Groombridge Motorcycle is another motorcycle shop that closed in September.
These closures are not “Brand Specific”
Sadness as John W Groombridge announces it will cease trading - The Heathfield News
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Not a business I know but sad news indeed. All these slamming doors are bad news for everyone.
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I’m not the most mechanically minded and still don’t know what valves actually do, however, I’m capable of using feeler gauges. Watch this video and see what you think. Made me feel a bit reassured about dealers being so far away.
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Heres a thought though. Maybe the club could put up a simple x1 day workshop/lecture on basic servicing? One south, one midlands and one north. I’d happily pay to attend a Guzzi specific one. 
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My local MG dealer looks to be doing fine.
They are also a main dealer for Indian, Royal Enfield, Suzuki, Piaggio (Moto Guzzi, Vespa, Aprilia) I usually take a ride out there once a month for a look around the showroom, buy something, get a coffee and have a chat with fellow motorcyclists.
The line up of Moto Guzzi’s on sale doesn’t appear to change much as far as i can see.
During the summer months there was a 6 week lead time for servicing, so servicing is certainly a good revenue stream.
I bought my MG V7 as it looked so good and having taken a test ride i was sold.
However, I’m not brand loyal and will trade it in for a more “Main Stream” brand should the need arise or fancy a change.
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Would that be Frasers?
I think it’s a sign of the times, rather than being brand specific. For most of us motorcycling is a leisure activity. Outside of London few people these days commute on 2 wheels. It was different back in the 60’s & 70’s when few families could afford to run 2 cars, and a Honda C90 cub or CD175 was everyday transport for many. The cost of most new bikes has risen significantly, there are fewer younger people taking up motorcycling, and the overheads of running a dealership have also increased significantly. I personally would never “rent” a bike using a PCP contract, and I’d expect that a slowdown in PCP business will have pushed some dealers into insolvency
Insurance is putting newer riders right off.
My son has passed his A2 so started looking at A2 bikes, rather than the 125 he has been on for the last two and a half years (he had an A1, not just the CBT). For a five and a half grand CF Moto he could only find one insurer that would provide a policy… at £10,500 per year. Nobody else would touch him. He tried other bikes, admittedly all towards the top end of A2… same result. And that’s with a year’s NCB on a bike.
Speaking to a friendly dealer he said it’s not an uncommon story over the last few months and he has had several deals cancelled (the buyer losing their deposit) because of it. He also said people that bought their 125s there just aren’t bothering to go any bigger as they cannot get reasonably priced insurance. One guy selling his 125 and sticking with cars.
I also note Labour are calling in the big wigs from insurance companies and the ABI to have a discussion on personal vehicle insurance as they say it is now harming the economy. Big words but I can’t see them getting anywhere. It was reported months ago the UK was seeing premium renewals of plus 37% on average (my car went up 50% despite not having an at fault accident in thirty years and even a non fault one within seven). Meanwhile places like France and Germany saw increases around 6%.
Insurers are killing off motorcycles and EVs.
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The money market has bought up insurance companies and moved them abroad. Have a look and see where these are now based. I was with LV for home and car insurance until it was bought out and since then insurance on my two cars**had more than doubled from £550 to £1370 in one year. I baled out and went to comparison sites, but even so it still costme over £900.
** 2008 Fiat Doblo and 2015 Honda Jazz.
I’m sorry if this goes way off topic, but Brockett makes a good point and one it may help to clarify….It seems to me like motorists generally, including Bikers and especially young bikers are facing a bit of a ‘perfect storm’. A mate teaches for the bike test and he told me just last Saturday that it can now easily cost over £1,000 to get a new rider to full bike license (Theory, CBT, A1 and A2 license - I’m no expert on exactly what stages having passed my test nearly 50 years ago). So new riders face high on-costs just to get a license. That’s the first bit of the jigsaw of factors contributing to the problem.
Then there’s the insurance (more on that in a minute) and the cost of bikes and repairs which has taken a hammering globally as the cost of manufacturing and spare parts increases irrespective of brand or country.
Turning to insurance, I hope I can shed some light on the situation but I’m NOT trying to defend or justify, so PLEASE don’t troll me for this, it’s just an attempt to explain.
Bike insurance is small beer to the mainstream insurers compared to car insurance and commercial vehicle insurance, so gets limited attention. Insurance companies have slashed staff levels and especially expertise levels in an attempt to cut their operating costs and remain competitive on premiums. Their costs of operating take 17% of (car) premiums at an industry level (source This is Money: Biggest cost in car insurance is falling - so why have premiums soared? | This is Money ) from which they pay their staff costs, premises, systems etc plus their intermediaries’ commission (brokers and comparison sites which I’d guess takes around 10% of the 17% operating costs, leaving the insurers c7% to pay their bills from), the rest of our premiums, c83% is there to pay claims.
For every £1 insurers took in premiums they paid out in claims, commission and expenses £1.11 in 2022 and £1.12 in 2023 (Source Ernst and Young and Financial Times Subscribe to read) - they’re losing millions (£22bn premiums at 12% losses = c£2.5bn loss each year?? - source Statistica Motor insurance in the United Kingdom - statistics & facts | Statista ) and their shareholders aren’t happy. A few insurers like Admiral made profits, most lost money.
Why are they losing so much after the Civil Liability Act 2018 cut the legal costs of whiplash claims? Because other costs are rising much faster for bigger injuries, vehicle damage and property damage. Why…good question and one I can’t answer with published facts as the motorcycle insurers don’t seem to publish industry data as it’s too ‘niche’, but I’m pretty sure that the state of the roads isn’t helping, and the impression I get is that driving standards generally are plummeting, with more miles being driven, faster, on bad roads in vehicles that cost more to repair with bigger compensation payouts to injury victims (a £10m payout per seriously injured victims is now a thing).
