BMW Luxury Touring Community - BMW Dealers closing in 2005

damenke

Jan 6th, 2006, 2:31 pm

This is the response I recieved from BMW Motorrad USA when I sent them an e-mail about dealers closing. I switched from HD to a BMW K1200LTC in Aug. and live 10 miles from Tri State BMW. If I knew there wasn't going to be a local BMW dealer then I believe I would have went with my 2nd choice of a GoldWing.
Just blowing off some steam...

Dear Mr. Menke:

Thank you for contacting BMW Motorrad USA and sharing your concerns about BMW Motorcycles of the Tri-State closing. It is only through direct feedback that we can improve and make a difference in our services, policies, and customer satisfaction levels.

We regret to confirm that this BMW Retailer will soon terminate or has already terminated business. BMW Retailers are independently owned and operated, and are therefore responsible for the operation of their business; as well as for meeting BMW’s operating guidelines. In addition, we are unable to prevent a retailer from closing their doors if they choose to do so.

BMW Motorrad is dependent on qualified investors being interested in franchise opportunities in your area and as such; our Retail Development Group is actively seeking investors in these markets.

In the meantime, please visit our website, www.bmwmotorcycles.com and select the "dealer information" link on the homepage. This will access the retailer locater feature so you may find the nearest authorized BMW Retailer to you. To ensure the feature works properly, please be certain you do not have a pop-up blocker enabled when using the feature.

If you have any additional questions, please contact us at 1-800-831-1117 or by email at: Webmaster@bmwmotorcycles.com. Our office hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M., Eastern Standard Time.

Regards,

Casey Roach
BMW Customer Relations and Services
BMW Motorrad USA

jhowdy

Jan 6th, 2006, 3:02 pm

Sounds like a letter written by a divorce attorney....we regret to inform you all your "chit" is gone. :( Glad to see it's all the dealer's fault, I was beginning to think there may be something wrong with the BMW Motorrad. I feel much better now knowing it's just a bunch of bad businessmen out there causing this trend.

RVB1019

Jan 6th, 2006, 9:44 pm

BMW of NY - the store in Huntington, NY in addition to the one on the West Side of NYC.

petepeterson

Jan 6th, 2006, 9:58 pm

Add Cape Fear BMW in Wilmington,NC to the open in 2005 list...

Great dealership, if I don't stop to see them they call to make sure I'm okay, Great staff.. Buy a bike there and get a discount on ALL your purchases......Regards Pete

bob_menton

Jan 6th, 2006, 10:00 pm

BMW of NY - the store in Huntington, NY in addition to the one on the West Side of NYC.

Well, there's at least one person who won't be too unhappy about this one: Bob Henig of Bob's BMW. He was always annoyed that BMW Motorrad allowed BMW of NY to total the bike sales from both of their stores. Bob Henig would usually out-sell either store, but not both of them together.

- Bob

messenger13

Jan 6th, 2006, 10:06 pm

You might want to also count the ones that are opening.

Sandia BMW in Albuquerque, NM

Destination BMW in Knoxville, TN

BMW of Ventura County in Newbury Park, CAI totally agree Jeff!

To add to the list of openers, there's:

BMW Motorcycles of Cleveland (http://www.bmwmoc.com/); in Aurora, Ohio
BMW Motorcycles of Columbus (http://www.bmwmotorcyclesofcolumbus.com/); in Columbus, Ohio

damenke

Jan 7th, 2006, 12:15 am

I totally agree Jeff!

To add to the list of openers, there's:

BMW Motorcycles of Cleveland (http://www.bmwmoc.com/); in Aurora, Ohio
BMW Motorcycles of Columbus (http://www.bmwmotorcyclesofcolumbus.com/); in Columbus, Ohio

So are there 2 BMW dealers in Columbus now?

