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New Canadian Moto guzzi dealer in Toronto

C

coldcanuck

Tuned and Synch'ed
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I just got a call from Moto Guzzi USA in NY - the good news is that there's a new Moto Guzzi dealer opening up in Toronto!!!

The bad news is that it is BMW Toronto. BMW TO is located just off Bay Street, Canada's equivalent to Wall Street. BMW TO is known to be staffed by a bunch of snotty people more interested in selling M5 sedans to bankers than servicing the layman. There are lots of complaints about poor otorcycle service there. If they give the short shrift to BMW motorcycle owners, can you imagine how much love and affection MG owners will receive there?

The reason MG USA called me is that I'm trying to get my ECU#62 error fixed. The dealer a 10 minute ride from me is refusing to service me and can't anyways because he MG mechanic quit over pay. So MG is recommending that I take my bike 5 hours to BMW Toronto to be a guinea pig for BMW TO's mechanics. Not too sure I'm kosher with that suggestion.

Cory
 
uh yeah , BMW Toronto is the dealer that wanted a 500 dollar deposit from me so I could look at a f800 gs whenthey got one in. Good move Guzzi!!
 
So I stopped in that the BMW Motorrad dealer here in Ottawa to pick up some 10-60 and had a chat with one of the sales people. Very interesting. He said the Piaggio people were in this or last week trying to get them to pick up the line. They wouldn't do it, although I wish they had. They're a pretty committed dealership and would have at least given the brand a fighting chance.

Apparently the BMW TO dealership is bursting at the seams because they're selling cars like there is no tomorrow (probably thanks to our strong petro-dollar). So the (relatively new) owners want to boot the motorcycle operations into a new building, but fear the BMW motorcycle dealership won't be profitable on its own. So to augment BMW motorcycles sales they've picked the available Piaggio dealership for the Toronto area (because there was none at all). Apparently the new owners figure they're going to sell 50 Guzzis and 100 Aprilias a year (to put this into comparison, the sales person I was talking to said the Piaggio reps said they only sold 16 bikes in Canada last year, although I don't know if he meant all new Guzzis or just '09 model year because Canada seems to be awash with '07 and '08 Guzzis on showroom floors.) The staff thing they're smoking crack, and I'm tending to support that view as well. The natural push will be to push Beemers to everyone that walks in the door. Further, MG/Aprilia brand marketing is essentially non-existent. It's gonna take some $$$ to establish the brand in the local community.

I hope they do. It'll certainly be a shot in the arm for the brand. To do so, however, either they or Piaggio are going to have to invest heavily in advertising to get the brand in front of the bike-buying public. Like I said before, it's tough trying to run a motorcycle company when you sell 8,000 bikes a year and your competitors are selling 110k to 500k.

Cory
 
The good thing is that they found someone :woohoo:

A little eastward :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: would be better.
 
It won't matter a fat rats arse if they don't have anybody who can actually WORK on the bikes! Having been chatting with Cory it seems that the almost universal problem of 'Technicians' who have boxes full of un-used tools and zero mechanical aptitude and skills is alive and well in Canada too :roll:

Pete
 
The best source of material and knowledge comes from us here. ;)

Anyone that has worked with management would understand that a corporate's objective is:

"What no one knows how this machine work?
Just clean it up ....... Get it out on the showroom .....As long as you look good.......We'll take care of the problems later!" :?
 
Pretty sad as they are relatively easy to work on maintenance wise. Local dealer had yougsters in the shop as mechanics. I'd say freshly out of trade school. Too bad. And then add the dealer's attitude for bikes he didn't sell. Fortunately mine has been reliable so far...
 
I'd dearly love to attend one of these 'Trade Schools'. From what I understand they offer courses that are a few weeks or at most a few months long?

I think it is a damning endictment of the society we live in and the value put on 'Trades' nowadays that ANYONE could think that there is so little skill and knowledge involved in working on vehicles that it could all be learnt in a few weeks or months.

At least in Oz we still have the pretence of an aprenticeship system in the metal trades. 4 to 5 years to get your trade certificate. Doesn't always work but its a lot better than 'Trade School'.

Pete
 
From BMW Toronto

We are very excited to be selling and servicing Moto Guzzi in Toronto.

BMW Toronto Motorrad does work out of the BMW Toronto building where we are lucky enough to have the entire 3rd floor to display motorcycles. We all come from the motorcycle industry and if you drop in you will find our sales staff are friendly and everyone happy to discuss motorcycles and show you all of the different brands and models we have to offer including Moto Guzzi.

