What the hell happened to Harley shops

[Skip]

What the hell happened to the Harley shops? Remember when they where FUN to go to and hang out in...you could actually ask for and get a part! they didn't carry clothes and wrapping paper and big titted whores that couldn't find there asses with both hands and a map! you could smoke in them! hell I got drunk in a couple!! Nowadays with these Japanese Harley's taking over it's even harder to even order a part for a real Harley! DAMN Harley Davidson for selling out to the fucking japs...Thanks for letting me vent...Skip

[03Roadking]

Your just finding this out now? they have been like that for years I can't recall the year they started, but they wanted to cater to the RUB's (for which I guess I am one third RUB, I'm not rich nor do I live in the suburbs but I am a biker)
It all went down the drain when the MOCO saw profits over heritage. I hate to say it but all business is that way even the people that own small shops and grace this site with there years of knowledge have a bottom line They have to pay there people and there vendors, The only difference is the MOCO keeps pushing to stay alive and make a crap load of money by manipulating the market.
First don't touch a 10 year old bike or carry parts Why? so you buy a new one, so you can still be part of the Harley family.
Two when you can, suppress the little guy, the guy that makes one offs. You see the problems with the AQMD and EPA coming down the line. OK they make there changes and presentations and they pound there chest WE ARE the MOCO So the EPA looks around and low and behold here's a bunch of shops that don't have the money or the lawyers to fight So they go after them, the MoCo says "Oh thats to bad" but really what there saying is "Good for us"
Three, the vendor to the MoCo "how can we make more money" that's easy beat up our vendors "You make a part for us but we want you to make it 10.00 cheaper" or you can't, well they can in Japan so we will buy from them and raise our price and make more money (true story, Walmart called a lawn mower manufacture, they told him they were going to order10 thousand lawn mowers from him IF he would sell them 25.00 cheaper for each unit, because they were going to sell them for so much and they want 40% profit. He said he would have to use cheaper parts and they would not hold up. Walmarts reply was "do what ever it takes" But when they sent the contact over it said "The manufacture was responsibly for warranty work up to one year". the manufacture decided not to do it. Walmart was making 40% and he was taking all the risk) The MoCo profits keep paying there higher and higher salary's plus there Profit sharing They must ignore the old and concentrate on the new Because that's where the money is. Business is business you either run it or you run it into the ground. Don't get me wrong I'm not on there side I'm just calling them as I see them. But if I were them and I had all the resources they have I would start a division for the older bikes say from just before the AMF times back, Not just buy a few nicely restored bikes and put them in a building and say "Look what we did"

[caschnd1]

Skip,

I think most of us can relate to your frustration. The way I look at it is this... If I walked into my local Ford dealer would I expect them to have any parts for a car or truck they built between 1948 and 1965? I kinda doubt it. I might get lucky and find a parts. But most are only going to be available through the aftermarket. It's the same with the old Harleys.
Now regarding your comments about the women who work at the Harley dealers. I realize you're angry but maybe you shouldn't direct it at them. It's not their fault that Harley has moved on. Also, keep in mind that every one of them is someone's daughter, mother, and/or wife. And they're workin' a job that probably doesn't pay that great. They probably deserve a little more respect.

-Craig

[Skip]

no they don't...when you must go back 2 and 3 times; then get on the phone with their supplier yourself and do the ordering then it is time to get "your" daughter back into the kitchen and bake me a fuckin' cake...I have not had to deal with a harly shop for quite a while, as I had a stock of basic supplies that came with my pan 21 years ago...and by the way thier father onws the shop...go figure...he's a dick too...Skip

[Sidecar]

Last week I was driving by the local "Big Harley Dealer" and I decided to stop and get a jet for an S&S Super E. The guy behind the counter looked for 10 minutes through all of the jets and could not find any jets for S&S carbs. I was a little surprised at this.

[dj]

Without getting too deeply into the social/political ramifications of the current Harley dealerships, I pride myself in saying that the last Harley dealership I was in was "Cookie's" Harley Davidson in Ypsilanti, Michigan in about 1980....
I had my current '60 back then and it was sold new to a Michigan bean farmer thru him (John Cook). Then my brother bought it secondhand from John in about 1968. By the time I got to know John, sure....I knew he wanted to sell me a new bike, but he could still cheerfully order just about anything I needed at the time. But we used to sit and drink coffee and smoke cigarettes and the man could talk the hind leg off a donkey! I was young and he was old, and I would LISTEN. I learned a lot from him concerning my old panhead and Harleys in general. Then John passed away in '86 or '87.
I VOW NEVER to step foot in another Harley Davidson dealership for as long as I live. I might hang out in a parking lot, on a run or some kind of event, but now....they simply have nothing that I am interested in. I will go to independant bike shops, chopper shops, and the like.....but NOT a dealership.
A good friend of mine at work buys a new Harley every couple of years and has copies of "HOG tales" on his job which I read conspicuously and somewhat contemptously.....the guy had the nerve to call me a "wannabe", because I bought my old panhead back, only a couple of years ago, from the guy I sold it to in 1983, and have spoken of the virtues of OLD IRON to him for the past couple of years while he puts 30,000 miles a year on his "plasticated" UGC and has dealership T-shirts from all over the country.........I say "good" friend because nobody calls me a "wannabe" and gets away with it easily. Especially a mechanically-disabled "RUB". Yes, this means YOU Ron! And when I called him a "RUB", he probly had to ask around, or look it up to discover the meaning! I don't think it's adequately defined in the HOG publications.

