I'm fairly lucky that the closest dealer to me (30 minutes) has good staff and treats me right, so I'm pretty loyal to them.

 

Have two dealers in area but bought all 3 bikes from the same dealer and they do the work on them plus I order parts from them. Treat me good in return I treat them good.

 

I don't have much choice (local dealer is 7 mins away, next is 3 hrs), but I do love my local. They don't do my maintenance, got a friend who is an indy for that. They are always excited to see my dealer shirts from elsewhere too. Like many have said before, it's your money, spend it where you want. Whomever earns your business by offering what you want, bike selection, customer service, and repair skills, that's the one you let know by giving them your money.

 

I bought my bike from the local dealer, expecting to be treated as "family" over the course of my ownership. The gave me one of their dealership-branded HD t-shirts, poker chips, keychains, etc., plus promised me future good-customer discounts, free inspections, etc.

About a month later I went back and the place had sold. Totally new crew inside and no one could care less that I had just bought a bike there just a few weeks before.

Needless to say, I'm not so big on being loyal to a dealer now. Bottom line for them is & always will be $$$.

 

Your local dealer should be happy to provide warranty or service work - they make a living off of that.
If the Syracuse dealer is Performance H-D, it's a good place to go. The owners live locally and are 100% involved in running the store. I have purchased/traded bikes and had service work done there for 25+ years.

 

My local dealer was 4 miles north of my home out in the country .
He built the shop/business in 1962 I was 15 years old and spent a lot of time with him .
Bought my first bike from him in 1963/64 a 1957 Sportster .

I have traded 6 or 7 bikes with him over the years mostly used bikes . In that time he has always gave me what I paid for the trade in on the new bike .

 

I kinda do have loyalty - bought two Harleys in the last 3 years, both at the same dealership. They are really nice folks and have treated me great. But if I got a killer deal elsewhere, I'd take it.

BTW - My dealer is Precision HD in Pawtucket RI

 

I have one dealer 23 miles away. Bought my first Softail there, and there attitude was like they were doing me a favor. Was my first Harley experience, but it had a learning curve. My other dealer is 47 miles away and they treat me like I.am family. Went from my Softail to a used Ultra Classic, started using dealer 2 for my services and upgrades. Also there sales guy pays attention. He called me in November last year when they did a dealer trade for a Anniversary FLHTK, new I wanted to see the colors first thing. A fair offer for my (got a great deal) my used FLHTCU, & Annie was mine. There service department is top notch. They know I travel to use them and always accommodate my schedule. Needless to say 90% of my Harley dollar gets spent at further dealer.

 

Nope, not really. I buy from any dealership that has a good friendly staff. I buy on-line, too.

 

Never had blind loyalty to a car dealer never gonna have it for a bike dealer either. If I need a part same day I'll go to whoever has it for the best price, other than that I buy online. The day a dealer starts sending someone to my house to pick up dog **** or mow my lawn then I'll have some loyalty. At the end of the day it is a retail sales establishment that's sole concern is getting as much money from you as they can, they could care less about any of their customers on a personal level.