I spoke with a friend of mine, who is the sales manager at one of the 3 local HD dealers in the area, which are all owned by the same guy. They have decided not to participate in the "ride for free" sportster promotion. According to him, HD is reembursing the dealer $1500 if the sportster that is traded in is a 1200cc. If it's not, the dealer has to eat the whole enchilada.
I would think as slow as things have been at all of these dealers, they would entertain any notion of bringing in some fresh business, especially when the surrounding dealers are all participating. In essence, if you trade in a 1200 sporty, assuming it lost $2500 in the first year, you'd be getting $1000 off of sticker on the new bike. $1000 from the dealer and $1500 from HD. The dealers in my area are sticker only, and the fear of the owner is it would create customers that would expect discounts in the future. I suppose this topic is highly debatable lol.
Opee