Moonshine

Jan 7th, 2006, 12:00 pm

BMW of Omaha, Nebraska

jayz9705

Jan 7th, 2006, 10:56 pm

Jack, be a little more observant reading the letter from BMW,"........as well as for meeting BMW’s operating guidelines.......". is the passage I read as being the most operable. It accounts for the closing of all the smaller, service oriented shops, and the survival of the 'boutique' shops.

jhowdy

Jan 8th, 2006, 12:42 am

Jay,
I agree, my sarcasm wasn't clear in the post. My first experience with a BMW dealership was Hap's in Sarasota, FL some 20+ years ago, truly "old school" and I guess this is what the mind yearns for. While I am currently located near, in my opinion, one of the better if not best Florida BMW dealerships they are all being "required" to fit a silicon implanted, collagen injected mold.

Knowledgable mechanics and strong black coffee - good...replace with "know good part" technicians and latte - bad.

selil

Jan 8th, 2006, 9:17 pm

I disagree with just adding new dealers to the mix. What is of real interest is dealers leaving a market in the last five years, and no new dealer returning to that market. That is a loss of support.

messenger13

Jan 8th, 2006, 9:36 pm

So, what you're saying is...the fact that messenger13 now has a new dealer that is only 13 miles away from him, it doesn't count?! Or...maybe you're saying that until selil has a new dealer that's near him...then it will mean something. Oh...I see. It makes perfect sense now that I worded it that way. :rolleyes:

http://users.telenet.be/eforum/emoticons4u/violent/nutkick.gif

(I didn't want to be too politically correct...seeings as I know how much you hate that!) :D

bikerkash

Jan 8th, 2006, 10:57 pm

New dealerships that open in other areas than the ones that closed are of little cancellation to the riders who purchased a BMW based on having a servicing dealer in their area. Maybe a better way of judging BMW corp success for establishing a growing dealer base to service their retail customers would be to take the total dealer count year by year for the past 5 or 10 years period. Also how many new dealers open each year and how many closed and in what areas of the country. The U.S. motorcycle market has had excellent growth the past 5yrs+ and the numbers for BMW, I believe, will lag the overall growth percentage and in fact KTM in the past year or so does more numbers in the states than BMW. At last count BMW imported app. 13,000 bikes for the U.S. market. When you divide that # though out the U.S. that isn't very many. Assuming the major metro markets get most of the bikes how do they expect the dealers in smaller market areas to make a profit selling BMW only. When you think about it it just does not add up and I believe this is why so many caring hard working dealers are closing. BMW corp needs to wake up and treat their dealers as partners instead on peons. RIDE SAFE

bmwrider79

Jan 8th, 2006, 11:57 pm

Dealers closing.

Not sure why but the only things i can think of that BMW USA could have done wrong here is 2 things.

#1 Force dealers to stock things they cannot sell Clothing for instance.
#2 Force them to be BMW only dealer in a small bike market.

They have done both of the above to some dealers. From what I have heard and read in the press.

If the above or combo of the above is what happend to those then the blood is on BMW corporates hands.

My dealer a small one in a suburb NW of Chicago There are 3 in the chicago land area. 1 downtown Chicago, 1 far west burbs and the one I use in the NW burbs. Used to be 1 in Freeport IL 20 miles west of Rockford closed 3 to 4 years ago and the one in Rockford 90 miles west of downtown Chicago.

My dealer is not a big fancy dealer. They are old school. and seem to do it because they like to do it. The service is good and prices I think are fair. They treat me good, and I shop there as much as possible. They do not always have what I want and they were supportive of shopping else were if they did not carry they item I wanted and they could not get.

What it boils down to is the motive of the dealer. If it is the passion of their life they will make it happen at most any cost. If it is supposed to be a major profit center well then his challenge is more difficult.

Many corporations due force the small guys out due to the policys. But many dealers become dealers for the MONEY. and if they do not make enough they will close.

