CT dealer closings

[hacksaw]

RE has had 3 dealerships in CT close since the first of the year.
there appears to be one left but the inventory is thin imho.

ktm closed 3. there is a new one that i mentioned on another thread. not sure if there is another one

in general, the internet listings suck. even RE USA directs one to 2 closed dealerships

a huge dealership that sold RE, KTM, can ams , gas gas, i believe husky and a bunch of others. is one that closed. back in feb 2025. and its still a major show up in search.

an indian dealer closed and one or perhaps 2 have opened.
its all buell shit.

there is a msf can am course near me. several dates this summer with one in may. the now CLOSED can am dealer was running a special, take the course , it cost 500$, and get 500 off the purchase of a new trike.
the asholes closed in feb.  

i believe a new moto guzzi dealer opened. i think its a big dealership. guzzi , piagio etc. for a while now we have had one small guzzi shop upstate. we will see how this goes.

[Fatfatboy]

RE has been fading out of the states for awhile. The small shop that I bought mine from stopped selling them not long after I bought mine. Probably why I got it so cheap. He was offloading them.

They have since moved out of their small older storefront on the main street through town to a small old brick building that looks like a large garage next to a house or small service shop from the 50's right between to two old two story apartment buildings. It has a wood front that was added on with a residential panel door and just a few windows covered with paper. Not even a sign on the building the last I saw.

According to the web they only sell Genuine Scooters and wrench. They do build bikes for the skinny jeans crowd. If I had to guess he just downsized. Probably realized that owning a company with employees just took the fun out of motorcycles.

[m143]

Libby's still is a solid shop.

[hacksaw]

I just wrote a large reply which I lost.
In essence I liked Damon Libby
The Libby behind the parts desk I like.
Libby started as a bmw dealer
Add Honda excelsior Yamaha Ducati Victor
Over the years
And triumph currently still with Honda and Yamaha
And Polaris side by sides.
The president Libby is ok , if not a little stiff.
Dan is ok . But needs to be pried away from the computer.
 
The shop seems fine.
It’s the only dealer I actually go look at stuff .
Mainly.
Yes it’s been there for decades  used to have a dirt bike track out back  I think where the shop is now. I agree they are solid .
Unfortunately the area sucks . My wife works at the container company that own the flea market property
And I had projects there over the years on rte 10
I guess if you come off 95 it’s ok . But bring in Hamden I have to come  thru questionable neighborhoods. Which in itself doesn’t bother me in my jeep but riding sux as half the locals have no license and more don’t have insurance.  

[Fatfatboy]

I just saw on Facebook that an HD shop, Gateway HD, I’ve bought a few bikes from has been bought by another shop, Docs HD that I’ve bought a couple bikes from.

Docs started in 1955 by Doc Schniedwind. He was called Doc because he could fix anything. He passed it on to his son and daughter. In the mid to late 90’s the son died of a brain aneurysm. He was an awesome Sportster mechanic. His sister Donna took over when he died and ran it until 2015. With the pressures from the MOCO to turn it into a boutique she decided to retire and sold it to a dealer that had 4 dealers throughout the Midwest. Now they own six HD shops.
It’s a shame what the dealers have turned into. They have car dealership mentality. No prices upfront on the bikes, sell by pushing long term loans with low payments, extended warranties, service contracts, etc.

The last independent HD shop around here was Bourboues HD about 10 miles west of me. I bought the Fatboy from them. They closed in 2019 when the folks were ready to retire and the MOCO didn’t want the place to remain a dealership to cut back on competition.

I did a quick search and discovered that there are 10 dealers in Missouri that are independent shops. The closest is 2 hours west.
If I decide to buy another HD I may just be heading west.


EDIT; the dealership was recently acquired by an Alabama dealer. Sigh

[hacksaw]

HD ! Yeah . There was several old school hd dealers when I first started with new Harleys. The dealer I bought from had 3 bikes in a showroom in a building were his place was a minor bizz.
The guys whom came in after those dealers many owners were car dealers. Those guys rode the wave and are gone recently .
There maybe 5 or6 Ct hd dealers currently . Most under new ownership in the last 2 or 3 years.
But I am really out of the loop. So what do I know about HD?
They don’t sell what I want. Not new anyway. And when they do they want way too much for them  .  

[oldironnow]

hacksaw wrote

…
So what do I know about HD?
They don’t sell what I want. Not new anyway. And when they do they want way too much for them  .

