[Fatz]

The dealer local to me is going out of business and that was really a suprise--it's been around for 20 years and is one of the more modern, physically nice dealers in the area.

Today I found out there are at least two other dealers in the area that are more or less being forced to shut down by Harley in a sort of GM style culling. I don't know if this is restricted to the Chicago area, but I'm curious if anyone else is seeing this happen. The problem is there are too many dealers way too close to each other. Where I'm sitting I've got 4 dealers within 20 miles of each other. If you broaden that to 40 miles the number is quite a bit higher.

Has anyone heard anything official?

 

[Philthy]

Santa Barbara HD just closed it's doors Thursday but they were a weird dealership. There was this sort of new age vibe, they played music that reminded me of Frank Zappa's hard core guitar jazz. Not the sort of place a traditional HD touring rider would feel comfortable in. I can see why they didn't retain customers, and the ones I did see there seemed pretty young to have the money for most of what HD makes.
I also suspect that the big buildings many of these dealers took on ate them alive when sales collapsed. Not enough income to make the payments, some BMW dealers have succumbed to this too.

 

[dun4791]

What are the other dealers in our area? What town are you in? Im in Peotone, and I have a bike ordered at Conrads in Shorewood.

 

[Phatass]

My nearest HD dealership is 60+ miles away.


Phatass

 

[VrodG]

Carolina HD is closing around the middle of October.

 

[rwswanson]

In the SF Bay Area, Peninsula HD in Redwood City and Golden Gate HD in Marin County recently closed.

 

[Kiwi Muscle]

in NZ we only have 4 in the entire country. Depending on where you live you may have a 5 - 6 hour ride to get to your "local" dealer which is great unless you need something urgently!

 

[T-Rod45]

I have a dealer 20 minutes north of me, and another 10 minutes south... It's convenient but with the prices as redicilous as they are, maybe closing a few stores is what we need to get them back in check...

 

[sveinn]

We have 8 dealers in the metro Atlanta area. I haven't heard of any closing.

 

[jpr0916]

I have recently visited two locations under the same owner ship here in central Ohio and noticed a lot less new and used bikes on the floor for sale. Less salespeople and less customers milling about. Between the two locations, only 1 new V Rod for sale and zero XR1200's.

 

[ncvrodracer]

H/D of High Point and Wolfcreek H/D in Reidsville are both closing this month...

 

[ElrodontheV-Rod]

Motorcycles are just not selling anymore.Unlike some business's that can afford to sit it out by making enough profit to keep the doors opened,A Harley dealer costs a fortune to run.
I wonder how many dealers actually get their 1 million dollar deposit back from the MoCo?
I also wonder if the deposit is returned after so many years of doing biz w the MoCo,similar to the utility companys giving the deposit back after 10 years of good payment history?

 

[dmlkm]

What are the other dealers in our area? What town are you in? Im in Peotone, and I have a bike ordered at Conrads in Shorewood.

:them:

Yeah, what dealers are closing in our area?

 

[Fatz]

I just read a thread on another forum claiming Conrad's and Zyltra's are on the list. Conrad's was also the name I heard from a completely different source which I really find hard to believe just because of the sheer investment in the dealership itself. Conrad's is one of the physically coolest dealerships I've ever seen. Modern, giant. It's on Hwy 55 which is the main highway between St. Louis and Chicago. I think it's actually the old Rte. 66.

There are other dealers around here staying open that I NEVER would have expected.

I didn't want to name names, but since it's out on other forums already, why not.

eta: The same thread claimed the dealer by me (now going out of business) awhile ago offered someone a motorcycle sales position for 9.00 per hour, no commision, no benefits. I mean, WTF.

 

[dmlkm]

I just read a thread on another forum claiming Conrad's and Zyltra's are on the list. Conrad's was also the name I heard from a completely different source which I really find hard to believe just because of the sheer investment in the dealership itself. Conrad's is one of the physically coolest dealerships I've ever seen. Modern, giant. It's on Hwy 55 which is the main highway between St. Louis and Chicago. I think it's actually the old Rte. 66.

There are other dealers around here staying open that I NEVER would have expected.

I didn't want to name names, but since it's out on other forums already, why not.

Wow, I got to both of these dealers. I hope this is not true. Zylstra's has like 3 locations...so maybe that could be one reason...only the most lucrative one staying over...just speculating.

 

[AndyV]

It didn't seem to matter how many of them there were, there was NO price competition although, with the exception of Sacramento Harley, I've generally been pretty satisfied with the service; albeit invariably slow, slow, slow.

 

[dun4791]

I called Conrads to ask about my order and the closing rumor. They told me they weren't closing. Don't know why they would lie to me, my bike is supposed to be here in a couple weeks. I would think they would let me know if they couldn't get the bike. Maybe its a secret and the dealers don't know until a short time before. Kind of what happened to the Chevy and Mopar dealers, but at least they put those lists on the net.

 

[James Houk]

Since when does HD do anything that makes sense?

 

[AndyV]

They must've done something that made sense, at one time or another, they've been around for quite awhile and in a pretty competitive environment for the past 40 years.

 

[Ernie82]

They must've done something that made sense, at one time or another, they've been around for quite awhile and in a pretty competitive environment for the past 40 years.

let's not forget the >750cc tax on imports of the eighties