Amen an' + 10 on Smoky Mtn HD......have been to the Pigeon Forge dealer also.....also great people, nephew got his first Harley there on a Sunday, an' they kept the doors for us open wayyyy past close'n time to get him "out the door"....I reck'n some ,if not most here ain' never had "The Shed" x-perience......if they'd ride in that area, they'd prolly go back....The new sibling store "Wildcat HD" in London Ky., also a great dealer(same owners).....these folks can be proof that good atmosphere,great sales people, and great service, are still part of what makes a good dealer "tick".....can't wait till I can get back down in ya'lls area.
Other part o' yer post really cracks my azz up too! An could'na put it better,really don' get all the "rant's & rags" on HD......but they still ride/buy the da*n things !!

 

Not sure what part of IN yer from, but sounds like an x-perience I had @ Bluegrass Hd in Lou. , KY. ..........hell, they did'n want me sit'n on/touch'n noth'n on on the frig'n floor, without "assistance".....??????
Laugh'd at the dude an said "I don' need no "sistance"....an went elsewhere......they're out in the CEO/Dr./Lawyer end of that city.....so I spend my $$ elsewhere..........they fug'd up, cause I spent some serious $$ someplace else............

 

And this post started yesterday. I can remember about 15 years ago pulling up to a bar on my CB750 (FYI, that's a Honda). Some guy starts giving me the "why didn't you buy a Harley" B.S. I told him that I had tried but when I went to the building with the big Harley Davidson sign out front but inside it was a women's clothing store, some of it was kind of kinky lace lots of lace and what leather there was wasn't suitable for riding.
Every biker in the place burst out laughing.

 

One of my pet peeves: McDonalds seems to be "upgrading" every restaurant, to include removing the playground(!)

I've spent many a Saturday AM with the grandkids at McD's, after lively conversation over breakfast the kids loved spending some time in the playground while I had another cup of coffee and read the paper...

Guess someone must have sued for some alleged injury.

 

We started out at a teeny tiny HD outlet, great sale and service staff. The city got a second dealer, the big sparkly kind which gave us a chance to do comparison shopping, but we still gave most of our business to the original dealer. Since then the corporate directives have forced the original one to meet current standards, so it built a new whiz bang facility at a new location. Fortunately it has the same great staff, they still have our business.

Its about marketing: providing the bike AND the service. It doesn't matter WHERE we tour, the new format allows us convenient access to a dealer for service. Their service department is designed to support their touring customers. While they do their thing, I get to wander the clothing sale racks!

 

We live 20 miles down the highway from them...they throw some killer concerts at The Shed...and, the annual Halloween costume contest can get right interesting too...'specially the "flasher" with the anatomically correct "naked suit" under a trench coat.

As for being good folk...I know of a group that came down from your state to ride the Dragon on their way to Florida. One of 'em had some kinda mechanical failure, and Scott (owner of SMH-D) sent a truck out for his bike. Initially, it was gonna be the next afternoon before the guy's bike was ready, and his group had decided the rest of 'em would go on to Florida, and he would catch up when his bike was ready. They dropped him off at the dealer the next morning before heading out, and there was his bike ready to go...two techs stayed well into the night to get his bike ready so he could continue on with the rest of his group. That's just one of many things I've seen/heard this shop do to help people on the road.