Moto Forza Italia shut

... Guzzi and MV dealer,  Silverstone-based Moto Forza Italia have shut... another one bites the dust - shame...

Too Bad, I bought my Tenni there in 2013 and when I contacted them last year about the Roller Kit, they pushed my case with MG and were able to supply me with the new kit NO CHARGE only postage. Very sound people to deal with that tried to do the right thing by their customers.

This seems to be happening everywhere. Back home in Melbourne (Australia), the place where I bought my GRiSO from also did BMW and a few other brands. Last year they ceased being a Guzzi dealer.

It's a real pity for the Guzzi brand, it means that owners such as myself, who for various reasons don't wish to pull apart their own bike, really struggle to find a place to go. Granted, a lot of dealerships leave much to be desired in terms of the quality (and price) of their work, but at least they were getting SOME degree of experience working on Guzzis. As these places close, or stop dealing in Guzzis altogether, they are getting zero experience. The pool of mechanics who know their stuff around Guzzis slowly but surely shrinks.

Sometimes it's not a problem until you have a decent mechanical issue to attend to, or need an obscure part for your 5 year old GRiSO, then what?

Not good for the brand in general.

I would imagine the current policy of Piaggo AND the local distributor (relevant to your country) have a huge amount to do with the current run of closures of dealerships, or the dropping of the Moto Guzzi lineup.

Unfortunately, the brand is one where home mechanics were normal or almost mandatory but there was the odd dealership or service centre to fall back on. These machines are quirky and unless you can find someone who has been doing them for a while, a newby has no idea of current issues, even less on an older machine. The factory simply doesn't support training like they used to. Call it the "School of Hard Knocks" syndrome.

'Tis the age we live in, and unfortunately, not good for the brand in the long haul.

Brent, luckily there are still a few good people around, and they present an opportunity for a road trip to get things sorted. Hell I would ride to QLD if I could not fix it myself (and I have done everything myself so far - especially with assistance from this forum). But the furthest I would have to go is Bungendore. But a trip to Bassendean would also be attractive - shame my daughter doesn't live in Perth anymore...

A new service centre opened up near me (5 km away) some years back. I thought I would give him a shot on some spare parts, listing all of them in an email. I received a reply a few days later with a PDF of the parts list asking me to locate them in there, despite me trawling through the said parts list beforehand, to save him the effort. It's this attitude of not having to do the work, or not getting paid enough for the work, or of not being fully supported by the importer, that is causing these dealer issues.

Needless to say, Mario got an order the very same day. Often Mario ships before I have even paid - awesome service. Mario is old school (Old's Kool) having worked for a past importer (Ted Stolarski) so knows the product, the spares, has stock, and a "can do" attitude. Likewise Mr Roper.

Sad, but we are pretty much on our own, in the short term. Now that the CARC series is officially obsolete, our avenues are limited, so we should support those that support us, more often. I will speak with Mario and see if he would like to join this fine forum...

Rant over... My apologies

Anyone now having problems getting their bike fixed might want to try the following.
There used to be an Italian bike specialist at Silverstone called Rhodes and Track.
They now appear to be called RPM and are based at Northampton. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Unit 9 Millbrook Close, St James Business Park
NN5 5JF Northampton
07979 153900

Can't vouch for them myself but they have a Facebook site, so hopefully they are still in business!

Steak wrote:

Brexit...

Something you would like to tell us?

sidrat wrote:

Steak wrote:

Brexit...

Something you would like to tell us?

Everything is Brexit's fault. Even the election of La Trompette en USA.

In the UK, our world of motorcycling is changing.
Manufacturers don’t want to look after the enthusiasts with oil stained fingers.

Many new customers buy the bikes as a fashion accessory on a 3 year PCP. At the end of the lease the bike is almost disposable, the customer buys the next fashion icon and it all starts again.

The enthusiastic motorcyclists that used to work at bike dealerships are being replaced by a skilled sales team with limited understanding of the product but have great knowledge of vehicle finance.
Showrooms are changing from the functional building with a small selection of bikes, open plan workshop, where a drink was made by a person and presented in a random mug. The spare parts manager knew exactly what part and where to find it on the parts system.

The new sales centres that manufacturers want feature a lot of glass and aluminium, every bike from a manufacturers range in every colour option is lined up with the bikes packed together so you can’t get close and look at all the detail. You do get a fancy coffee – with sprinkles on top - but the workshop is hidden away from view and don’t even bother trying to buy spare parts, there is no spares counter and the person left trying to work out what you want doesn’t appear to know what a motorcycle is.

I've had that experiance.

Agree on the trend with big dealers who seem shocked when you ask for a spare part to fit yourself, & then the price of the spare parts that seem to carry the overheads of alu/glass/cofffee machines/receptionist 'teams'/suited idiot running it - £21.10 for a small paper oil filter for my X3 (and I didn't even get a free cup of coffee and biscuits in the showroom).

Then we get to facts that motorbike MOT testers are like rocking horse shit (presume because nobody keeps bike for 3 years ); bike tyre fitters with tons of work and not much stock; and not many independent servicing outlets....Where did it all go wrong......

unfortunately that seems to be the norm. they don't want to help you bring it in we'll fix it for you they just want to part you and your cash.i was quoted $1000 for a service oils and filters

dennis the menace wrote:

unfortunately that seems to be the norm. they don't want to help you bring it in we'll fix it for you they just want to part you and your cash.i was quoted $1000 for a service oils and filters

Yeeks!

Well put Eeyore. Spot on with your comments. Hope it bites them up the arse.

dennis the menace wrote:

unfortunately that seems to be the norm. they don't want to help you bring it in we'll fix it for you they just want to part you and your cash.i was quoted $1000 for a service oils and filters

One. Thousand. Dollars.

Fuque me drunk. Did you tell them it wasn't a Ducati?

Standard 10,000km service from us, which is oils, oil filter, air filter if needed, throttle body balance/tune etc. but not brake and clutch fluid usually runs to $375-450 depending on if there are any issues.

$1,000 is ridiculous! If they are doing the swingarm bearings and shock linkages and bleeding the brakes and clutch then yes, a grand is probably close enough but we'd probably be a bit cheaper 'cos we've done a fuquetonne of them.

Pete

I think you've nailed it there, Eeyore. And its not good news, is it?

I bought my first Guzzi as a knee-jerk reaction from a bad experience with a Perth dealer who had opened a big bike shop akin to a supermarket in the early 80's. I ordered an English bike which should have been a one off special from the factory, and I was prepared to wait months. Meanwhile he over orders many bikes, and decided to sell me a hideous alternative because I'd paid him a deposit, and threatened to sue me if I didn't take it. That was the last time I dealt with a big dealer.

And I met a young Mario, at a dark dusty old shop, where you'd get a beer if you dropped in. Now (9 Guzzis later) Mario has his own very successful shop that caters to the enthusiast, or us old dinosaurs. He's off the beaten track, and there's a beer in the fridge. Just good old fashioned service. And he doesn't do forums, Tony, so is unlikely to come over here.

He has little intention of towing the Piaggio or the new Aus distributor's line, and will not stock new Guzzis if it means he has to fill his showroom (or museum!) with new bikes that he can't sell. But he did get the last new GRiSO from the old distributor's stock, and its sitting on his floor. Very tempting....

Oh, and I needed new tyres, so I got him to service the Bella at the same time. $300+ last week.

i'm coming up to 40000k service i have ufi filters and agip gearbox oil from motociclio penrite full synthetic etc i replaced spark plugs last service 30000 ks will check valve clearance again.GRiSO will need new shoes has pilot 4s will go with them again shes all good