Moto Guzzi Club of Queensland Forum

I'm organizing a ride for Leisure Riders this weekend ending up up the bike expo on the Gold Coast. If anyone here wants to tag along you would be most welcome. The more the merrier. The plan of attack is....

Sunday, Feb 22. Meeting at the McDonalds Goodna (on the service road beside the Ipswich Motorway) 7.30am, leaving 8am.

The plan is to head out through Peak Crossing towards Boonah. We’ll be turning off before Boonah and making our way through the nice sweeping bends to downtown Beaudesert. From there its onward to Canungra for a coffee/tea/breakfast. From there it is a less than 30 minutes to the Gold Coast Convention Centre.

The entry cost to the expo is $17, in addition parking looks to be $5 (all day). If you don’t want to go to the Expo, you can always just come along for the ride to Canungra. For more info on the Expo you can visit the site at http://australianmotorcycleexpo.com.au/cms/index.php

Hope to see you there, should be a good day out.

Well, we went to the expo today. Geez the traiffic into the joint was

We battled the parking, fought our way to the ticket box, and then sallied forth into the expo hall to check out bikes.....and well, more bikes really.

The first thing we tripped over was the BMW stand, yawn.....

Wandered through the Japanese manufacturers displays, some nice stuff there actually. Oops, can I say that here?

We eventually found the Aprilia stand down the far end of the hall, and noticed a few Guzzi's tacked on at the end of the display. Sorry to say this was very disappointing. They did have a 1200 8v Griso there which apparently was sold. Also a Norge in a very odd kind of bronze/brown color, which looked quite horrid really. The Bellagio hidden up the back looked great, but not many would have found it. It was stashed away like that exercise machine you bought from late night TV and used once. They also had a current model Cali which looked good in the Black/Burgundy color scheme.

Where were all the new models? No Stelvio, no Breva 1200, no V7 Classic. They did have old stock, Breva 1100, Breva 850, these were signed as being available at "cost plus $1" so we thought we'd check out the bargains.

Ian asked the sales guy about the Breva 1100, this was fun as he initially gave him a price of 20 something grand. It turns out this was due to his not knowing what model the bike was. When he bent over to peer at the lettering below the seat to figure this out I pretty much lost interest. Is it too much to expect a little product knowledge? How the hell do they expect to sell a niche bike to enthusiasts who know about bikes in general, and Guzzi's in particular? Sorry, but simply not good enough, particularly when compared to other brands displays. This type of thing is not helping Moto Guzzi to carve out a spot in the Australian market, and that is something the distributors need to take a long hard look at I reckon.

Highlights?

I thought the Victory motorcycles display was excellent. These type of bikes are not really me, but I have to say they make some very nice machines, look out Harley, these guys will be taking some sales for sure.

Ducati had a big display with all models present. Very professional, very slick. No doubt they moved some product, are you hearing this Guzzi Australia?

Triumph had a heap of bikes, of particular interest was the new 1600cc parallel twin cruiser, the Thunderbird. This bike runs a 270 degree crank, much like the Yamaha TRX/TDM engines. So it will probably sound just like a large Guzzi??? This bike has belt drive, a first for Triumph I think. Wonder why no shaft drive like the Rocket III? Like all modern Triumphs it is a very well finished bike, and it will be interesting to see how it sells. When you look at how many of their America and Rocket III models are on the road, you'd have to think they are on a sure thing with this bike.

The ride down was a highlight, great roads, and good company at brekkie. The ride home was looking good till we got caught in a torrential downpour on Mt Tamborine. We survived to emerge into the sunlight again at the bottom of the hill and enjoyed a good dry out on the way home from there.

Not a bad day out overall, and after all it was the only bike show around this weekend

Sorry, no pictures cos I left the camera at home

What can you say about JSG? They really are small time, cannot compete with the other manufacturers. This is why we pay top dollar for parts. Why should I pay $350 for a TPS when HD markets one from the same Weber Marelli line (one part number different, slightly different curve) but HD owners pay $65 for it?????