More motorcycles are stolen every year than are sold new (40,000 a year, with 80% taken from home and 50% of them not locked - 11 Motorcycle Theft Statistics in the UK to Know in 2024 | House Grail).
It would be very interesting to know how Admiral buck the trend and make profit from motor (car) insurance, but generally speaking insurers are between a rock and a hard place - shareholders who own the insurers want them to make profits not the huge losses they’ve made for the past two years, yet the government and consumers want premiums to fall.
The only way both can happen would seem to be if the root causes of the high claims costs are tackled. Improving vehicle security (manufacturers and owners actually locking their vehicle and using a tracker), cutting accident frequency (improved roads, higher driving standards and better training e.g. advanced rider and driver training). Then there’s the old political hot potato of cutting the cost of machines and parts which is partly a global problem every country is facing, but one which Brexit will have exacerbated as long as we’re dependent on imports to this extent.
Please feel free to disagree or show better evidence than I can find to support a different hypothesis/solutions, but as I say I’m NOT trying to defend or attack anyone, so please don’t give me grief for this, it’s just an attempt to bring some factual evidence to what is for most responsible motorists, a really frustrating situation.
I appreciate that some people like to take their bikes to the most convenient dealer for that brand but in my experience there is better service to be had at lower costs by using a local independent mechanic. For example the guy I use charges £50 per hour , is not vat registered so only vat on parts not labour and he cant rely on servicing bikes he sells as he doesnt sell any. Instead he has to keep customers happy by doing good work, being pleasant and helpful. Any dealer charging you £120 each way for a 30 mile trip is taking liberties IMO and doesn`t deserve your support.
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Using a trusted independent is a good solution, if you can find one. For example for jobs that are beyond my scope I have used Twiggers in Loughborough for years. They’ve probably forgotten more about Guzzi’s than most main dealers will ever understand / experience. Until a few years ago they were an authorised Guzzi dealer, but decided to relinquish their dealership and now only service & repair. For example they originally supplied my recently acquired Coppa Italia way back in 2006. They have a vast knowledge of anything Guzzi. However they aren’t getting any younger, and apart from Baldrick & NBS near Stafford, what other genuinely knowledgeable Guzzi independent specialists are left ?
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I have put a list together in this forum as people often ask for recommendations.
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EVs are doing a great deal to put insurance premiums up, none of the chinese built models can be repaired, as they refuse to supply alignment data, my local bodyshop has three gathering dust
also in most minor accidents the EVs are written off due to worries about battery damage and risk of explosion, the ones at my local body shop are stored in a seperate yard away from anything that will burn
so rather than a repair costing a few grand 25 to 35 grand gets paid out for a new EV
why should I subsidize them ?
Range Rover owners, obese things that take up too much of the road, and never go off road get nicked and sent to Africa and Albania
again why should I subsidize these idiots ?
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What does not help, is the fact that insurance companies sub out so many things that they should do themselves
in the case of the last accident I had, a head on collision, no fault of mine, captured on high end telematics
they tried to send some clowns to collect the car for estimate 4 miles, I drove the car, but they told me it was unroadworthy, proved worng when I arrived
of course thats 250 quid for the transporter
then Enterprise car hire kept ringing me, wanting to to sign a credit contract for a hire car, told them no way and if you deliver it , the car will be left out on the road, they also tried to get involved with the claim, oddly Enterprise car hire knew nothing about this
yep another bunch of shysters getting in on the act and adding their 40 percent for doing business with my insurers, then two more companies rang up getting involved in the litigation, again all adding their 40 percent to the deal
my insurers have recently re branded, that means service has gone down, and prices gone up, they have only themselves to blame for these corrupt practices
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This tracks with an article the Guardian ran with lots of people pointing out similar experiences to you. Same over on another forum I’m a member of.
Hire cars at four times the price, repair bills in preferred body shops into the thousands where quotes elsewhere were £350. Even one where a lady’s insurance set her up with a hire car (at their special rates - I.e. more than you or I would pay if we just walked in off the street and said ‘fleece me’) but forgot to tell her she was paying the bill!
Some people got ‘lucky’ in that their vehicles were written off as too expensive to repair and were allowed to buy them - one guy got a few grand payment for the write off, bought his car back for a couple of hundred then got it repaired for a couple more. So back on the road in the same vehicle with a wallet full of cash. Of course… we all pay dearly for these crazy practices and there is no need for them to change as we have to pay.
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Sadly, here are another 3 bike dealers in administration. It’s been a difficult time lately for Harley dealers.
Devon Live?
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I think with Harley, their high prices , and dwindling fan base might be the reason
machines starting at nearly 30K are taking the mick
I can buy a new Skoda Fabia for 20K
60mpg, cheap to service, very reliable, and seats five
check out the cost of a cam belt change on a big Harley
An old friend of mine owns an Electraglide, 1966 I think, lovely and quite, no noisy pipes, all restored to origional and will rise in value and easy to service
I think he paid about 17K for it ?
Drum brakes of course, but you get used to them
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The simple fact is that being a Harley sole dealer has got more and more difficult - that’s why Riders in Bridgwater gave up. There’s been a shrinking market for Harleys as the old faithful have aged and died, and there’s nothing in the Harley range for beginners or younger riders. And they are extraordinarily expensive bikes for what you get. Harley markets around the world have been shrinking, so to keep sales targets and share prices up Harley have been forcing dealers to take on stock they don’t want and can’t sell. I do feel sorry, though, for those affected by the closure in Plymouth. If they have their bikes in for service at the moment or if they’ve put any money down to buy a new bike they’ll have a hard job getting anything out of the administrators.
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