The question I have for those that may belly ache about any dealer closing do you shop there all the time? or do you shop online for the best price to save a few bucks? Fine if they don't sell what you want but if they do will you pay a few dollars more?

I found out shopping at my local musicians store they were the same price as a on line store. Guess who I did business with? I would have done business with them even if they were 15% more cause they are the real deal. not a big player corporation.

If you LIKE your local dealer support them and shop there. It will pay dividends in the long run.

Just my $.02 worth.

eljeffe

Jan 9th, 2006, 7:13 am

Not sure why but the only things i can think of that BMW USA could have done wrong here is 2 things.

#1 Force dealers to stock things they cannot sell Clothing for instance.
#2 Force them to be BMW only dealer in a small bike market.

They have done both of the above to some dealers. From what I have heard and read in the press.

Mike,

Both of these assumptions are incorrect.

BMW has never "Forced" a dealer to do anything. In order to sell BMW apparel, BMW required that dealers order a minimum amount. My dealer didn't buy into that, and therefore, doesn't sell BMW apparel.

BMW strongly encourages dealers to be single line dealers, but has never "Forced" a dealer to be a BMW single line dealer. There were incentives, such as advertising dollars, floorplan support, and other items that BMW put on the table to attract new dealers to become single line BMW palaces.

Where BMW went horribly wrong with many of these new dealer palaces was the dealer development presentation and recruitment program. Back a few years ago, during the leadership of Tom Pluckinsky, BMW's dealer development showed a bright future where BMW sold 30,000 units per year. In the past 5 years, BMW has been hard pressed to sell half that per year. There are many dealer principals who "bought into" that story, and in turn ran a business using a flawed business model. Rather than taking a more conservative approach (in terms of facility size, number of initial units, taking on apparel, etc.), some of these dealer principals found themselves in to deep to stay afloat. And now we see the result with many of these what I call "BMW Dealer Palaces" going under.

We also see several of the smaller dealers dropping BMW from their line up. Since franchise laws differ from state to state, there are some places where BMW's new "rules" are enforceable, and others where they are not. For example, earlier in 2005, BMW instituted a cost cutting program that would require dealers to take the bulk of their annual allottment at one time. Most dealers couldn't handle that without taking additional expense for storage. Another was a "minimum" sales level, where BMW would require a dealer to sell X units per year to remain a dealer. In states that were protective of the franchisee, those rules were unenforceable. In states that were not as protective, these new rules could be imposed without regard to the financial impact to the frachisee.

USNavRet

Jan 9th, 2006, 8:29 am

Add Hattiesburg Cycles in Hattiesburg, Mississippi to that closed list. They are still open selling other brands (Yamaha, Suzuki, et al) but dropped BMW from their offerings. As the rumor mill has it, they were being forced to sell only BMW's but declined. Not sure if that's true but that's what I heard.

Macker

Jan 9th, 2006, 11:22 am

Jeff is right. BMW can't "force" a Franchisee to do anything but, as is often the case in these situations, they sure can make life miserable after the fact for not playing by their rules.
Also, I think an investor with the best understanding of this going in will ultimately have a succesful shop.
BUT....There is a certain amount of responsibility on the part of BMW to be aware of specific market opportunities and be more selective as to just where they will set up a store. Take a look at McDonalds. Very few if any fail. I know we're not quite talking apples to apples but the same principles apply. They do their homework in advance and accept application from only the most qualified investors. They send in a team to consider location, Market size and growth potential, accessability, exposure, proximity to other outlets and the affect on that existing outlets business, availability and quality of potential work force, etc.....
Is BMW flexible and do they have different models for specific market situations?

justincase

Jan 9th, 2006, 11:28 am

Does anyone have the latest US/CAN updated waypoint files for the NEW and DELETED dealers?

selil

Jan 9th, 2006, 5:18 pm

So, what you're saying is...the fact that messenger13 now has a new dealer that is only 13 miles away from him, it doesn't count?! Or...maybe you're saying that until selil has a new dealer that's near him...then it will mean something. Oh...I see. It makes perfect sense now that I worded it that way. :rolleyes:

It is great that you have a new dealer near you. Those of us who have watched several dealers close near us can only wish. The fact that you got a new dealer doesn't add up to my or anybody elses loosing a dealer.

meese

Jan 9th, 2006, 10:07 pm

So maybe they're not being "forced", but imposing cost incentives and other restrictions sure can make things difficult for those who don't toe the corporate line.

