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Posted on 07/12/2015 10:16:56 AM PDT by martin_fierro
I saw my buddy Al in a café, having lunch alone and sat down with him. He sells clothing and accessories in a multi-line (Triumph and Italian) motorcycle shop. You pass by him and are greeted by him on your way to the showroom or service department. He mentioned to me long ago that you could tell what a person rides when you see him walk in the door. Is that true?
“Oh, yes,” he said. “You can tell. “A Moto-Guzzi customer is older, gray hair, heavier-set, rides by himself, comes in alone. Guzzi riders are different from riders of other brands. The bikes are good but not fast. You don’t buy them for performance but for uniqueness. “A Triumph guy is either a really young, hipster kind-of guy, or he’s a bit older and having a midlife crisis. I just got divorced, my wife wouldn’ t let me have a bike, I got rid of everything. I need a bike."
They want to be free and a Triumph is a symbol of freedom. “We see that with every brand, but most often with Bonnevilles, Thruxtons or Scramblers. The guy, maybe late 40s, early 50s, wants to be a rebel again. I wanna be free, I wanna be young, I want a bike like the one I rode in high school, y’know? “A Ducati guy is f lashier. He wants everyone to know he has a Ducati. He’s got the watch, cappuccino set, neck warmer, baseball hat, cuff links, shoes, socks... everything you could possibly put on. Sometimes those guys are actually Italian, or they fantasize about being Italian. “Ducati riders definitely ride faster than the others. They get more speeding tickets. “Aprilia customers are often younger, more open and free-thinking. They’re looking for something different. Very few Americans know anything about Aprilias. They haven’t been exposed to them.
“You know, you don’t just want to sell a guy a bike. You want to make a customer for life. And you don’t make anything on a new bike. Sometimes we lose a little money to sell one. There’s this thing called flooring.. .
“We don’t own all those bikes on the sales f loor. The bank does. Monthly, someone comes in and reads the VIN numbers on all the bikes we have, and we pay what is basically rent...on all of them. Until they’re sold.
“A bike that’s been on the f loor for six months is a money pit. So people can get really good deals on certain models at certain times. Doesn’t mean that what they buy is not a great bike. Maybe we ordered too many, summer’s gone and we realize we have eight of what was supposed to be the new hot bike, but they weren’t as hot as we thought. We have to sit on them all winter.
“Lots of people walk in and automatically want a discount. They immediately want to talk about money off. We have to say, slow down, we don’t even know what you want and you’re demanding a discount.
“If they’ve just bought a bike, they imagine they’ve made you wealthy. You’re going to give them all the clothing and everything at cost.
“I’ve noticed that the more well-off the person is, the more discount they ask for or pretty much demand. I’ve had people argue and beg for five more percent off when I’ve already given them 20%, and they leave and get into a Ferrari. I don’t know why that is.
“You can tell that money doesn’t make people happy. My richest customers are the bitchiest. I don’t want to be harsh, but that’s the truth. The happiest customers walk in, figure out what they want, pay full price and don’t haggle.
They realize that we have all these expenses. We have to have a place for them to try stuff on, we have to have inventory, sizes for them to try on, health care for the employees...
“A ll that continues in the off-season when we don’t make anything at all. Really there’s only about three months a year when a motorcycle dealership makes money. During riding season. Rest of the year you’re trying to keep the doors open, waiting for riding season again.
“The guy who is not demanding, the nice guy, is always gonna get taken care of and benefit from all possible discounts. I’m talking about the guy who comes in and hangs out on his day off, who brings the service department some beer once in a while.
“He’ll see the best of everything, service in the shop, bike sales, everything. We’ll all take super care of him, because we like h i m.”
I said goodbye to Al and bought his lunch. I confess I like to be the guy who is welcomed by the shop employees when he walks in. I’m thinking I should show up with beer once in a while during the year, not just at Christmastime.
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Have not ridden a new Triumph but I still Ride a 69 Bonny and 70 Firebird [BSA] and they still turn heads when people see them. Had a 350 Ducati back in 65 and it was a great machine wish I still had it.
Didn't see any mention of KTM, but I've been tempted to find a dealer and throw a leg over one of those big-bore Duke singles just for grins.
I had a whole bunch of Limey bikes in the 60’. Triumph, BSA, Matchless, JAP, etc.
Wish I still had some of them.
I recently saw a fully restored ‘72 Norton Commando with modern and fabricated parts on Youtube and it was a thing of beauty. I think the restoration cost was around $35K.........
Not sure if it's true, but the story I heard on Moto-Guzzi was that it was the result of a German engineer and the son of an Italian industrialist who served together and became friends during WWII. The German (Guzzi) had come up with the lateral V-twin design and showed it to his friend. They planned to go into business after the war building them. Guzzi was killed in the war and the Italian went ahead and created the company and built the bikes, naming them after the designer.
That would be sweet. I never had a Norton.
I still have a 1977 Triumph Bonneville 750 in my basement. It’s kickstart-only. Every so often, when I have a bunch of guys over and we’ve had a few drinks, we kick at it until it starts. It takes a LONG time.
Unfortunately, I had a Honda CB750 before that and was spoiled by oil-tight construction and good brakes. Too bad some senile old man turned left in front of me while I was going 50mph.
That's a nice bike.
I've been wanting a '72-'74 Commando 850 for years.
But not enough to invest the time and money to restore one.
I am and always have been a Kawasaki guy.
Ninja 1000R. Yoshimura Pipe, Lectron 48mm flat slides, and had the head shaved to make it 12.5:1 compression. Would do almost 180MPH with a 6’3”@190lbs on it, and still could turn on a dime.
Those were the days...
I dream about a Piaggio BV500
Because they didn't get rich paying full retail. The guy flashing a roll who wants to pay top dollar probably doesn't have anything much except that roll of bills.
Although my experience has been that the people that have real money generally don't drive Ferraris or Bentleys. More often it is something in the $50 - $80,000 range.
Saw this guy in Hollister, CA last weekend. It didn't seem to be marking its territory. Much. < |:)~
Left to Right 1985 RZ500 Yamaha 1976 RD400 Yamaha (I have 2 of them) Original Owner 1975 Z1B900 Kawasaki Original Owner 
Kewl
You can tell Triumph Rocket 3 riders, because their right thigh smells like cooked meat.
Nuthin wrong with Japanese bikes.
Ouch. But 1) You lived to tell about it. and 2) You presumably got away with most of your original skin.
That's a win.
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