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GG Quad

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Proprietor and Managing Director

 Walter Grüter, originally from Hochdorf in the canton of Lucerne, trained as a mechanical engineer. He launched his own firm on 1
 May 1983, concentrating on retailing and servicing European makes of motorcycle with a particular emphasis on the venerable Moto
 Guzzi. In 1985 the firm became an authorised retailer of two further makes, also with long traditions – BMW and Ducati. Walter
 Grüter has always loved tinkering with things mechanical. Not content with simply selling and repairing motorcycles, he took a close
 look at each new model as it came out to see if anything could be modified or improved, especially in terms of visuals. The firm’s
 premises in Ballwil, acquired and converted in 1995, today house an assortment of custom parts and accessories developed in-house
 and destined for distribution worldwide.

 First toe in the water
 1994 eleven years after founding the company, Walter Grüter decided it was time to try his hand at building something himself.
 This turned out to be the GG duetto, a stunning motorcycle-sidecar combination built to the firm’s own design and specifications.
 By 1999 more than thirty GG duetto outfits had been sold around Europe and in Japan.

 1998 the GG Spartaco, a custom cruiser based on the Moto Guzzi 1100 Sport, was realized.

 2000 saw Walter Grüter come up with yet another custom creation, the GG Cruso. Its two models, the
 GG Cruso Classic and GG Cruso Sport, met with considerable success around Europe.

 2001 Walter Grüter’s innovative ideas brought him to the attention of BMW Switzerland, which invited him to develop two prototypes
 for the Swiss Army’s new motorcycle. BMW won the bidding and contracted Grüter to customise the resulting 600 BMW bikes.

 

Feisty, slender and elegant
 2004 the final breakthrough came with Walter Grüter’s GG Quad in the year 2004, the product of thousands of man-hours of
 development and sheer hard work, all of it imbued with a pioneering spirit and entrepreneurial drive. Casually characterised by
 Grüter as a “toy for boys”, the GG Quad is a four-wheeled motorcycle, 200 of which have been sold worldwide within today

 More power with the 4 cylinder motor
 2006 the development of the actual creation, the GG Quadster with a BMW K 1200 S motor, has started. The homologation in
 Germany and Europe is done, the first GG Quadsters have been delivered in September 2007.

 

Over the years Grüter and his team have established a global network of distributors and dealers: “To sell this product, you have to
 be seen promoting it,” he declares. For a small manufacturer of custom vehicles such as Grüter, this means taking exhibition space
 at international shows attended by the trade and the general public. He has been halfway around the globe in his travels, visiting
 the whole of Europe, Japan, Russia, the Middle East and the USA. Plans are afoot to expand into other markets.

 Playing safe
 To be able to launch no fewer than five in-house developments in the space of twelve years, you need a certain level of
 infrastructure – and this Grüter + Gut GmbH has achieved, along with its spin-off company GMG-Technik GmbH. For 20 years now’
 the engineering workshops (which boast three CNC machining centres and a high-tech Makino machining centre) have been
 manufacturing custom parts and accessories for other companies and for Grüter’s in-house projects. Despite his success over the
 years, Walter Grüter intends to remain “lean”. His two companies currently employ 18 people, spread over the motorcycle workshop
 (inclusive of apparel and accessories), the development department, the engineering workshops and administration. At this time,
 three apprentices are also being trained up to become motorcycle mechanics.

 It goes without saying that Central Switzerland has long been conscious of this global player in the world of motorcycle
 customisation. In autumn 2005 Grüter + Gut GmbH became the proud recipient of a prize for innovation, courtesy of the Central
 Switzerland Chamber of Commerce.

Source gg-quads.eu