I remember an interview with Lee Iacocca talking about rebuilding Chrysler. He said that when he took over things were so backwards that the factory just built whatever they felt like, and then just shipped everything to the dealers and expected it all to sell. If it didn't it was clearly the dealer's fault. One of the first things Lee did was set up a dealer order system so that customers could pick what cars and options they wanted. He also started producing smaller, more economical cars in response to the oil crisis, which sold faster than they could be built.

Maybe BMW could take some lessons from that.

Having said that, I do like where BMW is going with its bikes. They're still developing leading edge technologies, and building bikes that work in the real world. Less weight, more power, and if they could just get the cost more in line with their competitors, then they just may reach their targets. Unfortunately, I still see the old-time rider's shops closing in favor of over-priced, over-sized boutiques. I don't want an espresso bar; I want a mechanic and parts guys who knows the bikes inside and out, and a sales team that actually rides.

Oh well, at least my brand-new local dealer is run by riders, so we'll see how they end up doing.

bmwrider79

Jan 10th, 2006, 1:05 am

Jeff;

Thanks for the clarification. I only go by what I read and hear in the press. My local dealer sells some BMW stuff but not much. He sells First gear Oxtar etc..
Good stuff and not a bad price either.

The real reason I continue to go back is the service. While it would be cheaper to myself I don't have the time and as long as I can afford it what the heck.

The new 800's should be at a good price point but who knows. I think they are on the right track but the market is still glassied eyed with the black and orange. This new ride should attract the newby BMWer who cannot shell out the dough for a RT LT or other but does not want a 650.

When it comes to value the LT is real tight with the wing. considering dollars only. Quite frankly most bikes are over priced. But it is a free market so what ever the customer will pay will be the price.

But imagine if BMW lowered the price so every lifestyle knob would be lured into BMW land. Would you really want that even if it would happen?

I personally like the fact my ride is not just another cruiser.

BMWphreak

Jan 11th, 2006, 7:02 am

KBandit

Jan 11th, 2006, 8:54 am

i believe a new dealer opened in las vegas as well.

Macker

Jan 11th, 2006, 4:24 pm

Las Vegas store is owned by the same guy that owns BMW of Salt Lake. Both very successful. Both in markets that can support a single, full service dealership.

KBandit

Jan 11th, 2006, 4:37 pm

If BMW wanted to take back market share in the US they only need to do one thing to start the ball rolling: lower prices. I love my bike, but let's face it, when I compare what you get versus a car for the same money, well, something is wrong with the picture.

Even comparing MC to MC, BMW is the most expensive brand on the market for a particular model (excluding HD). I'd love to have a new F800ST, but I can buy another brand for about $3k less. For me, $3k is a big deal, for others, it isn't, but judging from the volume of sales, I'd say I was the norm.

trying to complete with the japanese in pricing will be a losing battle, unless they can outsource production to an area not controlled by labor unions. and i would not be surprised to learn that there are governmental rules and regulations in deutschland that would make outsourcing very, very difficult.

so they are probably stuck with the task of building premium products and charging more for them. it is a difficult situation because the japanese bikes are continually improving in terms of quality.

tmgs

Jan 11th, 2006, 5:12 pm

Mike,

Both of these assumptions are incorrect.

BMW has never "Forced" a dealer to do anything. In order to sell BMW apparel, BMW required that dealers order a minimum amount. My dealer didn't buy into that, and therefore, doesn't sell BMW apparel.

