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I have been conducting interviews with motorcycle-people at www.midliferider.com for some time. I just did one with Dave Richardson, owner of Moto International, Author of Guzziology, and all around super guy. Even if you don't love Guzzis or Aprilias, I think you'll enjoy reading what he has to say about both brands, motorcycles in general, and the people who buy them. You can read the entire interview here [clicky]
Here are some snips . . .
On owning an Aprilia and Moto Guzzi Dealership
I always tried to get out of this and it wasn’t until we had this shop for a few years that I really committed to it [owning a motorcycle dealership].
Aprilias are a great bike. They sell because they don’t have problems and they’re so good. Guzzis are in a weird place in the market because so much of the appeal of motorcycles is based on performance. The Guzzis appeal is kind of a rumble and a throb and feel. They are really wonderful bikes to ride on the street but not in a performance sense. It’s a hard thing to explain to people.
I call them the “Dr. Pepper Motorcycle.” They chase you down the street and force you to try it. “Okay, that’s good.” It’s kind of the same way with Guzzi. It’s a harder thing to sell, but it’s a happy rider once someone has it.
I like having the two brands because they appeal in different ways. The Aprilia people don’t understand the Guzzi people and the other way around. And that’s good. If you’re going to have two brands, you want them to draw from different places.
A Love Affair With Moto Guzzi
The weird thing about Guzzis, and this goes back to the 80s, I would have this dream of going there. I was somehow drawn to going there. That I wanted to save the brand. I was drawn there. [Dave is the author of Guzziology]
To Lake Como?
Yes. I’ve been there five times now. I got married in their town! I don’t feel like I’m the absolute Guzzi Nut. There are plenty of people way beyond me. But my fascination and this huge love of them is like this: Here’s something really good in the world and it’s ignored. How to make it better has become a sort of life quest for me. I spend time away from the shop trying to figure out how to make them more viable.
I write annual reports that involve Aprila and Guzzi. Well not quite annual. Maybe over the last ten years I’ve written six or seven. They’re maybe 20 to 60 pages with suggestions for new models, distribution, parts, accessories . . . Things that I would think would be good for the company.
Do I think that everything I say would be good idea and they should do it? No. But I want to put it in front of people and see if they’re consider it.
Do they?
Yeah. Well, I guess. There are some things that I see that directly relate to ideas that I have which is satisfying.
Where to Position Guzzi
The place they put Guzzi in the market isn’t the best. For example: The Breva 1100. I characterize it like this. There are four ways to build a bike.
1. You can make a modern looking bike with modern technology like Aprilia’s sport bike.
2. You can make classical style bike with classical technology like Harley.
3. You can make classical style bike with modern technology, like a Japanese standard bike or cruiser.
4. What doesn’t make sense is to build a modern looking bike with classical technology. That’s what a Guzzi is.
Do you characterize the Norge the same way?
Yeah, all it is, is the Breva tarted up. That’s fine. It’s the best selling thing they’ve had in a very long time. I would have to guess the reason is, in its market, large displacement, Sport Touring, it is entirely viable. The look, the feel, the performance, the comfort, the price, and what it does are all competitive in that market. Most of what Guzzi does is not. They are low performance and high price.
Well, they have a great charisma and a versatility a lot of bikes lack. I think they are great bikes, but there are a much harder thing to sell where we’re right in the middle of a market.
On Aprilia
I’ve heard from Aprilia that their approach is to look at a segment and the competition . . . they run their calculators and ask, “Can we build a bike that’s better than the competition for less money.” If they see that, they do it. That doesn’t mean they’re always the best or the cheapest. But that’s their approach.
That’s not to say that’s the best approach either. That’s not being inventive and having your own product image . . . who you are. You’re basically holding up a mirror and reflecting it off everyone else. That bothers me. I feel like that Aprilia doesn’t have enough individualism. They’re looking too much at Ducati. They have much more inventiveness on the scooter side than they do on the motorcycle side. More of a clean sheet vision going on.
