[quote=rklew;6652248]now I have to go 65 miles to a dealer. quote]
Do not use Ocean County in Lakewood horrible customer service(the big mega store type)
go to Mills in Burlington
OCHD is 15 minutes away but I was riding the 50 mi to Mills

 

There are 4 dealers within 30 mins of my house. Stretch that out to 1 hour and I am up to 13-14 dealerships. I wish we could find out who is leaving as I dont want to get my bike from a dealership that is not going to be around for my first service.

 

Man, I hope they do not shut down Yellowstone HD in Belgrade, MT. Only 8 miles from my house. Great folks and *exceptional* service dept.

But they charge above MSRP, and the place is still full of dozens of unsold '09s. They sell tons of merchandise to tourists in summer, and service their bikes, often same-day. But the new-bike market in this corner of Montana is pretty limited. The situation is even worse in Butte at Thunderbolt HD. And they don't get the tourists.

I wouldn't be surprised if they got shut down, but, man, I'd miss it.

 

Any dealer will be more than happy to do your servicing. its an unfounded fear you have, get the best deal you can on a bike now and get it, with the closing of dealerships bikes will get harder to get.

 

Unfortunately, they're the a-holes that own the name so they CAN say who can stay open and who can't. Just like American car mfg. did last year. They're just trying to survive the economic storm and I'm sure they had their reasons.

 

I am sorry to say that this is the new business model for the automotive industry period. Look at all of the GM and Chrysler dealers that have lost their franchise's. They have this weird belief that if we have fewer places to shop they can hold their margins better.

 

I have 5 Harley dealers within a 30 minute ride...wonder if they will all survive

 

I would become a Victory dealer just to spite HD.

 

I heard a couple of weeks ago that the biggest dealer in Colorado, ThunderMountain in Loveland is going out of buisness. Wonder if HD is shutting them down? Every time I've been there they are busy. I bought my last bike from them, nice people and pretty decent service department. Darn sad. I don't get the company line that closing dealers will help sales, doesn't make sense to me but I'm just a dumb engineer.

Paul in Colorado

 

Less dealers means buyer can't look for a better, lower price. Several dealerships are now owned by the same family. The price at one is the same at the others. Dealer is happy, MOCO is happy, buyer is screwed.