BMW strongly encourages dealers to be single line dealers, but has never "Forced" a dealer to be a BMW single line dealer. There were incentives, such as advertising dollars, floorplan support, and other items that BMW put on the table to attract new dealers to become single line BMW palaces.

I've had two dealers tell me when they opened BMW would only let them sell BMW, (both fairly new dealers) guess the Dealer lied to me
as far as clothing I have no Idea.

I was also told BMW has cut incentives and raised dealer cost. could be BS as well.

when or what year was it that BMW sold 30k motorcycles in the US? The most I have heard was right at 15k (I think that was in '03? i forget now)
Also keep in mind I haven't paid attention to this before '02

I know BMW was giving Haps a hard time back then as well, Haps has been a multi brand dealer forever and the oldest bmw dealer in fl, (30 years or more)

what about dealers that have been open for years that are closing? I understand a new multi million dollar dealership not hanging in there because the built on a bad forecast and poor information from bmw, but I got to say, if I were going toe spend millions on a dealership, I would be paying a independent firm to do current research. than again a million bucks is a lifetime of money to me, heck some of those dealers may have just need a BIG ASS Tax loss

Who knows for sure? Not us!

Tom

tmgs

Jan 11th, 2006, 5:29 pm

If BMW wanted to take back market share in the US they only need to do one thing to start the ball rolling: lower prices. I love my bike, but let's face it, when I compare what you get versus a car for the same money, well, something is wrong with the picture.

Even comparing MC to MC, BMW is the most expensive brand on the market for a particular model (excluding HD).

Excluding HD?

Not realy! the Ultra Classic, is the top of the line FL it has a MSRP in black 19,795 that is thier top of the line, CB stereo Cruise everything!

it's pricing is real close to the K1200LT at a msrp of 19,990 from the website, how much to add CB? intercom ect ect?

Drop down to the Hd Classic and it's 17,795 msrp

the LT is more expensive

now when you start adding all the hd goodies your hooked on welll.....

I bought my '01 Glide in oct of 2000 at MSRP + tax, they priced me a extended real fair 5 year was like 500 dollars, with all the goodies I bought at the same time I was under 15k OTD

meese

Jan 12th, 2006, 2:16 am

the LT is more expensive
Until you add several thousand dollars of Screamin' Eagle parts just to get the horsepower out of the 60's. :eek:

tmgs

Jan 12th, 2006, 8:56 am

Until you add several thousand dollars of Screamin' Eagle parts just to get the horsepower out of the 60's. :eek:

definitly agree even said so much in my post. the point though is Hd isn't more expensive than BMW and in the long run and is less expensive to maintain.

honestly the HP numbers really don't make much of a difference on the highway, the HD has far more low end grunt which is great for the hills and just flat out cruising down the highway at 75. Keep in mind now that I sold my '01 to buy a K1200LT after I rode one. (well that day actually <g>) the lt loved above 80mph where the HD falls way short at high speeds, I was actually much happier with my old Shovel FL than I was the '01 for interstate riding.

Tom

damenke

Jan 13th, 2006, 8:37 pm

Went buy Tri-State BMW in Cincinnati, Ohio yesterday and there open again till the end of the month. They said there may be a new owner soon but not sure as of now. There not giving a discount on anything, bummer.

damenke

Mar 28th, 2006, 7:18 pm

nbroca

Mar 28th, 2006, 7:31 pm

I have not been ther, but we have a new (not so new now) dealership in Scottsdale, AZ

hschisler

Mar 28th, 2006, 10:32 pm

Has anybody heard any new info. about Tri-State BMW???
Are they going to get a new owner or not?
I pass buy there now and then and it looks like nothing has changed there. Still closed but the bikes and accessories are still there.Tri-State's service manager was the service manager at BMW of Columbus for about 3 months. He quit last week, taking a General Manager job at a HARLEY dealership in Dayton. He told me when I was in for service recently that Tri-State was "closed, but not going out of business" (paraphrasing); I think he hinted at the owner's personal situation (divorce -- my speculation). I hope for the sake of our Cincinnati-area BMW owners that they do re-open.

damenke

Apr 5th, 2006, 12:15 pm

Went by Tri-State BMW yesterday 4-4-06 and all the motorcycles were gone. Lots of other stuff still there but doors were locked.
I guess nobody knows whats up with Tri-State BMW???????????????????

