Feeling a little melancholy early this a.m. and while drinking coffee, I took a virtual walk through some of my old stomping grounds. I walked down the streets of Tallahassee, FL in the area I used to frequent. Unbelievably, many of the old buildings that I thought were old then are still in use now. WOW. So I virtually ambled down to where the old Harley shop was when I was a young'un and I'll be the building was still there. Now to the point of the post. You can see the old building (only if you are curious, not that you care) by typing "670 Florida 371, Tallahassee, FL" into maps.google.com. It is an old army barracks looking round topped corrugated metal building but it is blue now vs the orange I remember. You have to click into street view and click down the street west for 1/2 a block to actually see it.
That got me to thinking, The Harley dealerships and the MOCO have really come a long way. The dealer I use now was in 1/2 of an old convenience store building the first time I entered it and the other 1/2 was a second hand dress shop. It is still in the same location but 2 stories and very professional. Of course 1/2 of the place is still a clothing store, just motorclothes.

 

Translation: Quonset hut.

I have a similar story, but I don't recall where it is. I remember when I was a kid (5 or 6 years old), being in a Harley dealership somewhere in the Annapolis/Baltimore area with either my stepfather and/or a friend of his, or an uncle and/or friend. Can't remember exactly who I was there with, but it was a small, dumpy place that sold motorcycles, a few motorcycle parts, and had a shop in the back where they were working on some bikes. Whatever relative I was there with, knew the guy who owned the place, and he was working on a bike while we were there. I remember very vividly, that he showed us a new bike they had just got in, that was for sale. It was one of only a couple bikes they had for sale, in this old place that was narrow (only about 12 or 14 feet wide), located on the corner of an intersection. Funny how I specifically remember the Harley colors and the iconic red, white, and blue old Harley #1 logo on the wall. I've asked my Mom about this place, but she has no idea what I'm talking about.

Thanks for sharing your story. I enjoy hearing about the vintage stuff.

 

The one here started in a little shack under a bridge in the next town up the road. It moved to a bigger place three times, the last time taking over an 84 Lumber store. It's about to move again into a former K-Mart that is huge.
I wonder if they'll have blue-light specials.

 

I lived a half a block from the Harley dealer when I was a kid in the 50s and 60s. It was an old wood frame building with a quonset hut nearby and the owner lived up stairs. He and his son did all the work and were the salesmen too. They let me come in a couple times a week and let me polish the bikes in showroom. They also fixed the neighbor kid's bikes.

 

When I first moved to my town ( back in 1971 ) the only motorcycle shop ( worth a damn ) was in a Quonset Hut ... Jack's Cycle World ... What a great guy always willing to lend a hand and stay late if you needed a part ( or he's "hide" it outside somewhere ) and you could stop by and pay when you had a chance!

 

The HD dealer I used to go to back in the mid 80's has been torn down and it is just a parking lot for a large hotel. The dealer is now in one of those fancy buildings a few miles down the road.

 

I've done some of that myself, using Google Earth to look up places where I've lived as a boy, and later all grown up. Never thought to look at Harley dealerships though.

My earliest recollection of home I lived in when I was 5 years old, in Flint, MI. It was 822 Detroit Street (now Martin Luther King Blvd.) When I Google'd it, it looked like the whole block has been torn down. Maybe the program got it wrong. We lived three blocks from the downtown area at the time.

Skip Fordyce Harley Davidson was the first motorcycle shop selling Harley's I remember in Riverside, CA. It was at the corner of 14th & Main then. The building was old then, later torn down and a new Bank of America was built there. Now, they have a huge place on Indiana Street, with a large service area, parts department, etc.

Here in St. George, Zion Harley Davidson was in a small building with one service bay, about a 400 square feet sales floor, and a parts counter. It is a dependent dealership under the Las Vegas Harley Davidson group, and later a new building was built in Washington, UT, where they still are. After about four years, they added on, doubling the space, mostly for parts and service.

Over the course of the 50 years I've been riding, dealers have grown from Mom and Pop stores, to larger ones, with greater professionalism as well. It is a testament to the sophistication of the brand and those who support it. Kudos are in order.

 

I opened this post not knowing what its about, but I discovered the problem with it. There's no political blame being placed on anyone, or party. There's too many posts changing direction here lately, and nasty sniping being done. What starts off innocently as a question ,turns into a debate about who screwed what up. So here's my stumble down memory lane. When I was alot younger here's the Harley dealer we went to. Old Bill and His wife Doris owned the place right up until the early 80's, when Harley pulled their dealership because they refused to turn their shop into a boutique store. http://www.chopcult.com/news/blogs/b...-12-41-09.html

 

I lived in one when I was 3 to 6 years old.

When I was a kid, there was one dealership in Dallas...Conley's. It was located right in downtown. Now, there's probably 6-7 in and around Dallas. Times have changed.

 

Here's the before and after where I got my first bike.



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