Progressive International Motorcycle Show Long Beach, CA

So I got my tickets for the big motorcycle show this weekend in Long Beach. Went online to look at the long list of exhibitors.

Guess who's the only major bike manufacturer on planet Earth who won't be attending to show their bikes?

It's as if Piaggio is trying very hard to NOT sell bikes. How do they miss a huge marketing/sales opportunity like this? The biggest motorcycle show in America's biggest motorcycle market. Thousands of people who BUY MOTORCYCLES will be attending from all over Southern California.

I could rant here until my fingers cramp, but you get the point already.

I never considered buying a Guzzi until I SAW a GRiSO in person. Here is the easiest way a company can SHOW their bikes to thousands of BUYERS. And they don't even bother.

How do the dealers tolerate this?

Take a bex, have a nice cuppa tea, and a good lie down. There, now don't you feel better already?

On the flip side, we don't want Moto Guzzis to be allowed to be sold to the great unwashed - otherwise they wouldn't be the world's best kept secret, would they?

Just checked the exhibitor list for the New York show next month and they won't be attending that one either. Their US office is in New York. Speechless.

In the past Ozzy Guzzi dealers have been dedicated brand enthusiasts, little old grubby shops in the back of nowhere, run by grubby old mechanics - bit like his Majestic self, Mr Roper.

After the Piaggio invasion, Moto Guzzi dealerships were thrust upon anybody who wanted to flog Aprilia products. So now we have multi dealership glossy showrooms with Cafe's and bullshit.
It is certainly a much more attractive place to spend ya money, but here in BrisVegas we have our biggest Suzuki dealership selling KTM's, Aprilia's and in the corner behind the Jet Ski's and Can-Am Spyder's, you might find a Guzzi or two gathering dust.

Salesman will you tell you anything is good if he can make a sale. Go to the workshop area and ask what Guzzi's are like and the apprentice will tell you they are heaps of shit. What do you expect from a spotty faced Gixxer fanatic. They'll never work on my bike.

So with people in a Guzzi shop speaking crap about things they don't like, they still won't sell. And all the chocolate cam failures, I believe, came from multi dealership workshops who couldn't give a shit about correct servicing.

If my bike requires major surgery, it would be more cost effective for me to cough up $770 in (return) shipping costs and send it to Bung-in-the-door, his Majesties massage will give me greater confidence than the brutal assault by said spotty faced dealership retard of the year. Luckily, I also have the option of a grubby little shop 10k up the road, called Don Newell's.

Sad indeed. Gotta be the expense.

Oz1200Guzzi wrote:

Take a bex, have a nice cuppa tea, and a good lie down. There, now don't you feel better already?

On the flip side, we don't want Moto Guzzis to be allowed to be sold to the great unwashed - otherwise they wouldn't be the world's best kept secret, would they?

for those who don't know what a Bex is   

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Thanks Gary, I was hoping the enquiry might have come from other countries...

It has to be the most cost-effective advertising a company could do. Polish the bikes, put up your banner and hand out directions to the local dealers.

It'll be a lot more expensive to not attend.

Think of the thousands who will be ogling the R Nine T, while the better bike that BMW copied is nowhere in sight.

They build these awesome bikes, but can't do the most basic of things to make people aware of them.

Epic failure by Piaggio.

I'm no Warren Buffet, but this is just so excruciatingly obvious.

Next time take 2 x Bex...

2x vino + a good rant does the trick for me.

They had this rant a few years ago on apriliaforum and there was a lot said about how expensive and cumbersome it is do the Moto Expo thing.
Yes, It Is very disheartening to see Piaggio Group didn't get on this train but I'm not going to get my knickers in a twist over it.

DM

I often wonder about this show to be honest. After attending more than 10 or so here in NYC I get the feeling the show is not driven by the Motorcycle industry more so by a promoter. Maybe its cost prohibitive for Guzzi or they don't see it as money well spent? Maybe they had a disagreement in the past with the organizers?. Its not that long ago that KTM were absent also.

true fact ..Guzzi has never been good at marketing , does not seem to matter who owns them at the time .
The only reason I can come up with is that they are stupid.
Unfortunate really.. they build great motorcycles...

I think that they are afraid of becoming too popular. Somewhere a Guzzi Exec says - "don't go to the shows - we'll have to increase production"

Having been an organizer in another industry's consumer/trade shows, my opinion on the issue of manufacturers wanting to exhibit, is based on; 1. do we have anything new to show 2. costs involved 3. other factors like, staff issues (who wants to give up their weekends/travel time) 4. Do we want to have our products compared to the competition in a public show or are we content to rely on our brand's past loyal following.

Autistic indifference to good business practices? Negligence? Stupidity?  All of the above.

It upsets me because I really really like my GRiSO.  

So I feel invested in this company and its fortunes, if only in a very small way.