MaverickAR

Apr 5th, 2006, 8:31 pm

I am curious, what are the requirements for getting a BMW motorcycle franchise?

hschisler

Apr 5th, 2006, 10:04 pm

Went by Tri-State BMW yesterday 4-4-06 and all the motorcycles were gone. Lots of other stuff still there but doors were locked.
I guess nobody knows whats up with Tri-State BMW???????????????????Someone in another thread said they recently called Tri-State; the owner said they weren't officially closed.

JOHNF

Apr 6th, 2006, 12:14 am

I, too, am caught with the inconvience of not having a local dealer when BMW of Tri-State closed it doors. I would consider myself a high milage rider, so I spent a lot of money there.

Today I rode the 150 miles one way to Holt BMW to get a new set of tires and an oil change for my 05 LT. I really enjoyed the people at Holt BMW in Athens, but think I really got hosed. The charge just for the oil change w/o tax was $121!!! Set of stones and Oil Change $530!!!

Tried to set up an appt with the new dealer in Cols, but the earliest they could get me in was the last week of Apr. I had talked to Jeff Nutter (formerly of Tri-State, then Cols, and now Dayton H-D) and he said no problem to work me in with a few days notice. That is another inconvience of having to switch dealers, I knew what type lead time needed to give at Tri-State, and in emergencies they have bailed me out when I needed to have the bike for a planned ride or rally.

For the obvious selfish reasons I sure hope a dealer opens in the area, and has a pricing structure more in line with what is normally paid for an oil change and tires.

John F.
Cincinnati, OH

Finisher #5 overall in 2005 MOA milage contest

McAllister

Apr 6th, 2006, 7:43 am

I am curious, what are the requirements for getting a BMW motorcycle franchise?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

hschisler

Apr 6th, 2006, 8:16 am

Today I rode the 150 miles one way to Holt BMW to get a new set of tires and an oil change for my 05 LT. I really enjoyed the people at Holt BMW in Athens, but think I really got hosed. The charge just for the oil change w/o tax was $121!!! Set of stones and Oil Change $530!!!

Tried to set up an appt with the new dealer in Cols, but the earliest they could get me in was the last week of Apr. I had talked to Jeff Nutter (formerly of Tri-State, then Cols, and now Dayton H-D) and he said no problem to work me in with a few days notice. That is another inconvience of having to switch dealers, I knew what type lead time needed to give at Tri-State, and in emergencies they have bailed me out when I needed to have the bike for a planned ride or rally.

For the obvious selfish reasons I sure hope a dealer opens in the area, and has a pricing structure more in line with what is normally paid for an oil change and tires.

John F.
Cincinnati, OHJohn, FWIW I hope Tri-State reopens or another dealer takes its place in your area. Many of us here are looking forward to the resolution of this mini-mystery -- are they closed, or not? If not, when will they reopen?

$120 for an oil change? :eek: Is that typical? If so, I see myself doing that maintenance item on my own.

When we first started looking at LTs (summer 2005) we went to Holt BMW first, as they are about an hour from our house. They appear to be a small shop (in terms of new unit sales) but have a loyal and broad base of service work. I have also been told that Marv Holt is one of the best m/c paint pros around.

pjessen

Apr 6th, 2006, 3:50 pm

Lessee...annual market sales numbers last year: over 1,000,000 motorbikes sold. Honda about 550,000, H-D about 300,000, BMW less than 14,000.

