Andy Wagner is looking for a succession plan

arancia

arancia

Senior member
Location
Arizona, USA
Interesting email from Laverda Paradies today.

As expected he's imminently off to the Canaries again but when you keep reading down the long letter you find that he's looking to pass along his business to a new owner so that he can retire.

Similar situation with Thorne in the UK.

Rumors too for some time that Wolfgang has similar thoughts.
 
Just read it too, Arancia. Question is, are there any punters out there young enough to take on a business such as Lav P. Fantastic opportunity for the right person - a guaranteed successful business with a solid clientele. Many have criticised Andy for his prices, but he has offered an incredible service to Laverda owners worldwide, and put in a huge amount of work to create a company we have all benefitted from. I doubt very much that he has become a millionaire in the process. A man with a passion for the marque. All power to him and I hope a worthy successor can be found.
 
I am looking for a successor for the LAVERDA
PARADISE
In addition, we are looking for someone who, as an assignment, can update our shop
system, which works excellently, but with about 15 years of age urgently needs a
modern update or even a new edition (reprogramming) to adapt it to the increasingly
modern surfers, because here I am prophesied by the specialists that it is time for
this after about 15 years.
.
Anyone who feels qualified for one of these two tasks is welcome to apply.
 
Hi-
Yes, first of all, it is something of a novelty, and it will be really exciting if there will be someone who has the courage to buy Andy's business, it requires a large bag of money, plus it is a very expensive way of doing business, to have a huge stock, plus as I see it, yes, those who ride Laverda are older pulicum, you can see that the Laverdas that are put up for sale have both become cheaper, and it is much more difficult to sell a motorcycle that are both 40-50 years old old. But big thanks to Andy for servicing us with parts since: 1997, and have shopped a lot with Andy, and always been super happy with his great service, and a website that works. Thanks to Andy
 
I know a few businesses here in the USA importing British bike parts that want to retire and can't. Do to the large inventory of parts on the shelf, and the cost to take over the business, no one is interested.

And if you are crazy enough to buy Laverda Paradise, you have many years to pay off the bank loan at which time we are all too old to ride a Laverda anymore. The Brit bike business here that survive for the smaller makes, Velocette, Panther, Rudge and many more, mostly run out of their house like Wolfgang to cut expenses. Andy must have huge overhead costs.

Not many younger riders have any interest in old bikes. When was the last time you met some young rider who dreamed of owing a Laverda? Even a Triumph or BSA which is much cheaper, they don't care.
 
We have the same problem here in Denmark, there is no young man who is interested in classis motorcycles, my wife and I have a competition when we travel out in the big world, if you see a Laverda, the other has to invite you to dinner, and it has never happened. Here in Denmark almost everything with Classic has come to a standstill, Classic races and parade classes are not held, everything with the scrap market has come to a standstill, yes it is a new time we are going to meet, here in Denmark people keep their money, they will put in pensions or in the bank.
 
The classic bike industry is closely matched with the economy these cycles will always vary, Im afraid that globally we are approaching or at the bottom of one of these cycles now so selling prices for the majority of classic bikes is very depressed,
Business owners will always retire and close up and if there is any sign of an upturn someone may see an opportunity to take over either to make a profit or satisfy an inner craving to work for huge hours with little return and just please their inner soul.
Ian Gowanloch is all but gone Cam those containers have mostly unwanted parts from the most undesirable Ducati models ever made.
Last time I was at his happy farm there were drums of badly oxidised pistons for those horrible Cagiva Ducatis with the 16 inch wheels.
 
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I think it was legitimate for previous generations to think 'The young ones don't know our good stuff yet, but they will notice one day, and eventually join in'. However, recently, the world (and so the approach and attitude of the youth) has changed so dramatically that I no longer think that is applicable. I feel we are last of a dying breed, not just for Laverda et al, but for mechanical things and motorcycling in general. (UK perspective here). Most of the 20-30 year olds I know don't know which end of a hammer to hold, and those that do would certainly not want to have to swing it.

We have enough bikes-n-bits to get us through, so the future is truly ours to enjoy :)
 
Had an interesting chat with a nice gentleman in his 70s from around here last weekend, who spotted my well used 750 and loved it.
He bought a new one in 1969/1970 and advised me to restore it, as it would not only better insurable but also more valuable (and better looking, of course).

However, knowing a few more guys with old(er) bikes I kind of see the same trend as in this thread here, with exceptions of course, but my generation and younger (I'm in my mid-40s) have 0 interest in old cars, bikes, or any other mechanical contraption. Those that do want the experience of driving, not the second hobby of applying duct tape, tie-wraps and wire roadside, hunting parts, and spend time fixing that later (and call it character!) when you get back home. I'm working on my 1974 BMW for the next work collegue ride -last time it broke (still got me home, though) but out of ~25 bikes it was the only pre-1990s bike.
With a future like that I can't really see a good business plan for a viable lasting business based on a few exceptions that will continue to drive those characterful old beasts... could be what I see around here generally, though :)
 
Haggis said:
I think it was legitimate for previous generations to think 'The young ones don't know our good stuff yet, but they will notice one day, and eventually join in'. However, recently, the world (and so the approach and attitude of the youth) has changed so dramatically that I no longer think that is applicable. I feel we are last of a dying breed, not just for Laverda et al, but for mechanical things and motorcycling in general. (UK perspective here). Most of the 20-30 year olds I know don't know which end of a hammer to hold, and those that do would certainly not want to have to swing it.

We have enough bikes-n-bits to get us through, so the future is truly ours to enjoy :)
Click to expand...


