"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." - A Tale of Two Cities.

 

I remember being in a small dealership in the early 90's, and a white Electra glide came in. The guy who had been waiting on the bike didn't like the color, so another guy in the room bought it immediately.

 

I've been riding motorcycles since I was 11 years old (1973). First motorcycle was a 73 XR75. I'd always owned jap bikes. I wanted to buy my first Harley in 1996 and contacted some dealers around Atlanta. They told me to come in with a $500 refundable deposit and get on the list. Oh yeah, and the prices were $3k to $4k above MSRP. I went out the next day and bought a ZX-11.

Got the Harley bug again in 2002. The dealers didn't have many 02's and the 03 anniversary bikes were just coming out (late July). I went to 3 dealers and all of the dealers where you could a bike for MSRP had waiting lists. I put my name on the list for a Gunmetal Blue Fatboy (no deposit). I think the wait was going to be 30-60 days. I got impatient and bought a 2000 Heritage Softail Classic from a guy in Indiana on eBay. It only had 1600 miles on it and was like brand new. I think I paid $17,500 for it which was about the going rate. Drove to Indiana and picked it up. The bike was like brand new.

After the 2003 model year, bikes became more available and the markups over MSRP went away. The used bike market was still strong though. It was probably around 2009 or later when the used Harley market took a big hit and today, you can pick up a great low mileage HD for under $10k.

I remember going around to all bike dealerships when I was in my teens. Even the Honda dealers had less than 20 bikes on the floor but they all had crates of new ones in the back. I do remember the old Harley dealers and the oil on the floor. I always thought Harleys were junk because you'd always see a guy on the side of the road broken down and they leaked oil.

Earl Smalls Harley-Davidson in Marietta, GA was a small, bare-bones dealership in 2002.

 

Spent a lot of time, and money, at the dealer back in the 70's, 80's but got away as I found a really good garage wrench through a friend after the staff at the dealership advised me and my 20 year old Shovel to consider trading up to the new evolution or maybe find someone else to split the cases on the Rambler. The service dept had gone through a lot, lost a lot of guys I knew well, friends, and the new guys didn't think much of the older bikes. I did leave, and was happy enough to do so. Things had changed a lot, more clothes than parts and even a diner on site, alongside the parts dept. Although I used my indy for jobs I couldn't handle, I still occasionally made a trip in to the dealer for parts. After an oil pressure gauge quit working two days after I bought it, I stopped by the dealer. New shop guy comes out, looks it over and says he'll have a guy replace it in the parking lot, right now. Wow, I'm thinking, things have really changed around here. "why don't you go inside, tell the girl at the diner I said make you a sandwich, they're great" Well, I did. Told her the shop guy said make me a sandwich, she did. It was ok, not great, but hey, I appreciated the offer more than anything else. 15 minutes later bike is ready, I thank him and get a bill for $12 bucks for a sandwich. My last visit.

 

And they were great dealerships

Our dealer also use to race Indians. Wife would sit at the front desk and do the books and one or two mech in the back.

 

In the 60s Peterson's Miami Harley dealership was HUGE.
Rows of bikes, very professional counter people and Phil Peterson was a class guy.
Part of their size was due to having a lease arrangement with the Miami police department.
There were some pretty big motorcycle departments serving the police back then which had a LOT of machines in service not to mention "meter maids" riding servi-cars.
Over on the other coast in Clearwater Florida there was a little hole in the wall dealership run by Bob Fletcher.
Bob was the real deal also.
He, like Phil Peterson was involved in Harley racing and had the battle scars to prove it.
On weekends Bob would roll a nasty Sportster drag bike out of the shed and go blow off some steam at Oldsmar Dragstrip up north from the shop.
As some have said, the parts guys were a different breed back then and they let you know better than to waste their time with stupid stuff.
Bob's repair department was a shed in the back.
He got a lot of respect from EVERYBODY including some of the rough clubs in the area.
I sure miss those guys.

 

Didn't have much money in the 70s & 80s so I rarely went into the dealerships knowing I couldn't afford a new bike anyway. Many of the folks I hung out with was the same. We built are bikes and bought them from deals through the paper and local swap meets digging through parts, etc. We would buy parts from the local indies/chop shops. Those are the places I found myself hanging out at over the dealerships. Just never paid them much attention Intel they came out with the heritage. Friend of mine bought a 87 and let me ride it. Loved that bike and had to have one. Sold the panhead I was riding at the time and bought a 89 heritage softail, black and cream. Still no regrets on that move to this day although I would love to get another pan one day before they get too overpriced like the knuckle has.
Had a few newer bikes since then. Have enjoyed them all. The old and the new stuff.

 

I drove a route truck back in the 80's and one of my stops was the Harley dealer in Greenville, NC. I never saw a bike in the showroom and asked the owner one day if he sold bikes or just jackets and gear. He told me he sells his amount for the year on the first day and required a down payment.

I was told by another sales guy in the western part of the state that it was not unusual back then to trade a new factory Harley straight up for a well "accessorized" used bike. There were no MSRP limits on the price of used bikes and he said he could sell them for more profit that a new one.

Yep, times are a lot different.

 

Both the new 1974 Sportster and the new 1977 Superglide I had were AMF bikes and when I sold them I don't recall any added premium value. I sat out a few years to raise a family, then bought a used bike in 1991 and sold it 15 months later for more than I paid for it. Bought a new black Fatboy when the 1993 models came out in 92. There was kind of a waiting list at that time but I jumped in when the first person on the list couldn't get the bike. I paid $12,075 for the bike which I believe was the MSRP excluding tax and probably set up. Rode it for 40,000 miles until the 2002 Road Kings came out in 2001. Had put exhaust on the Fatboy and some doodads. and sold it for $14000.

 

I remember when ladies could get a free t-shirt if they tried it on in the showroom (into the early-mid '80's). Don't think my step-mother paid for a single shirt back then. Scooter tramps working the counters & beer in the soda coolers. Very different times.