Modern Vespa

What kind of accessories would you guys/girls sell? Brands? Helmets? Gloves? Locks? Especially scooter wear for rain or shine.... obviously keeping up with fashion and keeping functionality.

Let me know people!

A friend of mine whats to know for his store in London

Richie

Stylish leather riding gear that doesn't make you look like a biker.

Stylish riding gear that isn't necessarily leather but reflects a style other than that of a biker. The scope of riding gear in general is so myopic.

+1

Need some more selection beyond Armadillo and Corazzo (as good as they are) too.

Riding gear that both can save the rider from being a human crayon and keep the rider dry or well-ventilated. Functionality is more important than fashion, no inflated prices due to 'designer' brands please.

Cheap but abrasion resistant summer gloves for GBP15, not GBP35 thank you very much.

Same for helmets. And please have a plain-white version for each model.

Stock Oxford products. Their warranty is first-class, and most of their stuff works just fine.

Free high-quality coffee while you look around and chat. Very important!

Most important of all, an in-depth knowledge of all products sold, and tell the customer the bad points as well as the good.

hehe yes yes armadillo and corazzo are on the list.

Their choice is very limited though. Tucano would be the "usual" choice but I know there is something else out there

A variety of cool looking vinyl wrap cowl covers. I am having my comic book drawing man make something for me but the paying jobs are way ahead of me. I'd love to buy something cool while I wait.

Bering, who make good scooter jackets for girls and guys. It's a French brand with very high quality gear all round.

Cups of tea are good too. My dealer's been making me tea for years and its been the ruin of my bank account.

Yea we sell alot of the Bering. They've promised us some really nice gear actually. Advice duely noted my friend.

I actually invested in an oxford patriot disc lock, works a treat compared to my old "Luma chain lock"

flight jackets,parkers,DM,s,staypress..........................well in the uk some "scooter" shops do- life style tat

Anything for women that isn't purple, pink, black or white.

Aside from the obvious mechanical parts, I would want my dealer to carry ...

Riding jackets that aren't all "bomber" or "shorty" style with the high waist. A few (normal looking) butt length jackets would be nice. I hate shorty jackets that scream, "I ride a scooter or motorcycle"!

Riding gear that isn't black as the main "colour". How boring (and hot) is that!

Good quality warm/hot weather jackets, helmets, gloves, etc.
Cooling scarves with crystals and other cooling products
Parking chalks
Tie Downs
Turn signal alarms
Theft alarms, Grip Locks, other locks and security products
Battery Tenders
Solar Trickle Chargers
Gas Caddies of all sizes including those with pumps
Tire pressure gauges
Luggage straps & bungee cords/nets
Top Cases
Small luggage items
Baskets for front and rear
Workshop Manuals for all makes and models you carry
Historical Books & Coffee Table Books
Visibility flags & Stainless Steel or Chrome Mounts
Hi Viz vests, jackets, tape and other high viz stuff
12 volt outlets
Good quality cleaning products and waxes
Microfiber cloths
Chrome Cleaners
Scooter/Motorcycle covers
Seat Covers
Stainless Steel hardware bits and pieces that fit most scooters & bikes
Good quality tires
Rain Aprons
Specialty hand grips (heated, shock absorbing, etc.)
Waterproof solar clocks that can be mounted on the dash
Stebel Horns
GPS units
Cool Stickers
Gift items kids can afford to buy their parents for their scooters

I would want my clients to come to me for ALL their scooter/motorcycle needs ... no matter how small or insignificant! The more often they are in the shop, the faster the dealer can build a good relationship with them and the more likely they are to buy that big ticket item they have had their eye on.

I would carry a small amount of demo products from a local upholsterer/leather worker and offer to order custom seats and other custom leather products/luggage for my clients.

Keep catalogues on hand for all kinds of accessories that the shop owner won't necessarily keep in stock ... but will special order for their clients. Include things like matching paints, side cars, tow wagons, work benches and lifts and other stuff that is hardly ever purchased but everyone wants to look at and dream about.

The longer people are in the store, the more busy the store will look and the more likely you are to create an atmosphere which promotes spontaneous purchasing. While one person is sitting in the lounge looking at the catalogues and sipping your really good coffee, the other will likely peruse the shelves and pick up a few things.

Take a look through the Project Reports "modifications section" and see what else you can come up with.

I demand black. It doesn't ever have to be washed - which would wreck any waterproof qualities, and re-proofing isn't 100%. BTDTGTTS.

And I demand something that reflects heat instead of absorbing it!

A scooter shop ought to sell the scooter lifestyle. Obviously selling and servicing scooters are job one. Accessories like helmets, chrome, clothing, etc are job #2. But I think selling scooter culture is job #3

The scooter shop ought to try and make itself the centre of my life. Picking up a coffee, wireless service and the latest import scooter magazines will see me in your shop more often. I want to find out about the latest scooter club events, rallies and concerts nearby or rolling through town.

If my birthday is coming up, let's make it easy for my great-Aunt who knows nothing about scooters, to buy me a present. Pewter and porcelain scooter knick-knacks is what non-scooterists are more likely to buy. Maybe Vespa watches, belt buckles and such.

If you're really intent on catering to the lifestyle, I'd love to see little Vespa rack sized coolers with a bottle of wine, crackers, cheese and a blanket. So it's ready to go for a picnic. Would that be too much?

zingggg

(I am going to preface this with AmeriVespa 2009 rocked!!!)

I think Vespa shops and clubs would do well if they did a little bit more designing and branding of themselves. I was really hoping to come home this weekend with some bad SS gear and shirts to walk (not necessarily)around town with. I think that it'd be cool to be in a different area and walk into a scoot shop and pick up a local flavor tee shirt or sweat shirt. Maybe some personalized gear that your shop doesn't have?

