Lemon Laws & Moto Guzzi

[JackBoots]

Things can go bad to every motorcycle or car maker.Others react fast , and others like MG ...slooooow.

Guzzi is a small firm, and a very big name in motorcycle history. At 2004 they made 3800 bikes I think (Aprilia), and they celebrated 10000 bikes this year with help from Piaggio.

"There seem to be two groups of Guzzi's - the ones who never have any problems at all and the ones who have everything go wrong."

That is a true statement, but does not only apply to Guzzi, it"s true even for Hondas!!!!!!

My riding life is full of models by BMW and Guzzi.Most were super, trouble free, some were Lemons, but I was always

willing to fix them, because I love them so much, and I enjoy the special character they have.

Only two times, I bought a Yamaha and a Honda, and both were lemons.

The Yamaha TDM 850 93 model( bought it 1 year used) was leaking gas on my lap from the seams of the tank, and was weaving like hell at 160 km,

the sidestand valve that controls the engine start up decided when I was permited to ride the THING.....etc

Next lemon case the HONDA a Transalp V 650, bought it new at 2003 to save my Guzzi..s from city riding.

Second day in my garage there was a big oil stamp on the floor, haven"t seen such thing from any bmw or Guzzi.

Under warranty they fixed the front cylinder base gasket.

Fisrt time I rode the THING to a highway, it was burning unleaded like a V8 truck at 150 km!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I sold it in 4 months,....and don"t want to see it again.

Shit happens, but I prefer to be on a Guzzi when it happens, than paying money to fix a THING....

 

 

True .... but in this case it looks like that Lemon went to Ebay.......hope they gave him a nice deal on something else..

[WitchCityBallabio]

If you're referring to the red Sport that was on there, that's was not his. He has a Ballabio.

[JackBoots]

If you're referring to the red Sport that was on there, that's was not his. He has a Ballabio.

 

Sorry, my mistake on that. Same dealership and basically no miles. I jumped to conclusions.

 

Hope this one is better

[V11crazed]

Cycdude6, I've read all your posts and all the replies. Looks to me like you've had some good guidance and proper encouragement from the Forum. From all the reports I've seen here and elsewhere on the other Web boards, the Ballabio may well be expected to become one of the all-time modern-day Guzzi Classics, and will no doubt be regarded as a very solid and relatively trouble-free example of the marque for many many years to come. I congratulate you on your purchase.

 

I sympathize with you, my friend. It's got to be very frustrating having such a nice bike off the road when all you want to do is RIDE IT!!

 

Coupla observations:

 

I see by your info profile that you're a "self employed Handyman". Having owned 20 motorcycles in the past, a new Guzzi -- with the typical list (and even with an atypical list) -- of teething problems to be sorted would seem to be very much a natural fit for you, and quite easily dealt with. You no doubt have a great breadth of understanding (if not so much specific depth in the case of a Guzzi) of how all manner of things mechanical and electro-mechanical may be expected to perform, familiarity with parts sourcing, etc. -- especially including motorcycles, by your experience.

 

The way I see this, Cycdude, you've got a simple choice to make at this point. IMHO, it's one that you should have made in advance of purchase, but better late than never: You either decide that you'll make the requisite investment of your own effort in terms of time and apparent skill, if necessary, to sort the bike by the best means available to you -- whatever means that might be -- or you decide that the effort level is too high. If the effort level is too high for you, this means that you either bail out by selling at a loss, or you do wot you seem to be well inclined to do already, and pursue Lemon Law action against the dealer and Guzzi.

 

I can only contrast your situation with my own. I've only owned 12 bikes, and never had the benefit of experience of being a professional handyman or motorcycle mechanic (or any kind of a mechanic), but I've maintained all my bikes 100%, and restored and/or rebuilt many of them from the ground up. Now this is just me, but as an owner/rider, I'd take it upon myself to have your list of minor complaints whittled down to one or two items max in the time it takes you to make the round trip to your dealer. I'd use my own abilities, however limited or capable, and whatever means is at hand, including the superb guidance of this Forum, of which you've already had a great example by way of starters. Any remaining items would likewise be dispatched the same way, with the idea that as an owner, I take on the responsibility of getting it sorted MYSELF -- yes, if necessary, even ALL the stuff that's clearly the legal responsibility of the dealer.

