Afternoon' im new to Guzzi's and this forum i am looking for advice on dealers in scotland, central belt preferably, where are they?who are they? and how do you all rate them,good,bad or indifferent? thanks in advance.

If you are not needing warranty Duncan at Olivers in Denholm is a Guzzi trained mechanic.

Olivers Number is 01450 870221

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha nobody mentioned Sh1tlaws!

Do not harbour any illusion that Moto Guzzi franchises and warranty agreements mean anything, at all, ever.

In my personal experience all the "owners" of the Moto Guzzi group have, at least since 1981, had no respect for customers or decent garages with interested and capable mechanics and are only interested in a) taking your money b) getting the best deal for themselves to the detriment of good dealers and individuals who liked the marque. I am of course referring to Scottish establishments. c) looking at the US market for the bucks d) taking your money.

Maybe naive but spend lots of hard earned sovs on a bike and I expect some decent back up.

Learn how to sort your own machine because in Scotland, especially in the Highlands, you are on your own.

That said I have owned 4 Guzzis and enjoyed them immensely - the support however, from M/Guzzi and its appointment of, ahem, competent, authorised dealers in Scotland has been IMHO, absurd and woefully inept, indeed I would class it as a crock of excrement par excellence, with one or two notable exceptions - who have now gone. They were kicked in the nuts and passed over probably because they tried to sort out problems or told the sad truth.

There - that's 30+ years of frank personal experience in a nut shell. Worse still I can't see it getting any better with Pia Gio. Scooters FFS!

The best they can trot out in 2011 is an over sized, useless "scrambler" and a bored out sad old heap of creatively bankrupt nonsense. At least at EIMCA 2009 there was some hope!

Ooops my mistrake the scrambler may be of value in bouncing in and out of the potholes in this 3rd world country of ours.

I also have a Honda Pan European ST 1100 - no problems, no hassle, good backup. I rest my case.

Oh dear - 90 years old and can't even decide to hold a birthday party. Incontinence pants all round.

Spin Carlo spin. Your wind tunnel was in vain.




Edited by Mad Farquhar - 09 Feb 2011 at 22:32

Yeah - I notice you can get a good deal on Guzzis up to March 2010 at zero% finance for 36 months - must dash along to Crown Street for the Harley that appears in the pre-owned Guzzi section. Nothing tells a story like an up to date website.
Dreadful.

It still appears that "unauthorised" garage services and mechanics give better service than the authorised - shurely shome mishtrake in Guzzis corporate strategy. Jim Allan is one of 3 authorised according to the list in the news banner above. Sandy Bloy doesn't stock Guzzis anymore according to his website. Shirlaws has a V7 as sole stock but tries to punt Triumphs.
I bought a V50, then a Lemans MkII from Shirlaws in the early 80's, a 1000SE from Frontiers in SW Lundun in the early 90's and the present Guzzi, a 1100 sports 2nd hand from Simpsons of Aberdeen in the late 90's. None of them seemed to have a passion for the marque or had consistent technical back up in solving genuine problems of ownership. Anyone can do a service / oil change but it takes a good mech to get a guzzi to purr properly. I never, ever, felt those dealer above provided it. Simpsons, maybe just, for a little while.
It's a grass roots up support chain we have and it's despite M Guzzi not assisted by M Guzzi.

I suppose that's maybe my reason for the attraction of owning one.

You need luck to get hold of someone who has the passion and is prepared to help - rarer than rockinghorse sh1t IMHO.

Where the f@&k is Denholm BTW?

Ah gotcha now. Looks like great motorcycling roads around there. Looks like a great spot for the 2012 rally!!

i just traded in my triumph to buy a guzzi! loved my sprint st1050 but for 2 up touring it wasn't the best, far too top heavy when loaded up with all the camping gear and as for the pillion seat, step ladder req'd! all tourers should be shaft drive anyway i.m.o. and the riding position on the breva is a lot comfier for me and the missus, just didn't fancy going the samey japanese route,wanted something a bit different, as long as it proves reliable of course! Jim Allens is only 10 miles from me but had indifferent dealings with him in the past...looks like im just going to have to suck it and see......

Originally posted by Russell If I was to buy a new Guzzi now.......

What model would you want?

well, picked up a set of rear brake pads from jim allen's couple weeks ago, just got round to fitting them yesterday..wrong ones! picked correct ones up today,more expensive but no extra charge due to inconvienence,threw in a couple o wee e clips that hold the pins in as well so all in all im happy so far!

Similarly took my Breva there with a misfire. £75 later it still had the misfire but was also blowing fuses. Sorted it with the help of Borderer and his magic computer programme, it was the throttle position sensor. Suffice to say I don't think I'll be back to Jim Allan's.

Originally posted by iandunmore This is why some people don't like fool injection, you need to know someone with the right programme. Fortunatly I do, and at £30.00 an hour very reasonable. But Didcot is about 750 miles from Scotland.

I was going to reply to this post but my wife wont let me.


Edited by jibdel - 04 Mar 2011 at 19:05

Originally posted by iandunmore This is why some people don't like fool injection, you need to know someone with the right programme. Fortunatly I do, and at £30.00 an hour very reasonable. But Didcot is about 750 miles from Scotland.

Can I ask where that is in Didcot Ian? The only place I know is the Honda dealers -rode past it today...

I like the cut of your jib Mad Boy. Pray tell us more of this device to which you refer.

Originally posted by Danspics Originally posted by iandunmore This is why some people don't like fool injection, you need to know someone with the right programme. Fortunatly I do, and at £30.00 an hour very reasonable. But Didcot is about 750 miles from Scotland. Can I ask where that is in Didcot Ian? The only place I know is the Honda dealers -rode past it today...

I have mentioned Tony twice in grumblemunga but anyway look up

Edited by iandunmore - 09 Mar 2011 at 13:21