To true. Reminds me on this one:


Holger Aue digital natives restart.JPG

😀
 
Jo said:
To true. Reminds me on this one:


View attachment 94643

😀
Click to expand...

That`s a Honda CB350S / CB450S with the Harris lookalike frame ......... Nice bike ...... but spoilt with a stupid brown seat , and exhaust wrap ...... quickest way to burn out your exhaust valves ..... ( so they say ) .........

BTW .... looked up the Thorne webpage ref their up for sale notice ......... Says stock valued at £ 23,000 , which sounds quite modest to me ...... although that`s not including a 35% retail bump up .............. and ignores VAT ........

Richard Slater once told me he applied a 50% mark up .......... maybe that`s where they`re going wrong ........ :whistle: ...............
 
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"BTW .... looked up the Thorne webpage ref their up for sale notice ......... Says stock valued at £ 23,000 , which sounds quite modest to me ...... although that`s not including a 35% retail bump up .............. and ignores VAT ........

Richard Slater once told me he applied a 50% mark up .......... maybe that`s where they`re going wrong ........ :whistle: ..............."





I will open that can of worms...

Apparently...

Mark up was about 500% on parts when Slaters Motorcycles went bust. Bought out of receivership at 10% of cost value. Reopened for trade 2/3 days later as Slater Brothers...

Roger Slater fucked off to the US and did the same trick again... Richard stayed behind and did his best.



 
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OneThinBloke said:
"BTW .... looked up the Thorne webpage ref their up for sale notice ......... Says stock valued at £ 23,000 , which sounds quite modest to me ...... although that`s not including a 35% retail bump up .............. and ignores VAT ........
rrers
Richard Slater once told me he applied a 50% mark up .......... maybe that`s where they`re going wrong ........ :whistle: ..............."





I will open that can of worms...

Apparently...

Mark up was about 500% on parts when Slaters Motorcycles went bust. Bought out of receivership at 10% of cost value. Reopened for trade 2/3 days later as Slater Brothers...

Roger Slater fucked off to the US and did the same trick again...
Click to expand...
I hope you'll take this with the spirit intended and not be offended but, with all due respect, nobody gets into business with a charitable intent, vendors may want to be good friends with and support their customers but at the end of the day it's about making a living.

Selling a few exotic components from a necessary much larger stock on hand with no automation, manual picking, manual boxing, manual delivery to shippers, dealing with problems, dealing with suppliers, dealing with complaints, etc, etc, does not sound to me like an easy life and I think we should be very grateful to those have been the backbone of support of our hobby!

With our small group of supporters and suppliers likely diminishing under commercial pressures near term, I think we all have to take a reality check and do what we can near term to help those who remain living on the edge supporting an ever decreasing pool of active riders of these bikes (in glass displays don't need parts!) and accept that prices must reflect the challenge of finding and stocking those parts.
 
Just to be annoyingly pedantic , I think the Slater business went from being Slater Bros ( Bromsgrove ) Engineering , to Slater Bros , then to Slater Laverda in it`s final ( basically Richard only ) form ......... and Mary as well , of course ........

The collapse of the Slater Bros concern led to a brief period around `84 / `85 when it became a branch of Three Cross Motorcycles , giving new Moto Guzzis and Cagivas showroom floor space next to now mainly used Laverdas ................. when that finished , it became the aforementioned Slater Laverda ................. ( if I recall correctly ) ........

One thing I do remember from this time when I happened to be there , was Conrad from Three Cross arriving at Collington ........ and Richard shouting out to someone round the back of the shop .... " Conrads here , put the kettle on will you ? ... " .......

....... ( I was going to mention that I took two sugars as well , but as I was about to leave , I did`nt bother ... ) .......



Also sometime around the mid to late `eighties , virtually all of the Collington front area was leased out to Robin Wenham`s Motex Harley Davidson dealership .......... leaving Richard with his little Laverda spares counter stuck over in the corner .......You had to fight your way though rows of BrandyWine and Chrome just to get to it ......

I sometimes made the trip up on my Honda C90 ..... ( the topbox was handy for carrying bits of Mirage back and forth .... a triple cylinder head or set of carbs would fit in just nicely ) ......and parking Sochiro`s step-thru next to the assembled HD`s parked outside .........

Robin was a nice guy , always said hello ....... maybe he thought I might swop the C90 for a Dyna Glide one day ........



I have heard people opining that the reason .... ( or one of the contributory factors ) .... as to why the original Slater Bros concern went belly up ...... ( which led to it becoming Three Cross ) ....... was due to the mains bearings cock up , whereupon unsold machines had to be modified ( crank replacement ) ..... and others repaired or recalled under warranty .

Even with some factory support .... ( I`m not sure if a couple of mechanics came over from Breganze to assist ) ...... this whole episode must have put considerable strain upon a business which was by now starting to suffer with falling sales due to the much improved ( and cheaper ) Japanese competition .


As for dealers or suppliers supporting an ever decreasing pool of active riders ....... there are exceptions of course ........ I remember ( again ) , Richard saying that he would undertake work or a rebuild on a twin or triple , with the requirement that the machine would come back 500 miles later for a first service check ......... and it being a twelve month or more later that the machine eventually turned up again with the required 500 miles on the clock .................. and this was back in the late`eighties and `nineties ...........

As he said back then .... .... " After all that time had gone by , we were struggling to remember what we had done to it ........ " .............. :) ...............



.... ( And we won`t mention of course people who buy up out of production spares for their bike which they will never use , thus denying those same spares to those who really need them .......... :oops: ........... ) .............
 
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