So Piaggio and their CDN distributor are fighting it out. Great.
I've spent three hours on the phone trying to get someone to tell me how to buy an RSV4 Factory over the last weeks, by calling dealers, etc. None to be had. Don't know when ours will be in but we have some in Canada... that you can't have. E-mails have gone unanswered. General consensus is that it's unknown when a person could actually lay hands on one in Canada.
But, the word is that they want approximately $9,000 more in Canada for a RSV4 Factory than they do in the states, where they are already on dealership floors. That's roughly a third more. That brings the total to around $31,000 + taxes, for a motorcycle that I would plan to ride down Ontario back roads filled with loose stones, blackflies, deer and gravel dust. And this with the Canadian dollar roughly par.
Screw this. I'm back to Japanese and English bikes. Hopefully I'll be able to get parts and service for the Tuono, because I'm still in love.
Way to go Piaggio... just because you're a giant after purchasing all your competitors apparently doesn't mean you have any business sense. I was prepared to be an Aprilia fan with a Suzuki track fetish, but sadly I will remain a Suzuki man with an Aprilia.
I've truly thumbed my nose at them, I bought a used 06 GSX-R 1000 last week, sold my 750 to a local fellow and am planning to modify it to a roughly equivalent specification to McRae's track bike I purchased in the spring. If I can't buy the bike I want, I'll build it. Makes sense, I have a lot of spare parts for that particular model of bike.
