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[spydglide]

Oh, I think they want them to leave!

and if they want them to leave, they have their ways to make it happen.  spyder

[Grizzly]

... and to quote The Doors great song,

This is The End, my only friend - The End.

[cvobiker]

Just got an e-mail about Tibby's Harley-Davidson in Springfield, Mass closing at the end of June.

http://www.tibbysharley.com/

WOW  --- 55 years in business and gone..... 

[ice6900]

Less pleasant news from England: Manchester Harley-Davidson closed its doors last week and while there will undoubtedly be speculation regarding the future of St Ledger and Leeds, this could be a strategic closure to protect the group. Newcastle is unaffected as it was sold last year. Update today, St Ledger and Leeds - recently held up by Harley as second best only to Warr's - have closed their doors too, and all staff laid off: Harley have cleared their stuff out. 

No news on whether there are any buyers for any of the shops, but it looks like Summer Retail - the parent group - has gone. Good luck to all those affected.

[Buy early]

Less pleasant news from England: Manchester Harley-Davidson closed its doors last week and while there will undoubtedly be speculation regarding the future of St Ledger and Leeds, this could be a strategic closure to protect the group. Newcastle is unaffected as it was sold last year. Update today, St Ledger and Leeds - recently held up by Harley as second best only to Warr's - have closed their doors too, and all staff laid off: Harley have cleared their stuff out. 

No news on whether there are any buyers for any of the shops, but it looks like Summer Retail - the parent group - has gone. Good luck to all those affected.

That makes my Manchester HD t-shirt a collectors item!

[acevtwin]

looks like All of us are going to end up with "Collectors Item" T-shirts!

[harleydave]

Three Harley dealerships in north of UK close.

More than a dozen jobs have been lost after a high profile motorcycle dealership hit financial problems.

St Leger Harley-Davidson has closed with 15 staff at the showroom being made redundant after its owners went into administration.

The showroom which sold the iconic American bikes, was part of Summer Retail Limited which also has franchise dealerships in Harley Leeds and Harley Stockport, with 44 jobs going across the company as a whole, they were not looking for a buyer for the businesses.

This is very sad news indeed.

 

[Eqcons]

Three Harley dealerships in north of UK close.
 

I have no sympathy for them, Dave. (I do have lots for the guys losing their jobs though!) They - along with all the other dealerships in the UK - sat back and let Harley up the prices TWICE in the middle of a recession.  I bought three CVO Ultras in 3 years, and the price was silly, but bearable.  Last one was £23k. Then they upped the price twice within a few months, and they are now £30k.  There is NO bike in the world worth that, and that's got nothing to do with whether I can afford it or not.  I - and any sane person - will simply not be blatantly ripped off.  These bikes cost more than, for example, a BMW 320d M Sport, and that is simply stupid. Parts likewise - £151.31 (US$248) for each mirror from a CUSE2. What?!?!?  FFS!!  We have paint problems, engine problems, chrome peeling, etc etc. Imagine if you bought one of the BMWs above, and had all those problems?  Nah, the answer is that instead of counting all the money they thought were going to make, the dealerships should have stood up en masse to HD UK, and told them the prices are simply not viable. 

Jim

[Keats]

One near me is going out................








NAH..... not really

just wishful thinking

[Robmay]

Yeah, but the guys that are losing their jobs are the one's that treat you like chit when you go in for service. And the one's that don't deal with the public are the one's that do the chitty work on your bike over and over again. Not always, but that's the rule. There is a reason these dealers are going out....

[harleydave]

Jim

I am 100% with you on that one.

[AXIL]

Yeah, but the guys that are losing their jobs are the one's that treat you like chit when you go in for service. And the one's that don't deal with the public are the one's that do the chitty work on your bike over and over again. Not always, but that's the rule. There is a reason these dealers are going out....

   
   
   
    You are right on the money.

[kraut]

I have no sympathy for them, Dave. (I do have lots for the guys losing their jobs though!) They - along with all the other dealerships in the UK - sat back and let Harley up the prices TWICE in the middle of a recession.  I bought three CVO Ultras in 3 years, and the price was silly, but bearable.  Last one was £23k. Then they upped the price twice within a few months, and they are now £30k.  There is NO bike in the world worth that, and that's got nothing to do with whether I can afford it or not.  I - and any sane person - will simply not be blatantly ripped off.  These bikes cost more than, for example, a BMW 320d M Sport, and that is simply stupid. Parts likewise - £151.31 (US$248) for each mirror from a CUSE2. What?!?!?  FFS!!  We have paint problems, engine problems, chrome peeling, etc etc. Imagine if you bought one of the BMWs above, and had all those problems?  Nah, the answer is that instead of counting all the money they thought were going to make, the dealerships should have stood up en masse to HD UK, and told them the prices are simply not viable. 

Jim

well Jim, we pay 36.950 EUR for last year's FLHTCUSE - that's some 32.500 GBP. Still some air left for upping your british prices 

[Eqcons]

well Jim, we pay 36.950 EUR for last year's FLHTCUSE - that's some 32.500 GBP. Still some air left for upping your british prices 

I spoke with the owner of one of the two Scottish dealerships on Saturday, Hans.  He tells me that the reason UK prices are so high is because, while there is resistance from the dealers in the UK - doing very poor business, because they can't sell at the current prices - to the prices HD are imposing on them, HD's attitude is that they are currently making a fortune in mainland Europe, because the punters there are daft enough to pay even HIGHER prices; thus they will not reduce their UK prices as they know that customers from mainland Europe would want to buy here.  Meanwhile, UK dealership are crippled, and as shown above, are going bust.

Anyone who pays €36950  - or £30000, or even more (Austria, Switzerland, Scandinavia, for example) - needs to seek help from a mental health professional! 

These bikes are not worth a fraction of that.  I didn't mind too much paying way over the odds at £23000, but I'm not going to be taken for a fool at £30000, and even were I the richest man in the world, I'd still not buy at that price.  I love my bike, I love the Harley lifestyle I've bought into, at a considerable premium, but there's a limit, and I won't encourage them by being ripped off. I work too hard from my money!  It's a shame that others are still willing to part with money quite so easily - as long as people are silly enough to bend over the nearest table for Harley, they'll keep ripping people off, more and more and more. 

[BALIS]

The FLHTCUSE is now at 39.000 euros.It's 2.000 euros more than last year for the 2011 model.