Harley-Davidson Dealerships.

[-Holiday]

Mexico is part of America.

And no, I'm not making a joke...

uhhh...america is part of mexico.
the joke is on the american taxpayer.

uhm, what???

America, otherwise known as North America. Canadians, people from the US, and Mexicans all live in America.

Or did I miss something?

so did miss something. the joke

You didn't miss anything. It was a wry political comment. Mexico and all the border and immigration issues. It is a defeatest joke. Mexico has the rights and we pay the taxes. Like that I think.

[jstark47]

Some folks seem bent on diverting the discussion by capitalizing on the dual definitions of the term "America" as both a geographical expression for one or more continents of the western hemisphere, and an abbreviation for the political entity "United States of America." I've edited my post above for greater clarity. Oddly, the point remains the same!

The global economy and multi-national corporations have blurred the old distinctions which were the foundation of nationalistic pride in origin of manufacture. Such pride, when attached to the products of large commercial endeavors, is near obsolete, although it might still be appropriately attached to the output of medium and small businesses.

Now go on and f**k with that statement!

[earwig]

All of the dealerships here in NJ have been super nice to me. I bought my bike from Harley of Edison NJ and I was approached by 2 salesmen within the first 2 minutes of being there.

[Bachstrad37]

But you look like a Harley guy!

[jstark47]

I don't think it's just Harley dealerships. I was ignored by the local Honda/Yamaha dealership. They were too "busy" messing around with the display bikes outside to wait on a paying customer - five brush-offs in a half-hour.

So I bought my bike from their competitor across town. No problem getting waited on there.

If I owned a franchise, I'd make darn sure my employees bent over backwards to respect and accommodate anyone who cared to walk in. But this Honda/Yamaha place has been in business more than 30 years, so if only waiting on selected people works for them...... whatever. If I ever "have to have" a Honda or Yammie, there's other dealerships not too too far away.

[Venarius]

They don't look down on the bike or its technology actually. They look down on you for diverting work from good American Workers/union members to a bunch of foreigners. Your crime is no different than buying mideasern oil... there is nothing wrong with the oil itself...it would be great oil if it was owned my America and drilled by Americans, but by buying it now you are supporting terrorists and such.

But their too friggen dumb to realize their slapping the founding fathers in their face when they only "buy american". This country is based on the concept of capitalism...C-A-P-I-T-A-L-I-S-M!

That means you give your money to whomever makes the best product, and the others will be forced to either come up with a better product, or die out (or temporarily as in Harley's case, just market like hell). When you buy a Harley solely because it's "American" (It isn't anymore or less than most bikes out there anyway but we won't get into that), you are slapping capitalism in its face and letting a producer get away with product stagnation (something that has been plagueing harley for years).

If you want harley to get off its "O Ring", give your money to someone else...and instead of suing everyone else, or lobbying to govt to place another unfair tarrif on imported bikes...Harley would be forced to actually go back to the drawing board and come up with a viable design that can compete with the cheaper better technology Import bikes.

Or maybe they would just outsource it to Europe again...we'd have to wait and see. Wonder how many of you would "Buy American" if you knew it came from Europe

Buy American. Its a stupid concept in a world of globalization. Its even stupider because its exactly the opposite of what America was founded on. But whatever makes you "feel" more american I guess.

[Bachstrad37]

Right on Ven.

But damn, is reputation a powerful force. Along with good marketing hype, it's a cash cow at the expense of the ignorance. If I am the CEO of Harley Davidson, I'd play the exact same current strategy that Harley is practicing. That is - play the hype. Revenue has no prejudice. Money is money. It's the same as dimplomacy.

Diplomacy = Telling someone to go to Hell and they'll look forward to the trip.

This applies to hype as well. Whatever hype you can generate (regardless of product quality or lack thereof), the more revenue are at your disposal.

I've spoken to plenty of old school Harley guys. They know their stuff. The problem is, the old school Harley guys are now a rare breed. They've moved on to building their own choppers. The majority of the Harley crowd now are all about the hype. They don't hack down their Harleys themself like they use to. They pay someone to customize it. And they pay em well.

[Kim]

That's unfortunate and not my experience at the Harley dealerships I've been to.

In fact, I was in Ft. Walton Beach FL with a girlfriend last October and I wanted to stop at the Harley Dealer for t-shirt. The people there couldn't have been more friendly. The sales girl told us about a rally that was going on and invited us to come even tho we weren't even on bikes!

Anyway... don't blame it on Harley. Blame it on bad management and training at those stores.

[MotoF150]

You guys have it all wrong, Any motorcycle dealer isn't going to waste his time with someone that already owns a bike, first they know ur not going to buy a new bike if you already own a bike, second they know your going to expect a high trade in value for ur old bike and they don't want ur old bike. They don't wait on you cause they don't wanta deal with you, when you get pissed off and leave that makes them happy. Just like you guys that pull into any Harley Dealership with a metric bike your already marked as bad goods. Harley Dealers don't want you there, they are being as nice and friendly as they can be by telling you to get the 'firetruck" outta his lot. Don't go to a dealership thinking ur someone special just because you own a bike, ur not, the dealers just wanta wait on newbees, people that never owned a bike before. Don't feel bad, once I thought the same way too, the dealers had to keep ripping me off over and over again until I got the message and figured that out.

[Apitoxin]

You guys have it all wrong, Any motorcycle dealer isn't going to waste his time with someone that already owns a bike, first they know ur not going to buy a new bike if you already own a bike, second they know your going to expect a high trade in value for ur old bike and they don't want ur old bike. They don't wait on you cause they don't wanta deal with you, when you get pissed off and leave that makes them happy. Just like you guys that pull into any Harley Dealership with a metric bike your already marked as bad goods. Harley Dealers don't want you there, they are being as nice and friendly as they can be by telling you to get the 'firetruck" outta his lot. Don't go to a dealership thinking ur someone special just because you own a bike, ur not, the dealers just wanta wait on newbees, people that never owned a bike before. Don't feel bad, once I thought the same way too, the dealers had to keep ripping me off over and over again until I got the message and figured that out.

I showed up in a car...

And yeah, they aren't dealerships. They're clothing stores with motorcycle s as accessories for said clothing.

Allllllssssssssssooo, i don't think i'll be purchasing a HD or a Buell on any event due to that's the closest dealer and it's 60 miles away. A friend of the family is a GM at a dealership so if i need anything Suzuki, Honda, or Yamaha, i can get it there with a good deal. Hopefully.