LabRat Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Just back from Paris on business and had the opportunity to check out one of the local dealerships. It's a pretty nice dealership, albeit small by North American standards, but about the same as the rest of the local dealerships. The owner/manager spoke virtually no English, but I did get out of him that he sold 50 bikes since January and was really excited to get his hands on the new "Scoot" as he put it. At first I didn't know what he was talking about, but it was his way of saying Scout. Here are a couple shots: Here's a shot looking down the street from the dealership: The funniest moment was when I noticed a rather unusual looking set of pipes on the one Chieftain he had sitting outside. Turns out they were Jekyll and Hyde pipes. Looked great and he was very excited to fire up the bike for me to hear them. They weren't overly loud because France has very strict noise ordinances, so even when wide open that have to meet their laws. Despite not being loud, they sounded awesome. The video doesn't do it justice. The sound was really deep, very guttural. I didn't really care for the sound when it was closed, but if that's what's needed to keep the gendarmes at bay, so be it, they were awesome when opened up. In the video, when you start up the bike, they are closed and then as it settles into idle, they open up automatically. Here's a cut-away of the J&K pipes. The funniest thing was after showing me the J&K pipes, he started up the Classic and then was giddy about the fact that he punched out the freeze plugs. Not sure what was funnier, the fact that the dealer punched out the plugs or him trying to describe what he did. It was a short game of charades. He was motioning like running a long pipe into the exhaust and I knew right away what he did. He was quite proud of himself and my guess is that most of the bikes he sold had that "treatment". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianTrue Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Thanks for sharing this information that's really cool that you took the time to check everything out. Must have been strange to see Polaris dealerships in another country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toycar10 Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 The international language of motorcycles 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dk007 Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Based on your photo of the Arc de Triumph, I was in that same exact location last year. The dealership must be relatively new.....I would've remembered this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabRat Posted October 6, 2014 Author Share Posted October 6, 2014 I think he is relatively new - maybe January of this year. It's a great location - motorcycle row - Ducati, Aprilia and many others all in a row. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dk007 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Nice.....France is a beautiful country but I don't think I'd like riding an Indian through Paris....it was bad enough in a car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabRat Posted October 7, 2014 Author Share Posted October 7, 2014 No kidding. Anything bigger than a Burgman and you're in trouble. The one nice thing is bikes are everywhere, so people are aware of them. You don't see many big bikes in the city. I only saw 4 HD's the whole time there, but did see a number of those new Goldwings without the tour pack, the F6B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dk007 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 I saw mostly scooters and those dual-purpose street/dirt bikes. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell what brands they were since they were lane-splitting everywhere at about 70 MPH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
injun46 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Last time I was in ol' Paree was a long, long time ago. Place Pigalle was nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundaram Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 What were the prices on them in Paris? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabRat Posted October 7, 2014 Author Share Posted October 7, 2014 (edited) Don't hold me to it, but if memory serves me correctly, the Classic was about €23,000 Edited October 7, 2014 by LabRat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XV62 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 We were in Cannes, Nice, and Monte Carlo a couple years ago. Lotsa bikes and more scooters. We did see quite a few Harleys though and other cruisers. Plenty of metrics. I could still ride then, but passed on trying it there. The lane splitting and watching the pack move through all the cars to the front at every light was a little disconcerting. I didn't even try driving. Took a driver everywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dk007 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 The lane splitting and watching the pack move through all the cars to the front at every light was a little disconcerting. Exactly.....and at very high rates of speed. I'm surprised there aren't more motorcycle wrecks in Paris. Made me scared and I was in a car..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissIndian Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 (edited) ...... bloody foreigners ! (try with French accent) ..... that's what the "frogs" would and did say ........ LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ps. sneaking in and out .... out of Europe ......... not very nice Edited October 7, 2014 by SwissIndian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XV62 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 ...... bloody foreigners ! (try with French accent) ..... that's what the "frogs" would and did say ........ LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ps. sneaking in and out .... out of Europe ......... not very nice We didn't sneak in. I told you we were coming. You were in Oz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissIndian Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 We didn't sneak in. I told you we were coming. You were in Oz. .... you know that I wasn't talking about you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabRat Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 .... you know that I wasn't talking about you If me, I was afraid you might make me eat Brie. Seriously, I was only there for 3 days and was in meetings and business dinners the whole time. I took a two hour walk to find the dealership the day I landed before the "fun" began. I'll be in Dusseldorf for a couple days next month Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissIndian Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Hmm ..... I am in Dusseldorf now (my parents are here) ...... in Nov. I will be in Geneva ..... not too worry, Brie can wait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.