A 1.4% market share in a booming economy, with new, excellent products, and the share went down last year??

This is a really sucky business result. Probably a result of BMW Germany versus BMW NA, but they both suck if you look at the above results.

Where's a marketing plan? Where's a specific advertising plan? ....oh, yeah and a budget for such a plan. They don't have to create a market, just a bigger share of the market for their product.

Truth be known, they probably sold most of those bikes to existing BMW owners! ;)

No answers here, but I know unsuccessful marketing when I see it...fix that and we'll all have close by dealers...

petepeterson

Apr 6th, 2006, 5:28 pm

JohnF, yeah you paid alittle to much,,, I don't have any idea why they would charge you so much.. Next time there ask the owner why his prices are so far out of line of find out what all they did to charge so much,,,My last oil and filter change was $55.00

pjessen,,,The US market is not BMW's priority... They have far bigger markets than here,, so maybe they are playing to them.... Try comparing your Honda numbers to BMW numbers in Europe,,,Honda ain't much there as their market is here...........Regards Pete

damenke

Apr 25th, 2006, 8:23 am

Has anybody heard anything on Tri-State BMW??? Sold, open, closed???

Thanks

shadowofshoe

Apr 25th, 2006, 8:28 am

Closing is a product of a messy divorce remains to be seen if owner will have enough finances to re-open after settlement.
mike

tmgs

Apr 25th, 2006, 8:43 am

We’re putting together a list of the BMW dealers that have closed in 2005. Will this forum help us with that list? Thanks, Shelby

thereis a updated gps list out there, although i can;t remember the link right now

Tom

Ghost55

Apr 26th, 2006, 2:47 am

The St. Louis dealership closed this past Jan. after one year in their new pretty BMW only facitlity, after being in business at the old place for many, many years. BMW is just doing what HD started in the early eighties. Forcing out the small mom and pop dealers to go to a standardized modern format. They have their subtle, and not so subtle ways.

As far as HD pricing compared to BMW pricing, that is a joke. The BMW is far cheaper. When I bought my LT, I first wanted to buy an Electra Glide Standard. MSRP of 14,980. Two closest dealers wanted almost 20K, with no accessories. Their response to my complaint was almost identical, ie, "something is only worth a dollar, if somebody will pay you a dollar for it."

As far as BMW increasing market share, recently read in the RA mag that the official policy now is "exclusivity" and not market share.

damenke

Apr 26th, 2006, 8:17 am

thereis a updated gps list out there, although i can;t remember the link right now

Tom

Can you share it when you remember?

Thanks,

damenke

Apr 26th, 2006, 8:19 am

Closing is a product of a messy divorce remains to be seen if owner will have enough finances to re-open after settlement.
mike

This could drag on for a long time.

tmgs

Apr 26th, 2006, 8:53 am

As far as HD pricing compared to BMW pricing, that is a joke. The BMW is far cheaper. When I bought my LT, I first wanted to buy an Electra Glide Standard. MSRP of 14,980. Two closest dealers wanted almost 20K, with no accessories. Their response to my complaint was almost identical, ie, "something is only worth a dollar, if somebody will pay you a dollar for it."

comparing a E Standard to a LT is like comparing a honda to a mercedes <g>

but the lt is more expensive than a classic then and particularly now, which hd stock is over 20k msrp?

BARely thee Ultra classic depending on options.

MSRP

Vivid black $19,795
Color $20,265
Two-tone $20,685
Custom color $20,935
H-D® Factory Security System $275
ESPFI Standard
California Emissions
Carb. N/A
ESPFI $100
Freight (applies to the 48 contiguous states and Alaska only) $320

BMW LT MSRP MSRP: $21,900

BTW in Oct '00 I got my standard E-glide OTD tax tag everything for 16k with a extended that was about 900 + a few goodies like the Spoiler LED saddle bag lights