Understood, and you are correct on all counts.

I guess I just harbor a little bitterness, as I've watched what a highly successful dealership has been through in the last few years. It started out in the fifties, and they sold lawn and garden equipment to make ends meet. They made it through the seventies/eighties, when the bikes wouldn't even run out of the crate. But they made a good living, and built a new building. Things were great.

Then came the fad of the nineties.

One day a set of specs landed on the desk, and they were told "Your dealership will look like this or you won't be a dealer anymore."

When the money started, so did the control. All dealers went through it. Notice they all look alike nowadays? Good dealers were left behind by HD in a manic effort to build giant "bike malls". Conform or die. Your choice.

They killed the small dealer in the name of greed. This dealer used to be all bikes with a rack of T-shirts in the back. Now HD dictates the amount of square footage that must be dedicated to motorclothes and crap. The bikes come second. Pay attention to square footage for each next time you're at a dealership.

I guess things have to change, and change is good. But what I've seen disappoints me so far.



I will allow that HD made concessions to this dealership, and he's still allowed to carry metrics as well. I've not seen that anywhere else, so they're not all bad.

 

A custom bike shop? Yes.

A HD franchise? NO... I am done with dealers. They are too homogenized. Just like a car dealership now... I have been to HD shops all over the country this past year, and they all look and act the same. I love HD bikes, but the "common marketing" scheme is boring... Plus going to the dealer is like showing up at the fair or carnival.. You know the game is rigged, so you never feel like playing...

Custom bike shops always have a little of the owner in them, and a lot more personality, and in my experience with two of them, better prices, better mechanics, more honest, and seem to be happier to have the business.

Selling new cars is boring... trust me, I used to do it. Selling classic stuff or exotics? To me, that would be fun, and to do that, you gotta go custom shop.. Is it easy? Hell no. But I don't have to worry, I cannot afford to try, and I am real happy being the customer, not the owner...

 

But, of course, contact the MoCo aboutpricegouging and shoddy treatment and they fall back on the "Each dealer isindependantly owned and we have no control over them." [:@]

 

I would, in heart-beat. Reason is because I don't like the way most of the cycle dealerships in the Tucson area treat people and I would change that, that is, create much better cutomer service. The other reason is that Tucson Harley thinks it's stuff doesn't stink because they have no competetion in Tucson.

 

Guilty, THG, nice paragraphs from both of you (NO, that was not sarcasm). But we're on different pages here. Guilty, I was laughing about the "filthy rich" comment, after 20 years in this business,I can guarantee the filthy rich are few and far between. Most of these guys are robbing Peter to pay Paul and it just continues on like that. In the mean time they draw a good salary and work their asses off, but there are very few Harley Dealers that are millionaires.

THG, DoI know what goes on in my shop, our budgets, our financial status, I damn well hope so since I order the bikes.WhatI do with the bikes doesnot get approved later by someone else, so I better get it right the first time. I order bikes based onvarious concerns; whatwe can afford, what we might get stuck with, what it will cost us to keep them. I'm afarid I can't do that without knowing our financial situation.We have a parts man who orders all the P & A, he controls what comes into this shop, we rely on his expertise, so he better know what is going on. Maybe in your line of work, you do all of this yourself, but the owner of a HD dealership wouldn't even have the time to do it. His personal finances, you're right,I have no idea, butI do know how ALL of the dealers in my general area live and as I said, there are no millionaires. I'm not sure wher you were going with your paragraph, but whatI was saying was that; yes owning a HD dealership is a good living, but it is no where near what you people think it is.

 

Hellya!

You'd have to be crazy to turn down an opportunity like this. MSRP + setup + freight =license to steal. Car dealers dream of the time when the public paid msrp for thier products. 25-35 dollar tshirts, what's not to like. Large fanbase to purchase accessories, from non owners.

Plus, with products in high demand, you can get over msrp and people will stand in line to pay the price. If you are willing to put in the time and effort, with the right attitude, I don't see how you can lose.