 

The fact that you've listed something as minor as "parts fell off kickstand" as a complaint says volumes about your state of mind. I'm sorry to say this, but I'm afraid that especially as a professional handyman, this hardly reflects positively on the level of patience or willingness to take responsibility that owning a Guzzi (or any other bike for that matter) generally requires -- particularly when doing initial sorting, but also in terms of developing confidence in the relatively trouble-free maintenance that these bikes are well known for long-term.

 

I'd also make an effort to keep in mind that you haven't purchased another moto-appliance from a huge industrial giant, with a massive support network, local parts stock, and support expertise around every other corner, as you may well have become accustomed in your ownership of 20 previous moto's. Accordingly, I'd suggest a more realistic adjustment of expectations of the dealer. It was YOU who made the decision to purchase an already obsolete model of a very low-volume production, hand made Italian "throwback" anachronism, engineered primarily a half century ago, and assembled by villagers in what has become primarily a mountainside vacation area. Some of the Luigi's who assembled your bike no doubt have ancestors who were armorers, beating panels into breastplates and shields, forging blades and firearms, and still use some of the very same production techniques today on some of the parts that go into Guzzi's. Change has come relatively slowly to Guzzi over the last 50 years, and not without the pain and repeat loss of customer satisfaction due to the more or less perpetual state of disruption resulting from many downright flaky, here-today-and-gone-tomorrow ownership changes. Some of the ancient sourcing, supply, manufacturing, and assembly methods used today by this little company are still in the process of dying very slow, century-long deaths, and are directly derivative of the pre-industrial era in Europe.

 

Now if the "romance" of the final death throes of Old Europe is of little comfort to you now, I certainly understand, but the point is that you haven't bought another Honda. Knowing this, and being the one who pulled the trigger on your investment, IMHO you should well have gained enough understanding about what you were getting into (especially considering your background and experience), to enter into this with some level of expectation of the trade-off considerations and associated potential risks that you face today. I suggest that yours are but a paltry few of the most minor kinds of many more serious frustrations that are possible here.

 

Now I fully recognize that the emotion involved here may be "impossible" for some people to manage. But unless you can set the emotion aside and think logically, without succumbing to the anger you've expressed here at Guzzi, and get yourself off the trail of finding fault, and onto the trail of finding resolution to what are -- at least for the most part -- known to be relatively easily solved, minor problems, I'm afraid the the handwriting is already on the wall, and your decision is already a foregone conclusion. In this case, IMHO your situation cannot improve, and can only get worse. If so, you should pull the plug immediately, before your aggravation level becomes debilitating and you lose all desire to gain control over it. The sooner you can be rid of the aggravation the better -- regardless of financial loss.

 

Now this is just me, but while we're discussing investments of time and aggravation levels, I'd no more entertain the thought of perpetrating a jihad by subjecting myself to the horrific legal process of pursuing a state Lemon Law action against Guzzi over this (the mind reels. . .) than I'd entertain the thought of running my Ballabio over a cliff (with me riding it), but that's just me.

 

You could no doubt find someone via a classified ad who would more than gladly welcome an opportunity to pick up such a fine machine, who would happily welcome the task of getting it properly sorted, and who would also consider it a great privilege, given your list above in full disclosure at time of sale. Again, I'm no professional handyman or mechanic, but if I were presently Guzziless, I'd jump at the chance.

 

I do wish you well, regardless, my friend!

 

 

I just came across this post in my own research in regards to buying a used Guzzi. This is simply hilarious and extremely well written...give this guy a Guiness....

[Phil A]

It never ceases to amaze me that people actually believe that they are buying a perfectly sorted and functional motorcyle when they buy a Guzzi!

 

From Italians.... ha ha ha!!

 

What you do get is a collection of parts designed and fitted by an emotional luigi who leaves piece of his soul with every part.

 

With these parts you can build a very special motorcycle if you so desire. Nothing more nothing less.