Harley's dealers have had opinions on the brands for decades now. Go on Reddit, forums, or even to most mainstream powersport media outlets and you'll find countless threads and stories about dealerships' experiences, good and bad, with the Motor Co. Some are measured and nuanced, some are not. But there's no denying that it's been hard out there for dealership in recent years, and especially for Harley dealers.
The brand's cache has faded. Its demographic has aged out. Its been hampered by rising interest rates, tariff pissing matches, outsourced manufacturing, idiotic political controversies spread by bad-faith actors, and everyone just not being able to spend the sort of cash that made Harley-Davidson what it is today. I mean, our parents could afford a $30,000 toy that sat in their garage, but have you seen the price of living today?
There have also been internal issues within the brand, including required upgrades and updates to dealerships, all of which cost money. Something struggling dealerships just don't have. Again, people aren't spending their money on high-end motorcycles these days, as evidenced by Royal Enfield's meteoric success of late.
