these burdens without complaining 

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Once upon a time (1976), the nearest dealer was 7 miles away. Hally's Cycle in Brunswick, MD. Now a NAPA Auto Parts.

[Tom]

Nearest dealer is via internet for parts.  I've bought 4 Moto Guzzis from Harpers.  1 from a Suzuki dealer in Honolulu.  None from the dealer in Honolulu.  They're more concerned with selling & servicing HDs.  They only picked up Piaggio for the Vespa brand.  I bought only 1 new Moto Guzzi from Dave's in Mesa, AZ.  He sold the dealership to an idiot.  The dealer in Honolulu is only a seller of adult exotic toys.  No service.

[Arctic Fox]

3,5 - 4h by car.

There is actually only one Moto Guzzi dealer (seller of new bikes?) in Finland. Luckily I live same side of country (west coast).

Moto Guzzi Finland (org) has still listed several motorcycle services around of the country (which the club recommends). 

[Caffeineo]

Being that my nearest dealer is about 550 miles away.......I just buy the needed parts online. Last bike I got from a dealer was GP Cycles in San Diego and had it shipped to me in Nampa Idaho. I have a friend who specializes in old BMW's that would do any work I do not want to. 30 minute drive. Find a competent local wrench to do the things you do not want to should the need arise. But really most issues and the fixes are well documented here. The newer models have very few problems if any. 

[Moparnut72]

Nearest dealer is 85mi away. I am not real thrilled with them. They advertise low prices on bikes but tack on extras, set up fees, high documentation fees etc winding up paying pretty much close to MSRP. They also told me that the warranty would be void if I didn't pay for the first service with the purchase which I know is wrong.  They started getting huffy when I didn't want to pay it. The tech seems to be good however when he did the first service. I bought both of my bikes from this dealer group and had paperwork issues both times. If I have major warranty issues I will probably use them. Otherwise I will do the work myself or if it is beyond me I have a very competent Indy at the end of my street a stone's throw away.
kk

[Tom]

Anything resembling a dealership that is full service would be 2500 miles NE of here. 

[Ncdan]

In NC as far as I’m concerned there is no MG dealer. If something ever happens to my now owned Stone and through the guidance of buddies here and my ole Honda mechanic of 40 years can’t do the work, then basically, I’m out of MG business until something changes.