Wooden floors, one or more dogs running around the shop, owner usually there wrenching, wood burning stove in the middle of the store, and a aluminum pie pan under a couple of the new bikes to catch the oil! Best I can remember from the 60's.
Red River Harley back in the late 80's and early 90's when I started riding Harley's was more a motorcycle shop than the clothes and lifestyle items you find in the HD Boutiques today...Jim also sold leather jackets, chaps, gear you might need. Was only a handful of t-shirts to buy....Kept maybe 6 or 8 new bikes in stock. The counter was greasy and dirty, parts lined the shelves everywhere, and it had that smell....that wonderful greasy, mechanical smoky V-Twin smell....my other place was Tornado Alley, Indie shop owned buy the President of the Outlaw Club here..he still owns it but out of business....between those 2, I could find everything I needed....
History of the Dealership that I go to.In 1958, William Mischler established Mischler's Harley-Davidson®, Beaver Dam, WI at his residence in rural Waupun, WI. Here he repaired motorcycles and his desire to sell new Harley® became a reality when he visited the factory in Milwaukee. Owning the franchise required him to move to Beaver Dam, where he purchased the first store on Center Street.Outgrowing that location in 1961, he purchased a building on Parallel Street and the next 11 years were spent selling Harley-Davidson® motorcycles. In 1972, there was a third move to Highway 33 north of Beaver Dam, where the business stayed for the next 30 years.Bill's son, Art, became a full-time employee with the business in 1973. Art perfected his skills as a top-notch technician. Finding his nitch, he kept up with his technical training for Harley® models.Through the years, there were many changes with different inventory but Harley® was always the stronghold. In 1994, Art Mischler and Deb Mischler bought the business from Bill and quickly grew out of the 30-year old store. They decided to build a new facility along Highway 151 north of the City of Beaver Dam.The new store opened in March of 2002. Twenty-two thousand square feet on the ground floor and 8,250 on the second level, now houses Mischler's Harley-Davidson®. A love for motorcycle riding, racing, or tinkering in the 1950s, has stayed with Mischler's Harley-Davidson® through four locations and three generations. With Eric and Dan Mischler continuing the family tradition as we enter our 60th year of loving the great sport of motorcycling. Art is still there everyday. Along with his sons. A dealership that has people that have worked there for over 40 years. And they will be happy to work on your 1939 Harley.
. They didn't look like department stores or clothing boutiques. They were great places. They smelled like working mechanic shops with a hint of oil, gas and exhaust in the air. You could hear motors running and work being done. You could actually just walk in to the shop area and speak to the guy working on your bike. What they were doing wasn't hidden away.
You could smoke in the parts and service departments and there were used pistons for ash trays on the counters and there weren't a lot of kids and little ankle biter dogs running around making noise and messing up the place. The parts guys knew what they were talking about. They knew the parts, what the parts did and what fit what. At closing time on Fridays if you were one of the regulars they'd close the door and everybody would sit around and drink beers and a few shots to relax before heading off home. The employees were motorcycle people that actually rode and knew about motorcycles. Dealerships and indie shops were a lifestyle for them not a fill in job until they found something better at the local coffee shop or book store. They didn't waste their time trying to BS you and did't let you waste their time trying to BS them. The places were working motorcycle shops not family oriented destinations. There was work to be done.
WOW!!! What a PLACE!! They let you smoke AND encouraged drinking and then riding!!!!!!
I can remember going into Moroneys H.D. in Newburgh when they were in their original shop downtown.Jim and his wife Carmela. a couple of guys in the shop and maybe a dozen bikes on the floor. If, go further back there was Turks Motorcycle shop on main Street in Poughkeepsie, Turk and his wife, wooden floors with sawdust,one glass case counter,six bikes on the floor, that's all the place would hold. He sold you the bike and he was the mechanic who fixed it. His wife answered the phone and helped at the counter. Showing my age now that was long ago simpler times and I might say happier times of my younger days. Great memories.
The only part of this quote that makes sense. A picture of Canadian motorcycle legend's dealership with the city police department bikes lined up. RIP Trev Deeley
I was a teenager in the late 80’s and worked at a auto shop. The mechanic I worked with wanted to buy a Harley and he had to go on a waiting list for at least a year to get one. He didn’t get to pick the color or anything. When a bike came in, the Harley dealership called and said do you want it? Can you imagine today’s instant gratification people going on a waiting list? Lol
12-21-2018, 04:51 PM
