When I was a kid I lived walking distance from the HD dealer on RT 109, West Babylon. I remember staring at the bikes from the window and then being thrilled as hell when I found out I could actually go inside to look at them. I drive past there all the time and wish that small dealer was still there.

 

My comments and thread about how Willie G went into retirement recently and questioning the validity of this retirement was removed by the moderator.

Now maybe I can ask if anyone really believes Willie "retired" or saw the writing on the wall, made evaluations and concluded Harley Davidson Motor Company is in deep trouble? Did you seen the one about Gibson Guitars? The USG sacked their assembly facility's and stole their hard woods! Yes look it up!

I may be way off base here but when stealerships are closing across the continent you need to ask how long you can get dealer parts etc...

If you have an old Indian (my first bike) you may understand the question.

 

Well we all may want to wax poetic about the good old days, myself included, but the facts are what they are. HD is not ever gonna be what it used to be no matter how much we want it that way.
Facts are :
It is a publicly owned and traded company. The CEOs allegience is to the board and shareholders not us.
Maybe Willie just didnt like it this way and chose retirement. It doesnt have to always be a conspiracy theory.
FWIW the business model seems to be working for them. The product is good, the stock price is booming and the financials are terrific.

 

I didn't like Miracle Mile Harley in Great Neck. I went checked it out when I was visiting NY last Thanksgiving. I grew up in Little Neck and worked in Great Neck for many years. It's in a bad place with not much exposure and the people working there had the Great Neck snobby attitude. Nothing I like about the place at and it was deserted of customers.

Ed

 

I don't think we will ever have a shortage of parts, And Harley isnt going to have the same issues Gibson have unless they start making parts out of ebony (seized parts are not stolen btw..).
Harley is still one of the only American bike manufacturers (and still hold a huge chunk of the market over Victory)...

 

Bought my bike from Wolverine HD last year after getting poor service at Detroit HD. Don't know a lot about them but the customer service was lacking for sure.

 

There not the only ones brooklyn hd just shut thire doors the owner tells me he can't get his customer financing

 

"Huge Chunk" is an understatement!
oh, And I agree with 99%er too...

I suppose it also depends on the area you live and where the dealers are located... The demographics in most areas have changed alot since the "ole days".
A dealer about 30 minutes from me closed last year, it was a 2nd generation dealer, been there forever. imo 2 things closed it.

1. The last generation that ran in was not as into riding at all, only watching numbers...

2. The area it was located in, many years ago it was demographically perfect, not it is NOT! (thats honestly the nicest way I can put it).

Luckily I have 2 other dealers within 30 minutes of me, they both are ran by riders, and both are in areas that thrive the HD vibe.
Any they also put money into the showrooms, parts dept and service areas. Obviously the MoCo wants dealerships to look as good as they perform. Can you blame them??

In short (lol), Its all about if the primary owner cares enough.
ie= spend $ to stay with the times, move/stay to where the biz is, and ride/know the product and make sure their employees do as well.

 

+1 Here too, I called Louisville HD Monday to see if the bike I just got had it's 5k service done to it. He was very helpful and even though he couldn't tell me if it had been, he looked up the delivering dealer and his phone # for me to call them to check. Turned out it had'nt been done so I call back to schedule an appt figuring it would be at least a week out. Guy said he had an opening Saturday!. i told him I needed to talk to my CFO(Wife) and see about this week, He said just call me back in an hour or two and he would hold the spot for till then. That was WAY COOOL!
My buddy got his bike from Bluegrass and He was very satisfied with the purchase, They got the PO on the phone for him to talk to.

 

I know you didn't mention it specifically, but you mention the demographic, etc....Back in the day, while many of us worked on our own rides, folks still got parts from the dealer (at least from what I observed...), now there's not only thousands of different aftermarket part manufacturers, they are only as far as a few keystrokes on ones computer...just seems a natural progression that they consolidate market areas...what's the point of 4 dealers in close proximity to one another...
Prior to the closings, here's a list of dealers I could go to within 35-40 minutes from my home:
Brians (langhorne)
Mills (burlington)
Trenton (hamilton)
Barbs (outside of philly I think...never been there)
Atlantic City
Millville
Could probably make it to Mikes in De or Ocean City as well......can't see where that could be sustained for an extended period