My response was...." "Wannabe"? I don't even own a Harley T-shirt!"

End of rant.

John "Cookie" Cook.....rest in peace.

[caschnd1]

DJ,

I got Harley T-shirts from all over the place. My favorite one is from "Cookie's" in Ypsilanti. It's my favorite because it's also my oldest one. Haven't worn it in years and wouldn't want to wash it for fear of it breaking down into dust. I worked with John's Sister-in-law (or it might have been his sister... too many years ago to remember). She took me and another kid (I say kid because we were both underage back then) into Cookie's one day to get a look around the back of the shop and the basement (what a gold mine that would be today). John gave us the t-shirts. Only met him the one time but he sure left a good impression on me.

-Craig

[dj]

Craig,

Yup....you been there....you said "basement". As you recall, it wasn't a super big place but it has a ride-in basement. The building is still there and the upstairs is now a pizza shop and the basement is rented by a guy who rents motorcycle storage space for $30.00 a month, and who does limited mechanical work, as well as his own projects. When John died, all or most of the original tools and machinery...and parts...are gone....sold or bequeathed to his son-in-law, who is still around also.
I'd give a hundred dollar bill for a Cookie's T-shirt in decent wearable condition. You've inspired me to start looking.

[daveyb]

I understand what Skip is talking about. The Harley shop used to be a place to hang out, almost like a clubhouse. You had to know SOMETHING about motorcycles just to walk in there! Those shops started disappearing years ago. HD forced the dealers to upgrade their shops and make them less intimidating and more friendly to their new customer base. I know a lot of places went out of business trying to meet the company's demands. Nowadays, some of the "chopper" shops are beginning to resemble the HD boutiques. I miss those funky old bike shops.

[sleeper]

HD generates more revenues $$$ these days from
T-shirts, leathers & gee-gaws, than actual bike sales. (True fact)

caschnd1-

I, too have collected HD T-Shirts from all over. Must have approx 100 T-shirts. My fav. is from "Ernest Cerini" established in 1926, Donora, Penna. I used to hang out around there as a young buck!! ;D He IS one dealer that never sold-out to HD boutique BS, & they cut him off from new bike sales. So-He was forced to open a boutique far away from his shop, & let his kids run it, let them sell the new plastic HDs :
But last 10 yrs or so, I quit wearin HD T-shirts, I prefer to advertise w/"My own T-shirts"
Don't look too close @ new Hd's they have more & more Japanese parts on them Brand New.
Sad that old HD is long gone.. We've been on our own for a Long time.

[dj]

''"My response was...." "Wannabe"? I don't even own a Harley T-shirt!"''


That was a lie, I have a couple vintage ones, but he knew what I meant.
I'm all for people who buy new Harleys....I'm thinking of buying stock in the MOCO. It's a very good investment especially with the current gasoline crisis...to say nothing of the T-shirt sales. There are more of them than bikes. Owning stock in the company would make you one of those the company is trying to please. heh heh.
I just don't want a new one that's all. Bike or Shirt!

[leakypete]

What REALLY is sad about the whole thing is that some that rail against the moco and the RUB mentality are hopping on the occ and the monster garage and the wcc band wagon. Talk about selling out for the buck. If you can take the zombies, check out the latest west coast chopper line at wal-mart. guess it boils down to the old saying 'You can't judge a book by its' cover', the t-shirt does not make the man although the t-shirt does make the woman the wetter the better!! LeakyPete.

[Cotten]

Of course the MoCo sells out for profits. That's what corporations do.
Of course the buffoons on the discovery channel are being marketed. That's what entertainers do.
The sad thing is that we shall never again see the likes of the Three Stooges, nor the quality of the machines on their 'shows'!

....Cotten

[Jack_Hester]

I have an opinion. I'm grateful that the MoCo still exists. I'm also grateful that they have a following like they do. A new generation of riders, for whatever reason. Look at it this way. Within the ranks of this huge following are a few true riders. People who will log miles on their bike and not a trailer. But, for the most part, they are profilers with a new leather wardrobe, a tanning bed tan, clean fingernails, and nowhere to go. If I've stepped on toes, don't take it personally. But, I think those people won't be on this forum, or any other, for that matter.
My point. They are creating a lifestyle that leaves me behind. And, I'm glad. Because, they probably don't have an interest in the old machines that I prefer. Or, care to know what it takes to maintain and ride one. To each his own. The one real benefit I see is that because they exist in such numbers, maybe motorcycling will stay alive for another couple of generations. If the MoCo were gone, and all the profilers didn't exist, the machines I love may be legislated out of existence, for not meeting some emissions standard. Or, some safety requirements. They help take the heat off all motorcyclists.
Therefore, I patronize the occasional H-D by buying a ballcap (rarely the ones with the dealer listed), a belt buckle, or just wander back to the parts department with my parts list that I keep in my pocket. Knowing full well that they won't have my parts. But, I strike up a conversation most of the time that steers me in the direction of builders who do cater to my needs. Plus, parts departments are the watering hole for all kinds of information.

Just my opinion.

Jack

[Skip]

Well Billy come off of some of those t-shirts we'll advertise for you...I perfer to wear to the abnorm that are hard to come by...and mr. hester I agree let them have their "non-harley" harleys...but leave my pans alone!...GOD rides a panhead...Skip