BamaRider
Guy
A good friend of mine recently traded his 2014 BMW RT on a new 2018 HD Ultra Classic? Not sure it could be a Road King. Good friends, but we don't ride together often, as I'm a solo guy. I was surprised, but not shocked at the move. He rode HDs while in service with the local police dept.. but his personal bikes were never HDs, his last 2 bikes were the GS and the RT.
He came by here to show me his new ride. It has most everything a touring bike should have. He said he bought the bike because it was a better 2 up ride than his RT, but you'll never convince me of that, just a smoke screen to get his wife to sign off on the trade. He never rode the RT as a sport touring bike anyway. He has several close friends he rides with, they all ride HDs and make a annual trip one or two states over. He advised me they never rode more than a 300 miles a day. Like I said, he never rode the RT as a sport touring bike.
He asked if I wanted to ride to over to the local HD shop, and then go out in the country for a couple of hours. I said, "sounds good."
I've not been in a HD dealer in a decade, not because I think HDs are bad, but I'm a sport touring guy, and I ride alone, and I ride far most times. All that is counter to HD culture, and thats ok. To each his own.
At the dealer I could not help but be impressed. A visit to a HD shop is a happening, and on this saturday morning, the place was abuzz with activity. In the parking they had tent and crawfish boil going down, a DJ played music, and the faithful were wheeling in left and right.
Inside the showroom was huge, with a over a hundred brand new bikes on display. Every bike the company made was on the showroom floor, with helpful salesman answering any questions. I thought to what a great job HD has done marketing their products. NOTHING I could see in this 2 story building did not have the HD symbol on it. They sold no outside vendor stuff. HD truly caters to their clientele, they could not do enough for the people just walking around looking. "Sir, your BMW is a beautiful bike, stay and eat some crawfish."
The bikes themselves were some of the most beautiful I'd ever seen. Rich paint jobs so deep and glossy I needed sunglasses to walk around. Lots of chrome. If HD was in sales slump, didn't show it on this day. I counted 3 bikes with sold signs on them. The one thing that most impressed me? Not a single lawn mower, ATV, or watercraft anywhere. A Honda dealer is now called a "Powersport dealer." No sir, all motorcycles in here. I felt out of place while Gene bought a new shirt, in fact they threw in a extra for free to celebrate his new purchase a few days before.
Yes, all this stuff was overpriced, but that's true of any brand. Now I more understood the feeling. My friend wanted to be part of the HD culture, he was always inclined to be around other riders, and when he rode his BMW with his friends he felt out of place. This showroom looked like something out of star wars. Upstairs lounge, flat screen with a baseball game on, and riders were welcome to just come hang out. Someone recognized my RT and came inside to find me. I was easy to spot in my red Klim riding pants. He said he visited my website often. He advised me if a out of town rider came in to the shop, he was seen to immediately fix his problem, if they had to pull a guy off a bike on the rack already. As is should be.
The ceiling in the main floor was 30 ft high and HD banners hung everywhere.
No, they are not for me, but they are for many. I respect that, and I can see how they got there. True, they are in a marketing slump, and they are trying to shake things up because they see they must replace us baby boomers with millennials, and they are aggressively pursuing that angle. Like this, when HD is good, we are all good.
He came by here to show me his new ride. It has most everything a touring bike should have. He said he bought the bike because it was a better 2 up ride than his RT, but you'll never convince me of that, just a smoke screen to get his wife to sign off on the trade. He never rode the RT as a sport touring bike anyway. He has several close friends he rides with, they all ride HDs and make a annual trip one or two states over. He advised me they never rode more than a 300 miles a day. Like I said, he never rode the RT as a sport touring bike.
He asked if I wanted to ride to over to the local HD shop, and then go out in the country for a couple of hours. I said, "sounds good."
I've not been in a HD dealer in a decade, not because I think HDs are bad, but I'm a sport touring guy, and I ride alone, and I ride far most times. All that is counter to HD culture, and thats ok. To each his own.
At the dealer I could not help but be impressed. A visit to a HD shop is a happening, and on this saturday morning, the place was abuzz with activity. In the parking they had tent and crawfish boil going down, a DJ played music, and the faithful were wheeling in left and right.
Inside the showroom was huge, with a over a hundred brand new bikes on display. Every bike the company made was on the showroom floor, with helpful salesman answering any questions. I thought to what a great job HD has done marketing their products. NOTHING I could see in this 2 story building did not have the HD symbol on it. They sold no outside vendor stuff. HD truly caters to their clientele, they could not do enough for the people just walking around looking. "Sir, your BMW is a beautiful bike, stay and eat some crawfish."
The bikes themselves were some of the most beautiful I'd ever seen. Rich paint jobs so deep and glossy I needed sunglasses to walk around. Lots of chrome. If HD was in sales slump, didn't show it on this day. I counted 3 bikes with sold signs on them. The one thing that most impressed me? Not a single lawn mower, ATV, or watercraft anywhere. A Honda dealer is now called a "Powersport dealer." No sir, all motorcycles in here. I felt out of place while Gene bought a new shirt, in fact they threw in a extra for free to celebrate his new purchase a few days before.
Yes, all this stuff was overpriced, but that's true of any brand. Now I more understood the feeling. My friend wanted to be part of the HD culture, he was always inclined to be around other riders, and when he rode his BMW with his friends he felt out of place. This showroom looked like something out of star wars. Upstairs lounge, flat screen with a baseball game on, and riders were welcome to just come hang out. Someone recognized my RT and came inside to find me. I was easy to spot in my red Klim riding pants. He said he visited my website often. He advised me if a out of town rider came in to the shop, he was seen to immediately fix his problem, if they had to pull a guy off a bike on the rack already. As is should be.
The ceiling in the main floor was 30 ft high and HD banners hung everywhere.
No, they are not for me, but they are for many. I respect that, and I can see how they got there. True, they are in a marketing slump, and they are trying to shake things up because they see they must replace us baby boomers with millennials, and they are aggressively pursuing that angle. Like this, when HD is good, we are all good.
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