The next generation of Aprilias will be a V-Twin based on the Shiver . . . they’ve said that engine goes 750 to 1200 ccs. It’s a 90-degree twin which will give away what’s unique with the 60-degree twin and be sort of a Ducati which it really isn’t. Rather than going with something that’s unique and arguably better, they go back to copying again.
On Guzzi Buyers
When a guy walks through the door, can you just pick him out . . . that’s an Aprilia buyer; that’s a Guzzi buyer?
Well, we do have plenty of crossover buyers. My average Guzzi customer is 45 to 60. He comes in and tells me he used to have a bike and then he got married and had kids and the wife told him to get rid of the bike. Now the kids have grown up and he’s been given permission to have a bike. This happens over and over again.
To me, this is really big news for someone like Guzzi when you have such a consistent kind of person looking. When you go back to when that guy was young, it was the 70s and the 80s. For instance when I look at Kelly Blue Book from that era, there were something like 18 brands in the US. Now there are 140. But his range of what was or is, is probably a bit stuck in the past. So what’s he going to pick from? BMW, Triumph, Honda . . . the Guzzi was something that was a bit classy and upward and now he’s back looking at Guzzi.
That’s great. Give the guy what he wants. For instance I was pushing them to make something like Ducati makes with their Sport Classics. But don’t copy your own sport bikes. Don’t just copy an old Le Mans or V70 sport. So many people take their old touring standards from the 70s, T3s and bikes like that, and make them into cool café racers. So emulate your customers and not yourselves. Then you have something unique.
What came out of that? They’re making something called a V7 Classic, which is a little 750 with a gas tank that sort of looks like an old V7 Sport. The rest of the bike looks like an old Triumph. It completely ruins the idea. Based on a 750, sure it’s cheaper and lighter. But the guy I’m thinking about is not looking for a 50 hp 750. He’s looking for an 1100 with a lot of horsepower.
That person walking through the door has a Guzzi echo. He remembers it.
There is a lot more of this conversation at midliferider.
I have been conducting interviews with motorcycle-people at www.midliferider.com for some time. I just did one with Dave Richardson, owner of Moto International, Author of Guzziology, and all around super guy. Even if you don't love Guzzis or Aprilias, I think you'll enjoy reading what he has to say about both brands, motorcycles in general, and the people who buy them. You can read the entire interview here [clicky]
Here are some snips . . .
On owning an Aprilia and Moto Guzzi Dealership
I always tried to get out of this and it wasn’t until we had this shop for a few years that I really committed to it [owning a motorcycle dealership].
Aprilias are a great bike. They sell because they don’t have problems and they’re so good. Guzzis are in a weird place in the market because so much of the appeal of motorcycles is based on performance. The Guzzis appeal is kind of a rumble and a throb and feel. They are really wonderful bikes to ride on the street but not in a performance sense. It’s a hard thing to explain to people.
I call them the “Dr. Pepper Motorcycle.” They chase you down the street and force you to try it. “Okay, that’s good.” It’s kind of the same way with Guzzi. It’s a harder thing to sell, but it’s a happy rider once someone has it.
I like having the two brands because they appeal in different ways. The Aprilia people don’t understand the Guzzi people and the other way around. And that’s good. If you’re going to have two brands, you want them to draw from different places.
A Love Affair With Moto Guzzi
The weird thing about Guzzis, and this goes back to the 80s, I would have this dream of going there. I was somehow drawn to going there. That I wanted to save the brand. I was drawn there. [Dave is the author of Guzziology]
To Lake Como?
Yes. I’ve been there five times now. I got married in their town! I don’t feel like I’m the absolute Guzzi Nut. There are plenty of people way beyond me. But my fascination and this huge love of them is like this: Here’s something really good in the world and it’s ignored. How to make it better has become a sort of life quest for me. I spend time away from the shop trying to figure out how to make them more viable.
