Text/photo: OA Isdahl

At Motorcenteret på Rud they are already at full speed, perhaps the best start ever,” says Charlotte Anderson, who notes that it almost went from 0-100 in a flash. “Finn.no has already passed 8,200 bikes and we’re currently just 1,000 bikes away from the peak in 2024 – that’s a lot of bikes so early in the season. The journalist believes that we will pass the magical limit of 10,000 bikes for sale on Finn.no this year. There are many indications that the second-hand market is becoming an even more important base for dealers’ sales and since we had a strong growth in sales of new motorcycles during the pandemic, the supply of newer used bikes is very good these days.

But interest in new motorcycles doesn’t seem to be waning either, and so far sales of new bikes have also been booming. And regardless of whether it’s urban mobility, adventure, touring or evening therapy with street ramps or pure joy that counts. Overall, the Norwegian portfolio is large and good, but it remains to be seen whether the small Norwegian market will get enough bikes this year. The big manufacturers prioritize the largest markets first. Good advice, don’t wait too long to order a new one if you’re planning to realize a dream, because it’s possible that your favorite bike is on the list of bikes that, for one reason or another, are already sold out or delayed. Check it out for yourself. Used is always a good alternative, but we should probably expect this segment to heat up this year too.

At Motorcenteret, sales of Motor Guzzi, Aprilia and Honda are booming and interest in Vespa is growing. Perhaps it’s not surprising when we have as much maintenance and nonsense as we have with public transport these days. So it’s really nice to have a scooter or similar that makes everyday logistics manageable – fortunately, we can still drive in the public transport lane.

At Motorcenteret, there’s a wide selection of Vespas in all the colors of the rainbow and Erik Grøndahl, one of the industry’s veterans, is happy to help share knowledge or find the right shape and color. Erik is pleased with the start of the season, which looks set to be extra long this year.

Not everyone has a Moroccan carpet seller from Senja

I’m probably one of the people who has owned the most motorcycles in Norway (immediately passing 130 objects in total) and I therefore know a little about what I myself appreciate in a dealer and what it is that triggers a sale with me. Not everyone thinks the same way I do, but one of the most important parameters I feel when I’m in a buying process is the culture and energy in the store. An “energy-positive retailer” creates interest and curiosity in me, and if I come to a retailer who is interested in me, my needs and desires, the salesperson has an easy job, I have a statistical and almost scientific basis for saying that. If, on the other hand, I encounter what I call an “energy deficit” where the salesperson has an unreserved focus on their own excellence, brands and is uninterested in me, my needs, desires and wishes and is unable to create a relationship or any energy – well then it doesn’t go so well. The best in the industry master this and they get it right in a matter of seconds.

At Motorcenteret, they have people like that, and perhaps the best is Markus Karlsen, who Erik refers to as the Moroccan carpet salesman from Senja. Erik and Markus have worked together for decades and the tone in the store is characterized by interest and energy, here there is a cheerful, cheerful tone with an absence of gloom or self-importance. On the way to the good “deal” and the wise choices, you’ll probably get to know the Moroccan carpet salesman. The one who’s interested in you and who’s more than happy to smoke a hookah to land a deal. He does everything to succeed with it, no Trump deals that include threats, punitive tariffs or other forms of nonsense here no. In other words, it’s always nice to come to a dealer who is interested in his customer, manages to create an energy surplus and not least interest in you and your opportunities to become a happy motorcyclist. Unfortunately, I all too often meet salespeople who are too self-absorbed, too concerned with their own sales figures and their own excellence, and who therefore create an energy deficit, which the customer notices immediately and which hardly leads to any sales. The customer’s relationship with the retailer is therefore an important success criterion that should in no way be underestimated. The Moroccan carpet seller knows this.

It is part of the story that the Moroccan carpet sellers originate from Senja in Troms, but still speak in an eastern dialect as if they came from Bekkestua in Bærum =0) Quite confusing.