Agreed.

[Fatfatboy]

hacksaw wrote

 
They don’t sell what I want. Not new anyway. And when they do they want way too much for them  .

I agree. I was excited about the anniversary fatboy until I saw it.
I’m starting to think older HD’s are what is going to be my new wants.
I like the Evo’s because of the hand built cranks but I like the ease of EFI.
I’ve had several twinkies and not a problem with a one of them.
I’m thinking about selling one of the springers and start looking for an old Road Glide. A shovelhead with the shark nose fairing would be cool. I can’t remember the alphabet soup used on those at the moment.
I saw a nice cream colored one on marketplace for about a week. The next week it was a roller. I guess someone wanted the drive train.

[oldironnow]

Man, I saw a shiny Shovel for sale at the end of a driveway in Rural Wisconsin Saturday.

Knew I should’ve stopped.
Was following my people.

When I’m back out here, I’ll figure out where it was and drop in.

[Fatfatboy]

Looking forward to the pics.

[hacksaw]

"A shovelhead with the shark nose fairing would be"


i never heard of such a thing

you has a great panhead project which i never understood why u dumped it off. way cooler than both your springers put tother.

[hacksaw]

by the way, what do u consider to be an independent HD dealer?
they are all franchised. independent around here would be an aftermarket shop. which by the way are becoming rare themselves.

[oldironnow]

hacksaw wrote

"A shovelhead with the shark nose fairing would be"


i never heard of such a thing

?

https://paulyaffeoriginals.com/products/sharknado-r-fairing-includes-a-klock-werks-flare-windshield?srsltid=AfmBOoqzp5Ig3hTy7mGzAIlQYUPAEpv-Z3A1bE5SixD5Q6SKVnZ5EnGS


.

[Fatfatboy]

hacksaw wrote

"A shovelhead with the shark nose fairing would be"


i never heard of such a thing

you has a great panhead project which i never understood why u dumped it off. way cooler than both your springers put tother.

1980 Flt Tour Glide


Panhead got dumped because it didn’t have an electric leg.
Yes it was cooler than a springer, to look at.
Once I got it running I knew my knee wasn’t going to last.

[Fatfatboy]

hacksaw wrote

by the way, what do u consider to be an independent HD dealer?
they are all franchised. independent around here would be an aftermarket shop. which by the way are becoming rare themselves.

A dealer that is owned by one single owner and the only one they own.
Where the owner actually does more than hide in an office untouched by the ones that pay his rent.

[hacksaw]

Last one here sold out a couple years ago . I have to admit I don’t know whom owns that franchise now, but it’s not the family it was and I knew since the 70’s . And even they bought out the original owner. I don’t think any of the dealers are what you call independent .if the sign says Harley -Davidson it’s Harley-Davison . Hartford Harley kinda sucks now. It had been owned by an auto conglomerate but now it’s worse as it’s owned along with maybe 4 other dealerships. And all the bikes from all the dealers are combined on line. So if I go look at Hartford used bikes and I send an inquiry to Hartford , the person at Hartford doesn’t know anything about the bike cuz it’s at a different dealer. By the time they get back to me the bike is often sold . So that sucks . There are some modifications . Seacoast HD I stopped in and then I stopped in a couple years later and the old place was now a boutique dealer . But , the original owner had a desk and sat were the customers came in . An old guy he maybe dead by now. A anyways the old dealers are being fazed out sooner or later. A stand alone dealer can’t make enuff money to stay in bizz. Or do it seems. It’s just too impersonal for me. One likes to think you have a relationship with bring a repeat customer. Kinda makes it almost worth paying for expensive bikes . No more.

[Fatfatboy]

Our local stand alone closed up a few years ago. The original owner from the 70’s retired. The daughter didn’t want to keep it going so they just closed it.
The building is now a motorcycle museum owned by a Honda car and bikes/Indian/Zero/side by side dealer.

He originally had it in St. Louis but needed more room. I think he uses it for a tax write off because his house or only during the week for just a few hours on certain days.
I’ve yet to be able to make it there.

[motogrady]

Was back in Baltimore last week.
Slipped up to Brooklyn to visit the dealers of my youth.
The Honda place, which was pretty big, and the Kawasaki place that was kinda small.

Both closed and boarded up.

Very depressing.

[Fatfatboy]

Sigh