I was at my local Harley dealer today in Wildwood NJ, and HD has closed them down, also there sister shop 50 miles away. They told me that HD is closing dealers all across the US, they were in shock, they just got the word yesterday afternoon. Man, they are only 10 minutes from my house, and now I have to go 65 miles to a dealer. I feel sorry for all the folks that work there, they are a great bunch. The dealer was very, very busy 8 months a year, it would take 4 or 5 days to get in for any service. I know this is the North East and dealers are slow in the winter, but hey, that's all dealers in the North East. It's a sad day and I will miss all the great folks there and the party's/rally's the dealer had. They even had free hotdogs, hamburgers & soda, plus 40% off today to honor their customers. You could walk into this dealer and everyone would know you by name. Sad, very sad.

 

Sorry to hear about your dealer. Good ones are hard to find. Was it a dealer decision or did H-D force them out.

 

HD shut them down, dealer was in shock.

 

Being busy in the service department is good, but I am sure Harley is looking at the number of new bikes sold, that is where the Moco makes their money

 

they could still keep shop open and do repairs could they not just change the name **** hd ******** who are they to say whether a dealer can stay open or not what a bunch of bs

 

Its coming boys sorry to hear but people i have talked with said it was going to happen and as i watch and listen to more and more post on here about dealers closing its coming.

What i mean is i heard that HD told dealers at the big meeting at the beginning of the year that many dealers had already fallen and that the moco expects 80 to 100 more dealers to close in the next year and half.

Me personnelly i think the moco is trying to get back to the old days. With less bikes to control the market, less dealers and ones that they statigically got to build mega stores in certian parts of the state. Before its over with you will see most states that have a ton of dealers down to 4 or 5 if that. All spread out of the state to basically have there key area.

For example take ohio pretty much a square. Before its over with i see dealer in northeast say cleveland area, dealer in columbus central ohio, dealer in toledo north west, dealer in cincy southwest and maybe one in the marrietta area south east. 5 dealers. how many we have now or had cpl years ago.

many in other states are already driving 50 miles to get to a dealer.

i have at least 7 maybe 8 dealerships with in a 65 mile range maybe more i could be forgetting some.

 

The GM @ my dealership told me 240 dealers are going out this year nationwide

 

Its been happening all over. Out hear where I reside we had a total of seven dealers in a 40 mile raduis. We now have only two. A sign of the times.

 

Happened over a year and a half here in Santa Cruz, but we have an excellent indy in town. The nearest dealers are now about 25 miles away.....not too bad if you absolutely need parts from HD in a hurry. (That is.....if they have the parts in stock!)

 

maybe the dealers that are being shut down owe the moco money? if the dealers are making money for the moco why would they shut them down? it doesn't make any sense to put their dealers out of business if they are a money making partner. don't know, i'm just sayin'.