I went to Detroit Harley this weekend, they are going out of buisness. I heard that Harley wanted him to get a bigger place so they could have more bikes on the floor (the place is pretty small) so he said F-it and retired and shut the place down. Saturday they had a everything 40% off sale, bought some shirts, too bad it didn't include bikes. I will miss it because they seemed to always have parts in stock for my 1984 HD and their parts people knew what there were doing.

 

A sign of the times! It's not the first time I've heard that story! Seems like ever since HD wanted to make there Dealers Bigger and prettier they end up forcing owners to sell or close up shop! Not everyone can afford their demands! I really don't care for HD corporates attitude and I'm probably on my last HD because of it! I'll be going to the Scooter store next!

 

I was actually at the Farthest North Outpost in Fairbanks as far back as the early 90s & signed a petition to keep them open. Dunno whatever happened to them?

 

with the current economy of the Detroit area, I would think its kinda hard to buy a new bike while on a welfare income.

 

I could name at least 5 locations in NJ that have closed their doors in the last couple of years: Trenton, Mills, Wildwood, Edison, Highroads, Legends. OK, 6! I know there are more, and thats just here in NJ! It's happening all across the country. It's as if the Motor Company only wants the superstores and to hell with the rest. This business strategy has an impact on those of us who belong to the local HOG chapters that are sponsored by the dealerships that have closed their doors. I belonged to a HOG chapter sponsored by Trenton H-D. When that closed, most all of the members went their own way and either joined another HOG chapter or a local AMA club. I decided to stay with HOG and joined the club a few miles further north in Highland Park (Highroads). After a year, they closed too. Is it me??? The Highroads club is very active and typically has weekly rides or other planned events. They support a number of local charities and participate in various local activities. There is always something going on, so I really like it. After the shop closed, they contacted the MoCo to see what options there were. The regional MoCo rep said join another chapter or just drop out. They don't seem to really care about the HOG chapters that are displaced. The local HOG chapter is exploring options and most likely will re-incorporate into an independent club and just continue with their business as usual (without the HOG logo). I'm really glad because, like I said, they are very active all year round and they are a great bunch of people who just want to ride and have fun. One of the things I'll miss is the discount the dealership gave to it's HOG members on parts and motorclothes (not labor/service). I feel bad for the local business owners who were forced out by HD corporate strategy coupled with the econony.

 

What the F*c* does that mean?

 

They are still there! I think they had to do a face lift but nothing compared to some of the dealers in the lower 48! I still have a T-shirt from Fairbanks HD from the 80's or 90's,paid $10 or $12 bucks for it and it's double thickness!
The Anchorage HD dealer was in an old house! They did a major overhaul!
The riding season up there is short and there are less than a million people in the whole state so the dealers probably got cut a little slack!

 

I see people like that driving fairly new Caddies all the time.

 

I heard this a couple weeks ago. Often owners in adjacent areas will collaborate with other owners to raise their own funds to pay off the debt and/or buyout/encourage weaker dealers to close. I know someone who's client is a local owner who had mentioned this a few weeks ago, I bet this is the one they were talking about. I'm not sure it's completely accurate to blame the moco

 

They were still there in 2010. They were a checkpoint for the Hoka Hey.