Once MG bikes are marketed properly, then you could expect more sales and more interested sales people...

I might be paranoid, but JSG might not be doing this product justice...

My 2c.

It may get worse yet. I was reading on the V11 LeMans forum that MPH Cycles and possibly other good dealers in the US are dropping Guzzi due to crap support from the Piaggio USA. Can any brand afford to lose quality dealers like these guys? A brand with a small market share even less so I'd have thought.

With the latest economic crisis starting to bite you can bet it is just a matter of time till we see the small dealer network here get even smaller. And all this at a time when Guzzi is making bikes with more mass appeal than anything they have done in a long time. Bloody sad really.

Short sighted management and lack of effective promotion will mean sales targets not met. Then comes massive discounting of stock, as was done with the Norge. This devalues used bikes, and further undermines consumer confidence in the brand. Once on the downhill slide it will be hard to climb back.

I really hope I'm being overly negative and that Moto Guzzi sells more bikes and gains a secure place in the market. But it sure won't just happen on it's own. I think Moto Guzzi should look at how Triumph have, in a relatively short time since the brand was reincarnated, built up solid dealer network and loyal customer base. It can work for our beloved Guzzi too, but it will take some investment and effort.

What can you say, when they only sold 25 Ballabios in Australia, 11 Rosso Corsa, 6 of this and 8 of that....

Yamaha sell more of any one of their bike models per day, rather than the life of any MG model...

I much prefer MG, but would love the support network, cheaper parts and availability, as per the Japper brands....

Yeah, I guess it's all about volume of sales, and who is willing to devote lots of $'s to a brand that doesn't have the turn-over?
We are not going to have demo models to ride in Bris, in the near future, I suspect.
We'll be buying Guzzis from sales brochures and based on overseas test rides.
Would better management result in more sales in Oz?
Moto Guzzi have always made great bikes, but they just haven't sold like other brands.
It's a bit annoying when you mention you ride an Italian bike, and people assume you own a Ducati.
My question is, "If there was a different importer, would things change?"
Or is it all down to Moto Guzzi themselves?
And another question: "Do we want things to change?" I suspect we secretly enjoy riding something that is a bit "different" and not so common, compared to what every young (and not so young) Stoner wannabe is riding.

I,ve always been different Hairee so the Griso suits me, may not be the
fastest or have the most techno doodads but it always gets more attention
than anything else in the parking lot even if it is a "what's that".

Well I commented to JSG about the Stelvio I rode at the Ulysses AGM in Penrith and here's the reply i got:

Dear Bill,

Thank you very much for your feedback on the Moto Guzzi Stelvio 4V. Feedback from both the press and consumers around the world has been fantastic. We are very proud of this motorcycle and look forward to seeing them on Australia roads and trails..

Thank you again, and we look forward to maybe seeing you on a Stelvio at the next Ulysses AGM.

Should you require any information, please do not hesitate to contact myself at anytime.

Happy and Safe Riding,

Alana Baratto
Marketing Coordinator
Moto Guzzi Australia

Hairee may have hit the nail on the head - I don't know if I want to be riding a bike that is so common that when I pull up to the traffic lights, another half a dozen Guzzi's will pull up next to me. My Guz is different and I feel that this brand is like Vegemite - an acquired taste. I can't image many 17 year olds wanting one and frankly they wouldn't understand the ethos of owning one. Let them have the replica racers because the orientals are making money on them which I suspect is what JSG are trying to do too. Perhaps once the factory get sorted, with regards to long term ownership, then we will see an increase in the percentage of Guzzi sales. Maybe as long as Aprilia keep making their road racing oriented models, JSG will be more interested in promoting them? Besides the service that I get from Tom Newell is second to none and I'm sure that this style of individual customer service isn't what the more common bike brands have on offer for their customers.