Our service department (no one under 35) is expanding to handle the extra volume created by the Piaggio brands and we are going to start staying open on Saturdays to serve you better. We have at the moment one certified Moto Guzzi tech and another with Moto Guzzi experience and we will send more guys for training once the season winds down.

We are also working on growing our parts department to handle both the extra volume and the needs of the Moto Guzzi and other Piaggio brands and we are working very hard to offer you the best service possible.

Moto Guzzi has gone through many changes in the Toronto market since I have been in the bike industry and we are looking to build a strong foundation to grow Moto Guzzi going forward. We plan on learning as much as we can over the next few months and welcome your comments and advise.

We only have a couple of Moto Guzzi's on the floor at the moment with more bikes, parts and accessories coming in the near future. We invite everyone to come down and have a coffee, meet our staff and talk about bikes.
 
Welcome to the forum, I'm always glad to see a dealer poking his nose through the door to see how we feel about these bikes in spite of the lack of support by the factory. All the better if participating here help you grow the Guzzi side of the business and better serve some owners that have been left high & dry...

Our comments may seem harsh, but please accept our scepticism based on past actions taken by Piaggio regarding anything being done to support owners and dealers alike.

I'm not really affected by a new dealer in toronto, but I'll be anxious to see what happens in my neck of the woods. I'm fine with dealing with the well established dealers in the states although I haven't needed to yet, but I'd rather support a local dealer as long as they support me.

Cheers
 
bmwtoronto said:
From BMW Toronto

We are very excited to be selling and servicing Moto Guzzi in Toronto.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum.

Seeing that Guzzi is looking at the BMW dealers to represent their products ..... would you have any inside information whether or not a similar joint representation will be done in Montreal?

Previous 95 R1100rs owner ;)
 
bmwtoronto said:
From BMW Toronto

We are very excited to be selling and servicing Moto Guzzi in Toronto.

BMW Toronto Motorrad does work out of the BMW Toronto building where we are lucky enough to have the entire 3rd floor to display motorcycles. We all come from the motorcycle industry and if you drop in you will find our sales staff are friendly and everyone happy to discuss motorcycles and show you all of the different brands and models we have to offer including Moto Guzzi.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum and to the madcap, topsy turvy world of Moto Guzzi! I hope everything works out well for you. We are obviously in desperate need of M-G dealers in Ontario at this time, what with Piaggio NA recreating the Night of the Long Knives on their existing dealer network and all... :D

Cheers,

Bruce
 
Mebbe this confirms it...

I shalll have to visit soon.
 
Thanks again for the words of support and if people will come down they will definitely find us friendly and we all love bikes.

Tell us how we can improve Moto Guzzi in the Toronto Market, how we can better service customers who already own the bikes and hopefully together we can build a strong future for Moto Guzzi. What we lack in knowledge we will make up with enthusiasm and hardwork.

If anyone wants to speak with me directly you can reach me at 416-623-2766 or on email at tim.sarch@bmwtoronto.ca.

Thanks


Tim
 
bmwtoronto said:
Thanks again for the words of support and if people will come down they will definitely find us friendly and we all love bikes.

Tell us how we can improve Moto Guzzi in the Toronto Market, how we can better service customers who already own the bikes and hopefully together we can build a strong future for Moto Guzzi. What we lack in knowledge we will make up with enthusiasm and hardwork.

If anyone wants to speak with me directly you can reach me at 416-623-2766 or on email at tim.sarch@bmwtoronto.ca.

Thanks


Tim
Click to expand...

Nice to hear, Tim! Thank you so much for your enthusiasm and obvious sincerity.

Best wishes,

Bruce
 
Tim... if you are going to post your email addy, please at least check your mail!
 
Almost a week and still no response to my email...
 
SKurj said:
Almost a week and still no response to my email...
Click to expand...

Giving him the benefit of the doubt, this being the end of July, he might be away on vacation. My workplace is kind of deserted right now because of summer holidays.

Bruce
 
SKurj said:
Almost a week and still no response to my email...
Click to expand...

Pick up the phone and call him. If there's one thing I've learnt in my work career it's that it's tougher to ignore a phone call as opposed to an e-mail. It's also tougher to ignore a person standing in front of your face than to ignore a phone call!!!

Are you the Stelvio owner contacting them to replace the paint-peeling tank cover with BMW Toronto? I have the same problem and would be interested in hearing their reaction.

Cory
 
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