If I could have any dream job in the world it would be marketing and designing non-rididng gear for local shops. Like things that are only available there. I only saw a couple of Vespa of San Jose things that I liked this weekend, but if more shops did what they did then stopping in to do some non-riding gear shopping would be AWESOME! Road trips would have more places for me to see. I would spend a lot more dough.

Side note: we had this discussion at AmeriVespa this weekend so I could ramble on about it for a while.

Worked for my dealer....and make sure that there are no lids for the cups so that the customer has to finish their cup there, causing them to wander around untill they run into a nice used low mile PX....er...or something like that.

Also stock size large. I keep running into this, I'm a tall guy but not really very big and every gear shop I go to seems to always have small, medium, XL and XXL but no large.

When I was in God's country last year (St. Andrew's, New Brunswick) I found a great t-shirt shop that had a Moose riding a Harley that said; "Born to be wild in St. Andrews". Naturally, I had to buy it. I never wear it ... but I bought it!

See? I'd probably be right behind you in line with the same shirt!

Branding + Style = $$$

I am president of our local scooter club and I am starting to get tired of "managing" the shops in town. I have one shop that does stuff and doesn't ask for our input, or even tell us that things are going on. The other shop doesn't want to initiate anything or participate in any large events except for the rally. I try to go see them every couple of weeks to keep tabs on both of them, but I wish they both would be more proactive about communicating with me.

I've come to think that one of the best things a dealership can do is have some presence on one of the major scooter forums - and MV seems ideal - and maybe also run their own. The latter need not be in any way in competition with the former, but it will make the dealer/customer relationship more personal which can only benefit both parties.

Shoei helmets, icon gloves

If I had piles of money, I'd probably spend lots on good looking gear like belstaff and barbour jackets, leather topcases, davida and ruby helmets...etc. with all the accessories. And I'd probably look like a total wanker decked out in it all together (but I wouldn't mind because I'd have piles of money and lots of cool gear).

I bet there are people like me, only with money, who'd spend it on things like that.

However, I don't have any business sense. So I don't know if this is a good idea.

M15 jackets bike leathers full face helmets n plenty of cans of hycote satin and matt black paint ohh and leave the chrome for B&Q

Thank you for this. and thank you all for giving me some decent feedback. I shall keep you posted on how everything goes. This has actually been a really good help. You never know guys there might be a discount to MV members. (Note the "Might")

Richard.

remind me never to ride pillion with you again jim

re. riding gear - Frank Thomas has started doing some really nice stuff for women in non-fairyish colours. if they wanted to go really fancy they would also stock belstaff and rev'it, who also do lovely gear for both genders.

and i cannot stress enough the importance of knowing what they sell - i refuse to patronize any kind of shop that is staffed by trendies/idiots/etc. who neither know nor care about what they are selling. if staff don't have time to try stuff out themselves they should loan it out for testing by experienced scooterists such as can be found here on MV

hahaha.. oh the pressure on the sales team!

All Experienced Scooterists say eye!

New 'oilskins' purchased a month ago.

I took my money to Amerivespa hoping to come home with a new jacket - not pink or baby blue, one that fit and that I could wear in 100 degree plus heat. And I came home with my money again.
I love the fit and mesh of my Frank Thomas ladies jacket, but it is black and soaks up the heat. I haven't seen it in other colors.
I loved the Corazzo 5.0 and would have purchased an orange one, but I need mesh. And I want it to light up all over the place, not just cute little reflective piping.

I agree people would visit shops to purchase creative t shirts, it works for Harley shops. If I need a gift for my brother I just take a drive to a new town and get a Harley T, he loves it and they almost always have one customized for their shop.

I would go to a shop that had several jacket lines with one in each size, knowing I could try them on and order it to arrive in a few days. It seems that shops order a lot of what they think the customer might like and it sometimes sits. Or they sell out all of one size. So you special order and have to hope it will fit. Instead, have the sizes as try-on only of several styles, (of course stock the favorites) be quick in delivery, and clearance the demo stuff when style changes are made.

The vinyl wrap cowl cover idea is great, I could see myself falling for one of those.

I was trying to describe a product I wanted today at a Suzuki store, I told them I could show them something like it online. I was kind of suprised no one showed me to Google to figure out if they could make a sale in these tough times. The store had only one other customer. They let me go out the door to search elsewhere. Of course if a have a vague idea of what I want in the future, who will I not visit?

Yeah, and something else besides size 2, 4 and 6. Do they think we're in high school? I'm damn near 50 and those days are long gone.

For some people that want creative T-shirts and gift ideas. I am thinking of producing my own. I am going to run it with you guys and see what you think..

good or bad idea?

ooooh, cool idea

also:

vespa/scooter mugs in various designs. there are some really nice vespa branded ones but i'm sure other great designs could be invented. getting mugs printed is pretty cheap.

fluffy neck warmers and a selection of some of the cooler designs of buffs (http://www.sportingtriangle.co.uk/acatalog/Buffshop_Intro.html) ... they've got hundreds of great designs but i only ever see really lame ones in shops

you can't get enough of mugs, probably one gift idea that is so blatently obvious, but wouldn't mind recieving one as a present. (As Long as it isn't the only gift given )

As soon as I finish work and get home ill mock up some designs and will post em up on here.

I don't think it's been mentioned (probably not worth it due to mp3ness etc), but what about a little music rack with punk, ska and reggae compolations related to scooter culture, also stocking scooter related DVD's and mags

GREAT idea except I'm in the states and shipping is stupid high...

I think Harley dealers have got a great thing going. Get people to stop in your store for local gear & get their attention!