I write annual reports that involve Aprila and Guzzi. Well not quite annual. Maybe over the last ten years I’ve written six or seven. They’re maybe 20 to 60 pages with suggestions for new models, distribution, parts, accessories . . . Things that I would think would be good for the company.
Do I think that everything I say would be good idea and they should do it? No. But I want to put it in front of people and see if they’re consider it.
Do they?
Yeah. Well, I guess. There are some things that I see that directly relate to ideas that I have which is satisfying.
Where to Position Guzzi
The place they put Guzzi in the market isn’t the best. For example: The Breva 1100. I characterize it like this. There are four ways to build a bike.
1. You can make a modern looking bike with modern technology like Aprilia’s sport bike.
2. You can make classical style bike with classical technology like Harley.
3. You can make classical style bike with modern technology, like a Japanese standard bike or cruiser.
4. What doesn’t make sense is to build a modern looking bike with classical technology. That’s what a Guzzi is.
Do you characterize the Norge the same way?
Yeah, all it is, is the Breva tarted up. That’s fine. It’s the best selling thing they’ve had in a very long time. I would have to guess the reason is, in its market, large displacement, Sport Touring, it is entirely viable. The look, the feel, the performance, the comfort, the price, and what it does are all competitive in that market. Most of what Guzzi does is not. They are low performance and high price.
Well, they have a great charisma and a versatility a lot of bikes lack. I think they are great bikes, but there are a much harder thing to sell where we’re right in the middle of a market.
On Aprilia
I’ve heard from Aprilia that their approach is to look at a segment and the competition . . . they run their calculators and ask, “Can we build a bike that’s better than the competition for less money.” If they see that, they do it. That doesn’t mean they’re always the best or the cheapest. But that’s their approach.
That’s not to say that’s the best approach either. That’s not being inventive and having your own product image . . . who you are. You’re basically holding up a mirror and reflecting it off everyone else. That bothers me. I feel like that Aprilia doesn’t have enough individualism. They’re looking too much at Ducati. They have much more inventiveness on the scooter side than they do on the motorcycle side. More of a clean sheet vision going on.
The next generation of Aprilias will be a V-Twin based on the Shiver . . . they’ve said that engine goes 750 to 1200 ccs. It’s a 90-degree twin which will give away what’s unique with the 60-degree twin and be sort of a Ducati which it really isn’t. Rather than going with something that’s unique and arguably better, they go back to copying again.
On Guzzi Buyers
When a guy walks through the door, can you just pick him out . . . that’s an Aprilia buyer; that’s a Guzzi buyer?
Well, we do have plenty of crossover buyers. My average Guzzi customer is 45 to 60. He comes in and tells me he used to have a bike and then he got married and had kids and the wife told him to get rid of the bike. Now the kids have grown up and he’s been given permission to have a bike. This happens over and over again.
To me, this is really big news for someone like Guzzi when you have such a consistent kind of person looking. When you go back to when that guy was young, it was the 70s and the 80s. For instance when I look at Kelly Blue Book from that era, there were something like 18 brands in the US. Now there are 140. But his range of what was or is, is probably a bit stuck in the past. So what’s he going to pick from? BMW, Triumph, Honda . . . the Guzzi was something that was a bit classy and upward and now he’s back looking at Guzzi.
That’s great. Give the guy what he wants. For instance I was pushing them to make something like Ducati makes with their Sport Classics. But don’t copy your own sport bikes. Don’t just copy an old Le Mans or V70 sport. So many people take their old touring standards from the 70s, T3s and bikes like that, and make them into cool café racers. So emulate your customers and not yourselves. Then you have something unique.
What came out of that? They’re making something called a V7 Classic, which is a little 750 with a gas tank that sort of looks like an old V7 Sport. The rest of the bike looks like an old Triumph. It completely ruins the idea. Based on a 750, sure it’s cheaper and lighter. But the guy I’m thinking about is not looking for a 50 hp 750. He’s looking for an 1100 with a lot of horsepower.
That person walking through the door has a Guzzi echo. He remembers it.
There is a lot more of this conversation at midliferider.
