In the last five years I have met alot of good people at the dealers. I have also met some not so nice business owners.
Some of these owners make it hard for the people working at the dealers to really do a good job for the customers.
So its been kinda of hit or miss getting good service.
That is until you learn who you can go to and then hope he/she doesn't quit.
I don't want to see the dealerships close but I am sure we are going to see alot of it in the future. I feel very bad for the employees. Most of them were not being payed well enough anyway.
The motor company want their dealers to look like hot shot rich places. So I would guess the ownership of dealers had to in a lot of cases borrow money to build these big beautiful shops. Something that bike shops have never been. Or even most upper end auto dealers. What a fantastic spectacle.
And then the motor company offshores as much of the work as they can.
I would say that 99% of what you buy in the store is made in china.
And more and more of the bike is made off shore each year.
As an example To my most resent knowledge Jagg oil coolers are no longer used (Best coolers that I know of) . The coolers are now from offshore. I have also heard that the Cranks for the 96" motors are made in china.
Harley like the Big three, Have most labor done off shore. "The American Motorcycle" Yea right!!
People want to blame unions..Go ahead
Ya all should be talking to your government. They have taxed the value out of every Job and product made in this country. Then let the big corps use slave labor in other countrys. Well guess what? No Jobs in america, No buy cars/bikes in america. Oh what you don't agree? Well then see if you can borrow some more money out of your house so you can buy your next meal.

 

I respectfully disagree with you. I think Biker Bob's H-D in Taylor, MI is the worst. Not only do they price gouge, but their service dept is less than stellar. How can you even call your store "Biker Bob's" when Bob doesn't even ride or have a valid cycle endorsement? (This from one of his employees)

 

Good dealer, too. Way farther to drive than "BikerBob's" but worth it.

 

OK.

You should check how much any of these big corporations actually pay in taxes.

 

Dothan HD seems to be okay from the looks of it. My salesman did tell my wife that their sales were really slow right now. But in the past few years, each fall/winter, I have heard all kinds of rhetoric about the demise of the MOCO for various reasons. Except for the 08 anniversary models the dealer here seems to get rid of all of the bikes he has every year. I kept thinking I was going to get a left over cheap. No such luck. Nothing that appealed to me was ever left over. Could of gotten a deal on one of the 08 ann. models. Had the exact bike I wanted on the floor side by side. 08 ann edition FXDL or 09 Vivid Black FXDL could have saved $1200. on the 08, but just could not make myself want that color scheme. I went over them with a fine tooth comb and discovered a couple of visible welds on the 08 that looked like blobs of JB Weld. Then I remembered that they were really pushing production in 08 and maybe some things might not be right....???? Hell I wanted the 09 anyway. A custom color is only custom when you are the only one that has it. Not when it is identical to half the bikes in the parking lot.

 

Hmmm, well, I guess some people have priced themselves out of a job. Other people in other countries and in the US are willing to do the same job for less. So, you can either whine about it or, learn a new skill that has value in the place you want to live. Don't expect the rest of us to pony up just to protect your uncompetative wage

 

I just learned today that our local dealer has cut back on staff including two mechanics.