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[Hoist!]

Back in the late 70's there was a flea market - auction that took over the old Two Guys and Great Eastern store (who remembers those two!).

One of the biggest hits at the flea market was a "leather shop".

My local dealer at the time (and in retrospect, one that I could have been an eventual principal) got the idea to move some bikes around (opened up the second floor) and brought in a bunch of t-shirts - leathers and all the other stuff "kids" were wearing at the time.

Got to the point you had to push your way through the kids and leather hunters to get to the bikes.

I remember the time frame well, it was when I bought my "special" 82 Lowrider (had the badge on the front fender) and my brother bought an 83 (I think) Lowrider (his had the twin belts like the Sturgis, my all time favorite) So it had to be around the 1982 model year. My bike and my brother's bike were stuffed all the way in the back of the store.

Interesting side story - both my brother and I bought our bikes around the same time, didn't know each other was looking and we each ended up not buying the color we really wanted because there was a hold on it!
I wanted the red bike with the twin belts, he wanted the black bike with the fender badge. We were going to just ride up and surprise each other.

We both ended up at the dealer on the same day, within an hour of each other and picked up the bikes, what a surprise to each of us.

Memory check here -"Two Guys from ?"

Spy, my 82 Lowrider was the best bike I have ever owned, and I miss it.
50,000 plus miles and all I ever did to it was maintenance and tires (not including an upgrade or two).

Here Duane:

"Two Guys was a discount store primarily operating in the New York metropolitan area and headquartered in northern New Jersey until the early 1980s. It was founded in 1946 in Harrison, New Jersey by brothers Sidney and Herbert Hubschman as Two Guys from Harrison. The company originally sold major applicances such as televisions."

And Great Eastern was Great Eastern Mills first. There was one in Elmont, NY, near where I grew up.

Hoist!

[porthole]

That's great to hear.  I also love the Sturgis. Got a good friend that still rides one.  har!  spyder

Somewhere around here is a private "Sturgis" group. I've only caught up with them once or twice, and almost all of their bikes were passed down.

I'd loved to have one too.

[porthole]

Yep, they grew without competition.

Hoist!

Gotta disagree here Howie. They only survived because some movie star named Ronnie imposed a nearly 50% tariff on imported heavyweight bikes that lasted for 5 years.

[porthole]

Here Duane:

"Two Guys was a discount store primarily operating in the New York metropolitan area and headquartered in northern New Jersey until the early 1980s. It was founded in 1946 in Harrison, New Jersey by brothers Sidney and Herbert Hubschman as Two Guys from Harrison. The company originally sold major appliances such as televisions."

And Great Eastern was Great Eastern Mills first. There was one in Elmont, NY, near where I grew up.

Hoist!

No fair Howie - I expected you to know  I was curious to see who else knew about "2 Guys from Harrison"

[Hoist!]

Gotta disagree here Howie. They only survived because some movie star named Ronnie imposed a nearly 50% tariff on imported heavyweight bikes that lasted for 5 years.

Yes, but they were the only American mfr. left, so the Feds bailed 'em out. Then the Evo saved their asses, and they grew from there. I'm only talking American motorcycle mfrs. here.

Hoist!

[spydglide]

Gotta disagree here Howie. They only survived because some movie star named Ronnie imposed a nearly 50% tariff on imported heavyweight bikes that lasted for 5 years.

I thought he meant 'domestic' competition.  Not Japan.  har!   :drink:spyder

[porthole]

so the Feds bailed 'em out.

Nothing wrong with that, within reason.
I worked for several Chrysler - Dodge dealers through some pretty lean years, and Mopar only survived because some guy from Ford begged for help with a viable plan, got the help and then did what he said he was going to do - pay the loan off early 

[skippy]

Keep an eye on the Indian  they are spending big bucks in Gaston and Cleveland Co. NC ,have recently purchased  two very large production facilities they are owned by the same corp. that owns Chris Craft boats . A friend of mine  has been offered a position with them and he is an x HD man .  They are currently building a dealership network Just saw one last week in Gastonia NC. rumor is the base bike starts at 22.000 ,kind of high in my opinion.... only time will tell.

[porthole]

base bike starts at 22.000 ,kind of high in my opinion.... only time will tell.

I think they were more the last time 

[HUBBARD]

Gotta disagree here Howie. They only survived because some movie star named Ronnie imposed a nearly 50% tariff on imported heavyweight bikes that lasted for 5 years.

Now Hoist, you know he was the BEST President we've had in our lifetimes!  I remember the first new Harley I bought after AMF, was a 1989 Softail Classic.  Dam, I couldn't believe the difference.  As for Indian, I wish them the best.  22 Large ain't bad, as compared to OCC, and some of the others.  To me, it's all about return on investment.  I have always been able to get my "asking price", for every Harley I have owned and sold.  Make no mistake, never $ for $, but when I calculate my pleasure to cost, I always came out on top, 'least in my mind.  Later--HUBBARD     

[porthole]

Now Hoist, you know he was the BEST President we've had in our lifetimes! 

That was my post Hub, and I agree.

My 1982 (1st in a long time not AMF" Lowrider was great. No comparison at all to my AMF 74 XLCH.
Sold the Lowrider for 300 more then I paid for after almost 15 years.
Sold my XLCH for 1/3 what I paid for it, mostly in a crate, cause I got tired of rebuilding it.

[RJ749]

Just caught this, I got a letter asking if I wanted to be a new Indian dealer.

I don't recall exactly, but I think they were looking for a commitment of something like $1m and a new building.  Regardless, it was like they were on some new form of crack or something.

I don't think anything Indian has a snowballs chance...............especially in the current economy and with HD having to throttle back on production with the demand/ability for buyers to buy new rides.

http://www.indianmotorcycle.com/Dealers/DealersHome/tabid/68/Default.aspx

[porthole]

$1m and a new building. 

For that price you can get an HD franchise

[RJ749]

For that price you can get an HD franchise

Maybe close Duane, it wouldn't be much of one.  Small town and small market stores may go for around that, buyt then you would still need to find one.

The bummer is with the facility requirements that these guys have now, I think you are looking at a minimum of $2m for the facility and that owuld be a small lot and not that big a building anymore.

I have a HD dealer friend that says the only way to go is major market if you want a return on your investment.

[porthole]

2M+ sounds right.

Last time I checked the franchise was 900k and change, plus a mil in the bank.

Then you have the building. In NJ you could easily spend 700k to 1m for the type of building the moco wants now - highway store.