I can't fathom how they can build something so great, and pass on the best opportunity to show it to people alongside the mostly lame competition.

Self-inflicted failure. No excuse.

Its made me look at our national show as i am booked to go, click in the link and love Moto Guzzi

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Here in Seattle, Piaggio has only exhibited at the IMS once as far as I can remember.  It was about 5 years ago I think.  It was horribly cost prohibitive and the booth was mostly staffed by Moto International personnel.  As I recall, there was no tangible post-show benefit to any of the local dealers.  That same year Piaggio also exhibited at select IMS cites but not all venues.

Bottom line is that exhibiting at the IMS is a huge expense for a small market company like Piaggio/Aprilia/Moto Guzzi and history has not shown a worthwhile return on that investment.  Add to that the fact that the IMS show gets shittier and shittier every year that I didn't even bother to go last year, was sorely disappointed the three years prior, and definitely won't be going this year either.  It's a shit show.

Contrast that to the locally grown EuroMoto show that is held up here in the springtime.  This is a cooperative show that is driven by local shops and vendors and encourages non-local vendors and manufacturers to exhibit as well.  It is hugely popular, they actually stage test-tides throughout the show, and they have very relevant vendors in attendance.  There are no wall to wall beanie/novelty helmet emporiums, no pirate leather costumeries, no decal/sticker palaces, no LED accent lighting booths competing with one another...  It's a real bonafide bike show filled with all the stuff you want to go see.  Moto Guzzi and Aprilia have participated in this show every year since inception.  Time and money well spent.

It's a simple time and money decision to forego the IMS participation.  I myself can't blame them, as I'm certainly no fan of the crapfest they put together every year.

Guzzi needs exposure more than ever before and at all major bikes shows as well ...no matter what.. its the cost of doing business ..
New Models like the Eldorado and the Audace for 2015 need exposure for all to see , the reason most manufactures attend these shows is for impact and to attract new business ..
IMO Guzzi biggest issue has been marketing , its  pretty obvious by default there are many that do not know Guzzi still , it is a shame that so many miss out on what is and has been a premier motorcycle for over 85 years..

Sounds like a great show Steak. Pity we don't have something similar here in LA. The IMS is the only show in town. There is a lot of shit, but I don't mind navigating it to see all the bikes in one location. They also have some local custom builders featured, which is always entertaining.

While we can afford to turn up our noses at the IMS circus, manufacturers cannot. Every other major company understands that.

The bikes must be seen by as many people as possible. I haven't seen a picture yet that does the GRiSO justice. It must be seen in person to be truly appreciated.

Maybe I can find a conspicuous place to park the Tenni, so at least a few people will leave the show knowing the Ducati Diavel is not the pinnacle of Italian design.

Going by the number of Harleys on the road, the majority of the buying public must prefer 1945's technology. Therefore Guzzi should not fear comparison with hi-tech newbies.

That said, just doing a local show here, organized by the Laverda club (my spell check kept changing that to lavender) with proceeds going to charity, want to charge me $400 for a 6x3m display in a paddock.

Guys come on...
Make sense to me that they're not there.
If they advertise their product too much, they won't be able to keep up with the demand since they produce so little bikes compared to anybody else on the market.
If they ever decide to increase production (another factory location will have to be built), then they'll get heavier with the marketing and dealer network.

George Carlin liked to say, "think about how stupid the average person is and then realize that half of them are stupider than that!"

The only thing Harley-Davidson does well is marketing. Why improve your product when a little marketing keeps the sheep in line and the cash register ringing?

Guzzi is the flip side of that coin. Awesome bikes, zero marketing. Both of these approaches are terribly flawed, but it's very clear which one makes more money.

A successful company has to educate the average person about its products.

During the few months that I've now owned my GRiSO, I struggled to understand how such an awesome and beautiful machine with a very reasonable price tag can be anything other than wildly popular.

Of course the answer is now painfully clear.

Wherever I park my Tenni, people gather and gawk and ask incredibly ignorant questions. Is it a custom? That's a Moto Guzzi? Can you buy one of those around here?

I'm happy to be an ambassador between Mandello and the unwashed masses, but the number of people we as owners can enlighten is very limited.

Stupid people have money and they buy motorcycles. But they can't buy them if they don't know they exist.

I feel what you're saying but until they decide to produce more, there are no reasons to advertise/market more.

Look at Motus. Those guys are doing it all wrong...
They advertised somewhat (for a few years now), promised, and they don't have a fucking product!!

The other side of the coin, most Guzzi riders are old farts and usually a little bit eccentric. If somebody has to be conned into buying a "BIKE" by marketing bullshit then obviously they aren't ready for Guzzi yet.

As somebody has already stated on this forum .....................
"You don'ta choosa Greeso, sheea chooses you"

So don't be upset eLBee, just be grateful, NOW, is your time. You, are a CHOSEN one.