I'm kinda drawn between the two, the old shops had that good old days appeal, as mentioned before they stocked parts over clothes. Leather highway jackets, chaps, helmets, and some T-shirts made up the clothing section, now my local dealership's second floor looks like Macy's-Davidson, instead of Harley-Davidson.....

It also seemed like the old dealers knew their **** about bikes more than they do today, you walked in with a part in hand, or a problem, and they knew exactly what you needed, and they had it there. Now days they have to look everything up in their books, and order the part, or try and talk you into making an appointment with their service dept......

Now days the showroom smells of potpourri, I prefer the old smell of motor oil, exhaust fumes and cigarette smoke....(and I'm an ex-smoker)....There seemed to be a higher level of trust when dealing with a blue collar dude with long hair and a full beard, then with some G.Q. looking yuppie sporting the latest H-D fashionable shirt and pressed khaki pants.....

With all that said, on the flip side, I'm far more comfortable bringing my wife into the dealer now, I can shop for parts and accessories on the first floor while she browses the latest riding fashions on the second floor. In the old days there was nothing there to occupie her time, and it wasn't unlikely that someone in the old shop would request she expose her chest, making for a somewhat awkward and uncomfortable moment.....

There is and was good and bad with both, we gotta take what we got and work with it......

 

The old Dudley Perkins shop on Paige Street in San Francisco pretty much wrote the book on Harley dealers for me. It was the best, coolest most awesome dealership I ever went to.

I bought a tank for my '64 XLCH -- cost $75 and another 30 to paint it two-tone like a wooden match tip. San Francisco was always the 81 crew's turf but the Sons of Hawaii were just up the street and some Jokers usually showed up at some point. On most days there was about 25 bikes parked out front, including some great Pan and Shovel choppers. Dressers were for dummies back then. And they always had a handful of used cop bikes for sale cheap. I miss that era...

 

Thanks! very cool pics!

 

I remember going in to the old dealership in Springfield with my uncle. Cake pans under every bike to catch the oil....place smelled like an old garage. Would stand there and stare at the shiny bikes. The thing I remember most is the topless calendar by the door to the service area. You sure as hell couldn't get away with that nowdays

 

Yeah, I don't fit in this century all that well myself .

 

I grew up in West Virginia and in early 1973 ordered an Ironhead Sportster from a very small HD dealership........one mechanic and the owner. The shop had parts, but only 2-3 new bikes on the floor at any given time. However, if they weren't busy, whenever I stopped by the shop the mechanic would update me on any issues he ran into with the model year Sportster I had and how to fix it. Imagine that! Also, if it was near close of business, the owner would pull out some beers and we would sit around, have a beer, and talk about our love of motorcycles.

Now, I enjoy the new dealerships but wish they would carry more parts and less clothing.

 

I miss the aura of old time dealerships as well.

 

Even in the darkest of the AMF years, Harley dealers didn't have unsold bikes from one year to the next. Also, in those days and a good portion of the waiting list days, a dealer wouldn't sell a bike to someone they didn't like the look of or to someone out of the area.

 

Macy's Davidson - that's awesome!

What's wrong with someone asking your wife to expose her chest? Man what's this world coming to these days?

 

macys davidson