Treat the customer right, make them feel like they got a good deal (sales), have good service reps that treat customers like a king, should be a forumla for success. Also finding a niche in the market (doingsomething few are doing) would help build success. Make sure you have a good business plan and stick to it (I'm sure you do).

I have a hard time with this, unless you borrowed your capital from a loan shark, or blow all your money, you should do very, very well in this business. The dealers in my area seem to be doingextremely well, with the exception of one that seems to be populated by asshats.

 

Wayward, I understand what you are saying, but do the math. This is based on an area of aprrox. 150,000 people (the average population that a dealer has to draw from);

average dealer sells 250 bikes per year at anywhere from $2000 - $3000 in profit,

35 to 45% profit on accessories (average sales on parts..$300,000)

and 40% in clothing (average sales on clothing ($250,000).

The wages alone for a small dealership (approx 15 employees) will run you $500,000....there goes mostof your profit on bikes. Now, your profit from the clothing, service and parts departments goesto payHarley all of their fees (percentage of profit, advertising, brochures, etc), up-keep of the building, taxes, power, insurance (which is huge), etc, etc, etc,. When you are all done with that, you then get your bottom line, which is not a huge amount, sorry.

Yes, there are dealers that sell more than 250 bikes per year, but again, those are large city dealerships and you wouldn't get one of those anyway. A big dealer in say Texas will sell four times that amount, but across North America, there are a lot more small dealers, than large. Right now, since all the prime locations are already established, if anyone opened a Harley Dealership, they would be in the 250 group.

 

I'm not disagreeing with you Sam.

In Omaha, one dealer (Dillon) owns multiple car dealerships in at least 2 cities, as far as I know that was before they were franchised for HD. They have another HD dealership in a smaller town outside of Omaha. They are the largest in the area, and alot of the clients pay the dealer for every service item imaginable.

The other dealer in Omaha (Holsteins) has the Victory/Polaris franchise and recently opened a Honda dealership next door to the HD store. That's what I know of. I'm sure they own more that I don't.

The Lincoln dealer (Frontier) recently moved to a massive new building with 2 floors and has a large inventory.

There is a small new dealer in Glenwood Iowa, that doesn't seem to be doing as well. The reason may be the smart donkey hired as the sales manager.

Those things being said, I feel that if you have an aggressive strategy you can do much better than the average dealer. A few examples.

Barnett HD - specializes in financing people with less than good credit. I see ads in my local papers and thrify nickle type papers on a regular basis. Advertises all over the country.

Zanotti's/Chicago HD/Others - Offer 20% off on parts over the internet, offer good service on orders/refunds/don't gouge on shipping. I'm sure they make a killing in the parts dept.

Eagle HD - Racing. Big Bore Vrods. Up to 1550cc. I hear the 1350 stroker is killer. This dealer has built quite a reputation as a leader in vrod upgrades. Gets loads of business refered by 1130cc.com (formerly vrodforums.com). I'm sure the service department rakes in the bucks.

There are just 3 strategies that are used (and well known) that I would do if I were in the position the OP states he is. I know the 3rd position is based on experience, but you have to start somewhere. The first 2 are relatively no brainers.

(added)

Also, let's not forget about income generated from rentals and riding courses, etc, and of course, Buell.

 

I have a half-dozen dealers within an hour of my house, which means they're also about an hour away from HD Headquarters in Milwaukee. Some sell Kuryakyn parts, some don't. One is all over the internet trying to buy, repairand sell antique bikes, others focus on newer models. Some sell AMSOIL and other brands of lubricants, some don't. Some are open on Sundays, some aren't. One has a building that is 50 years old, the others are much newer. One just sent me a card saying that all merchandise will be 20% off until further notice, other dealers may only have a 20% sale two or three times per year. And the kicker, one sells BMW's right along side of the Harleys, including Tourmaster clothing, Nolan helmets, etc.

If there can be this much variety in Harley's backyard, I'm sure it can happen elsewhere too.

I'm not as far off base as you may think.

 

I think this says it all