My 02 +8 has a Simmonds hood from new. First of all you will not get any price reduction on not having an MMC hood - the MMC will not give you the unfitted hood either. It is also possible that you will need them "not to fit" the traditional hood rather than the Easy Up and that used to be an extra £400 or so.
Secondly, whilst the Simmonds hood is excellent and mine certainly does not leak, the unlocking mechanism of the Easy-up hood is probably better than the Simmonds.
