New dealership, Moto Bello, Orange County, California

[LaGrasta]

I hope this one last!

https://www.motobello-oc.com/

 

[audiomick]

Nice to know there is a new dealership, but whoever invented the term "motoplex" needs a good kick in the arse.

Edited October 20 by audiomick

[p6x]

On 10/19/2024 at 3:33 PM, LaGrasta said:

I hope this one last!

https://www.motobello-oc.com/

 

I had not realized Piaggio had made "Vespa" a brand... I wonder how they did not get copied since they can't trademark "Vespa", wasp in Italian.

The original 150 cc two-stroke from the 60s are less than 4000 restored like new from Planet Vespa... today's Piaggio "Vespa" equivalent, the Sprint 150 is $6000 new!

In case someone is interested: http://www.planetvespa.net/catalog/

They are based in Vietnam, previously an Australian outfit, and they take care of the shipping to the USA.

 

 

[LaGrasta]

Piaggio has owned Vespa for many years. In fact, as a boy I owned a 1978 Piaggio Vespa Ciao moped.

[Scud]

On 10/19/2024 at 5:03 PM, audiomick said:

Nice to know there is a new dealership, but whoever invented the term "motoplex" needs a good kick in the arse.

At least they are not asking people to join "the clan" like Moto Guzzi did a few years back.

So this looks like an all-Piaggio dealership. No competing brands. I've heard that Piaggio puts a lot of pressure on current dealers to carry all the Piaggio brands - even if they were a legacy one-brand shop. I guess the emergence of new dealers who will be exclusive to Piaggio was inevitable.

I wonder if Pierer Mobility will do something similar now that they have MV Agusta alongside KTM, Husqvarna, and GasGas (and Felt bicycles).  Their strategy seems to be about vertical integration (making their own suspension - WP, in-house electronics, etc.). The Pierer culture is also strongly influenced by racing, so maybe we will see MV on the track again soon - and battling Aprilia.

[audiomick]

3 hours ago, LaGrasta said:

Piaggio has owned Vespa for many years.

Not quite.

A Vespa is, and always was, since the first version in 1946, a scooter made by Piaggio.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespa

[Admin Jaap]

17 hours ago, LaGrasta said:

Piaggio has owned Vespa for many years. In fact, as a boy I owned a 1978 Piaggio Vespa Ciao moped.

#metoo

[p6x]

16 hours ago, Scud said:

I've heard that Piaggio puts a lot of pressure on current dealers to carry all the Piaggio brands

According to Iron Supply of Katy (Houston area) and Wild West Motoplex (Katy), indeed, Piaggio is a tough cookie.

Iron Supply wanted to add Aprilia to their line up, and Piaggio refused. You take all or nothin'.

Wild West Motoplex carries all the line, and I discussed the meandrous ways of Piaggio to support their products in the USA; if the customer experiences a problem under warranty, all the dealings have to be done through Piaggio's representation in the USA. If my information is correct, this is an extremely convoluted process setup by Piaggio in order to exasperate people with claims.

There is nothing more frustrating than having a failure that should be taken care by warranty, and dealing with a slow process.

Mind you, I heard that BMW is also dragging their feet to open their wallet. Before any "under warranty" work can be done, the dealership involved needs a go-ahead from the manufacturer's representation. Else, you are on your own!

[p6x]

16 hours ago, audiomick said:

Not quite.

A Vespa is, and always was, since the first version in 1946, a scooter made by Piaggio.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespa

Exactly that!

In fact, nobody really knew that Piaggio existed, as Vespa was just a product that became a brand name; same as Frigidaire for refrigerators. Hoover for vaccum cleaners in the UK.

But today, Vespa is its own brand, and Piaggio makes scooters too.