And we march merrily towards the apocalypse

First the extinction of the GRiSO news, now this. It's been a tough month for the BC GRiSO riders.

Pacific Motorsport, where I and many others who lived in the lower mainland area of Vancouver, went to buy

our Moto Guzzis and have them serviced, will now be closed. The owner has opened a new shop just down the road

that now sells....wait for it....Ducatis. Yes, the end is nigh, my friends. I heard about this via an email that assured me that

the apparel section of the shop would not be closed as well, just moved into the upstairs of the new Ducati dealership. Phew!

That was a close one, almost lost my ability to buy the soft goods that could be purchased online for 25% cheaper!

I was none too happy to hear the news, so I replied to the email with the following response:


"That's unfortunate news. It really is. Slowly but surely all the brands with any character and non-cookie cutter approach to motorcycles are being dumped in favour of giant, soulless motorbike companies and their "must appeal to the masses" approach to motor sports.
I'm sorry to hear that the place that once stood up against all that garbage, and sold the beautiful Moto Guzzi GRiSO to me, has now gone to the dark side. I'm sure your new Ducati dealership will do well, it's just that I , and other experienced riders (50 years old and up)

who are not the target demographic of this new wave of "HP + $ = FUN", will not be shopping at your new store. But I wish you good luck , and perhaps for importantly to you,

good fortune with your new fast food outlet.

Have fun selling fishing lures to large mouth bass! "



I'm sure that after reading my reply the owner will rethink his rash,

money driven move to close the Moto Guzzi/ M  Agusta/ Aprilia /Triumph dealership, and probably opt to

burn down the new Ducati dealership in a sign of solidarity (and for the insurance money).

Anyway, in realty, that's seems to me to be indicative of the new landscape forming in Motorsports.

In the prophetic words of Antoine Dodson : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I think that Piaggio is a pain in the arse to deal with.
2 good dealers in the South US are closing before 2016...Ridershill in GA and MPH in Houston TX
So there you go...

Sorry to hear more dealers are dropping Moto Guzzi and I believe Grisonut might be right about Piaggio being a pain to deal with. My dealer in Tennessee recently told me as much...Piaggio has been strong-arming them to take more "left over" stock (mainly 2014 V7's and scooters) before agreeing to sell them ANY 2016 MG's (except a few 2016 V7s). My dealer told Piaggio to "go pound sand"! The owner told me he still plans to be MG dealer, but will not be intimated by Piaggio. Note: he still had 2 GRiSO's on the floor...(2014 and 2015).

Sounds like a "Mexican Standoff" and I hope I don't lose my dealer in the long run.

That is very bad news indeed. It is strange that by setting up a new Ducati-only dealership, he gives up on BMW and Triumph. These 2 brands are big sellers and were probably his main source of income. It seems a bit of a gamble, and not sure if it will pay off...

BMW has been strong-arming it's dealers to make major capital investments in infrastructure lately.
I am not sure if this is also the case with Triumph.

well if anyone  thinks dealing with Piaggio is bad and probably is ...wait till they start dealing with Ducati ..
The boutique company ..high fashion , don't you know and toll the line , and this is how ..you.. will run your business company .
Want a great mfg to work  with as a dealer ..  talk to Yamaha...

Daves-i-Know wrote:

That was a close one, almost lost my ability to buy the soft goods that could be purchased online for 25% cheaper!

I know you're upset, but this sentence jumped-out at me.....

I try to support my local retailers (for any and all items), but sometimes the lure of Amazon is too strong.
The last time I was in my local lame MG Dealer (in Daytona Beach) I couldn't find anything I could find any way to want or use. I have more GRiSO spares in my garage than he had on the shelves.....

Red Ember yeah... lol

Hadn't heard about that yet Dave....damn!

I was feeling lucky as a GRiSO owner to have a fallback service provider so close.  

And to think I almost took a sales position with them last year! At least I'm still working
I think I now understand why one of their salesmen recently responded negatively when I mentioned seeing him and some of the others there at the Vancouver Motorcycle show in January.

More impetus to get on with maintaining and repairing the bike myself as needed and where possible.

Triumph dealers have been churning the past two years with Triumph corporate setting high standards for floor space, number of bikes (several of every model whether or not they sell in the area) and a large selection of "lifestyle" gear. Triumph had hired an executive from HD who was trying to build a "lifestyle" brand. Most of the smaller - but well loved - dealers, including the one I used, dropped the line.

Here in north Alabama the Triumph line was picked up by a larger dealer who also picked up BMW. Now the Triumphs are packed in the rear of the new showroom along with all the required t-shirts, gloves and jackets.

Since I hate the service at the new dealership I simply gave up on Triumph, drove 90 miles north to the MG nearest MG dealer and bought the GRiSO. No regrets.

MPH in Houston will still provide service for all Guzzi's and (bmw) still and are just not going to be selling new bikes anymore (besides the ones they have now). The decision was based on the slow sales in Houston some attributed to the downturn in the oil & gas industry which is expected to last through 2016. I spoke to Mike Haven the owner a few minutes ago.
Full speed ahead on service and parts etc. Want a new bike........AF1 in Austin I guess.