What happened to these? Where have all the small dealerships gone? The ones where the mechanics actually know how to work on bikes and can come up with solutions to problems even if it's not in the service manual. Where the mechanics are old enough to drink. and the parts counter guy that knows what will work even if the parts book say it won't. Why does a dealership have to be as big as a Walmart and freeway visible. Do they sell that many bikes? Is a bike an impulse buy. You just drive down the freeway and say, "Hey there's Harley. Let's go buy a bike." I miss these. They are a dying breed. Support them. You can always go to the big "boutique" if you need a pair of Harley Davidson glasses or a dog bowl with the HD logo for Rover.
1 comment:
I was originally a Triumph/Norton mechanic up in Canada. When the breed died, I went on to be a service mechanic at HD.All the mom and pop dealers were forced out of business by the new corporate gods at HD and almost to a man they got rid of the older techs. The owners felt it was not worth the effort to retrain them on the new twin cams.
I was told by a young tech ( all the techs at the dealership I worked for are under 25..) that the owners would approach them for training at the factory, sweet tech courses etc..but not to tell the older guys, as they were being cut out of the loop.
Sad. I bet you could go for miles and visit every major dealer and never see a tech over 55..
Btw..my first ride was 1965 tiger 650 and I have had the opportunity to own/ride/wrench on hundreds of others over the years.I am looking at an engine on display in my basement as we speak ( type?) that came from the 9th Bonneville off the line.
Keep the rubber side down boys,
Kursk
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