Good to know that an unintended consequence of my posts is to be known as a "clever quipster". Not a bad thing to be known for.

Sorry that some people perceive my questions as condescending, but again, it was a sincere question - what is the point of tracking closed dealerships?

One answer could be - "because it's fun". All good.

Another question would be - starting from when?

 

To me the thing is Mom and pops are what got Harley going when they first started. Friendships were made and built on the family style ownership. Customers bought bikes because of that friendship. Now they are being cast aside in place of larger dealer/owners. You can say what you want about progress, but this isn't it. Harley is making bike buying no different than going into your local Best Buy. There I never see any old familiar faces and the place seems cold. So will these new dealerships.
How many threads have we read about salesman not caring if they sell a bike or not? No different than a large car dealership. The constant turnover of sales people is what hurts a business.
Like others have said I am glad I am on my last bike. If my local dealer ever goes through this change out I will sell my bike and be done. I am too old for this crud.

 

If even half these closures resulted in the birth of small, quality independents, I would this a decent outcome.

 

This would be a good outcome. In my area, the two independents closed their business. Covid closures played a role, but was not the major reason. I’m not hopeful that a decent Harley mechanic could make it nowadays.

With so many privately owned Harley dealerships closing, it seems likely there are at least some mechanics out there pondering the question. I wonder if there is a list and rating of shops that will work on Harley’s out there in cyber space somewhere.

Our local, Lawrence closed. I think there still maybe one in Spokane.

 

A good local shop in my area closed prior to Covid. He told me directly that between the difficulty of finding good (honest) help, and that the local dealer would not sell parts to independent shops at jobber prices made it difficult to service bikes and make a profit. He is a good and honest mechanic that I've known for more than 20 years. It's was a real loss to HD riders in the area. Fortunately there is another good shop near by, but there isn't many around and the good ones stay busy.

Or they tend to open and close fairly quickly.

Paul

 

I have updated my list of dealership closures. There have been seventeen dealerships closed since my last review. I suspect there are still a dozen or more dealerships that HD corporate would like to close, but those dealerships must have franchise agreements that protect them. Many are older, multi-brand dealers in buildings that obviously do not conform to modern HD standards.

71CAPomona Valley HDClosed8710 Central Ave91763

72CASimi Valley HD Closed6390 Condor Dr93021

73 ID Eagle Rock HDClosed1444 Yellowstone Ave83201

74IALentner Cycle CoService only 2021 Albia Rd 52501

75 FL Stormy Hill HDClosed2480 S. Hwy27 34711

76GAGolden Isle HD Closed153 Venture Dr 31325

77MD Rommel HDClosed 30 Hudson St21401

78MTGlacier HDClosed 2480 Hwy 93 S 59901

79 NE Ole Timers HDClosed 410 23rd St 68601

80NYMiracle Mile HD Closed215 Northern Blvd 11021

81 NC New Bern HDClosed1613 US Hwy 70 E28560

82NDAndy’s HDClosed2756 N. Washington58203

83PA Zepka HDClosed 960 Eisenhower Blvd15904

84PAHot Metal HDClosed 1122 Lebanon Rd15122

85SDStutsman HDClosed717 385th Ave57401

86 SD Petersen HDClosed422 S Fort St 57501

87TXHorny Toad HDClosed875 W.Central Expwy76548

88 WVNew River Gorge HDClosed25385 Midland Trail25854

 

Corporate is most definitely coming after the Ma & Pa dealerships. I'm watching the local shop nearest me (family owned since 1956) shift their sales tactics drastically to appease the mothership. They've gone from an advertised "MSRP - No Added Fees" dealer to a plus freight, plus setup, plus surcharge, plus, plus, plus dealership. In their defense, they're being creative in ways to make up the difference as best they can for the customer and are still the best group of folks to deal with in the industry. But I'm just afraid that their days are numbered and it's only a matter of time that H-D closes the door on another fantastic locally owned dealership.

For the record, I fuggin hate these "Mall of America" dealerships and the BS that comes along with 'em. Call me shitty, IDGAF, but one my favorite things on long bike trips is to roll up to one of these type of dealers and eat a free hotdog, drink a free cup of coffee, and take a free **** in their gender neutral bathrooms before getting back on the road. I'm sure karma will catch up one day and I'll rely on one of these POS dealers to replace a tire or some other roadside need when I'm out on a multi-K bike trip, but you better believe when that day comes I won't flush!

 

The Traverse City H-D store doesn't have Harleys anymore. It does have many other bikes, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Polaris, and is also a John Deere tractor dealer. Lots of cool stuff.

I picked up a tire there last summer, and was surprise not to see any Harleys. The guy says they weren't selling many, and right now side by sides (UTVs) were selling like hot cakes.

There is a strange deal going on though, the H-D dealership in ******* (Zips) about 60 miles away, iis opening a store across town in Traverse City that is going to be a H-D P&A and merchandise outlet. They are also going to ship bikes from there to ******* for free to get serviced on a daily basis.

 

It can be difficult to tell who’s still a dealer and who’s not for the smaller shops. If in question I look at their new inventory. I only list the ones that show “Permanently Closed”.

As for why I do this - for the fun of it. (And because I hate Jochen Zeitz, the CEO of HD.) It’s not difficult and I generally multitask doing it and having a Moto vlog on the tv during a winter weekend. It snowed three inches last night so it’s not like my Road King is coming out of hibernation anytime soon.

The pundits predict HD is going to die a slow death because riding motorcycles hasn’t been popular with new generations. HD’s are relatively expensive and motorcycles don’t easily fit into family activities.

We enjoy riding but there is a certain amount of irrationality to it. I ride because I learned to ride as a kid. I am not a biker. I’m a rider who just happens to ride a HD.

I question how much longer Sturgis will continue to post big attendance numbers. Five years? Ten years? I can’t imagine it having the same (or larger) attendance in 20 years. At some point the curve is going to trend downward unless something changes. We’re all dinosaurs now.

 

H-Ds corp strategy is no different than the 3 big auto manufacturers did in the 2008 turn down.

From what little I know it's the same as auto dealers where they only pay a floor fee when the bike is on the show floor. No full sales money to corp till the bike sells. That carrying charge can't float the company waiting on the full price. So slow moving low volume dealers are a financial drag.

I don't buy into no young riders want Harleys and are not buying them. As a Riding Academy coach I see all the young students that want to own and ride a Harley. Usually at least 2 with some classes as many as 6 just bought one or will be buying one after get their endorsement. Then there's the young non Harley riders that might move to a Harley down the road. One of the consistent group of students in the classes are 20-40 year old female first time riders. Many want Harleys. There's usually a smaller group of new rider or currently passenger females over 50 in the classes that want their own Harley.