Seven New Brammo Dealers - All Harley

[Brammofan]

http://brammofan.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/seven-new-dealers-listed-on-brammo-site/

What? Yes. You heard it correctly.  Seven new dealers, all seven are Harley Davidson dealers.

Thoughts?

[Deadly Silent Ninja]

Finally, some place near enough from me! I can make it to MD in about 3 hours. That will be awesome when they actually start selling the Empulse... whenever that will be.

I just don't like what some people were saying in the other thread about Harley dealerships refusing to sell Buells. I am not sure if Harley, a brand that grew on noise and smoke, will actually go out of its way to get their salespeople to sell the extreme opposite in their dealerships.

I was checking the websites and I didn't see any Buells or MV Agusta bikes to sell in any of the stores near my area. So, I am not sure how Harley is going to market that. It may end up hurting Brammo if Harley doesn't deliver a high level costumer service.

[Brammofan]

Harley sold of MV Augusta - back to the family.  Harley liquidated Buell and there is no more Buell except that Erik Buell started up his own racing bike company.  It's going to be ... an adjustment.

[Gavin]

Well I've been harping for some time that Harley is a good fit...

Lots of dealerships ... No direct competition between Harley models and Brammo models...

Harley gets to expand their base, brammo gets floorspace across the US

Win win....I hope.

Gavin

[mykb13]

"Well I've been harping for some time that Harley is a good fit...
Lots of dealerships ... No direct competition between Harley models and Brammo models...
Harley gets to expand their base, brammo gets floorspace across the US
Win win....I hope.
Gavin"

While I agree HD may see this as a good fit from a corporate standpoint, as a Buell owner I can tell you that the staff at HD dealers treat you like a 2nd or 3rd class biker if you're not inquiring about HD.  The closest HD dealer to me refuses to even discuss Buell.  When I need a part or have a question, they immediately send me to their competing HD dealer across town rather than even entertain my business.  The empoyees at the dealer across town will shoot the breeze at the parts counter with a HD owner for 5 minutes while other stand and wait, but when I inquire about Buell parts, they take my order but act like I'm wasting their time.

Don't take this statement the wrong way because I regularly ride with several HD owners who accept my 13 non-HD motorcycles (sportbikes, Buell, japanese crusier, classics, dirt bikes, etc.), but I feel like I need to get some tattoos and black t-shirts to get any kind of good service at an HD dealer.

I just hope this isn't the case with Brammo.  I would drive 6 hours away to buy my Brammo from a non-HD dealer rather than drive across town if the local HD dealers carry Brammos.

[Phantom]

I like the idea of using an exisiting Harley Davidson dealers network. It should be a win/win under the right circumstances. HD is suffering a decline in new riders and offering Brammos could be a nice new revenue stream for them. It could increase the number of visitors to their showrooms.

It would give potential Brammo owners a chance to visit nation-wide locations and maybe have a test ride before they buy. This should lead to more Brammo sales.

Time will tell, and I hope HD does a better job than Best Buy at promoting Brammo.  

 

[thespecialonejr]

Hmmm, that is quite worrying MYKB. In order for this dealer network to work, the customer service must be in place to provide the necessary support for such an innovative product. I shall pass this comment on to the overlords....

In terms of potential reach for Brammo enthusiasts a relationship with HD is certainly beneficial for us and them as they need to start showing some sort of 'green plan'.

[protomech]

I doubt official Motor Company policy is to belittle non H-D products. There's definitely some H-D elitism baked into the culture, though - and some franchised dealers are bad examples of the brand. Hopefully the dealers that are participating are less hostile to outsiders.

[EmpulseRider]

These is genius... Harley riders it seems are some of the biggest skeptics of electric motorcycles. Put these american made machines in Harley dealerships and the non-believers are sure to give them a try. A lot of the Harley weekend warrior types can get there wives on an easy to learn Brammo and they can ride together. Makes sense to me...

Wish I could get my wife to ride, the Enertia would be perfect for her. We could ride together on the weekends, then I could commute on the Enertia until my Empulse ships. Shes not having any part of it though

[skuzzle]

The other advantage of selling at a Harley shop is less EV bike price sticker shock.   

[Richard230]

The other advantage of selling at a Harley shop is less EV bike price sticker shock.   

Now that is a good point. Even better would be to sign up BMW dealers. They have just as high prices, sophisticated customers and know how to work on complicated electronics. Unfortunately, BMWNA would never let that happen. They hate dealers who sell multiple brands of anything - much less a product that BMW will be selling in a few years. Too bad. It would have been a good fit.

[05Sultan]

BMW being a better fit is what I expressed in an earlier post. I think that they may have an attitude change about multi-product dealerships while trying to muddle through a sluggish GLOBAL economy scene. I doubt their money numbers are that hot so they can turn their noses up at new ventures.
 Harley is also a good fit as Brammo is 'Made in U.S.A.' and already has stomped the global scene for product approval and have bonafied race cred on both local and euro tracks. Bonus  for them is Brammo brings cool off-road products to widen the horizon for store sales, a fuller menu to feast on. Harley brings elite street and tour and little else to the table.
 For me, there happens to be a successful Harley dealer about 2 miles from my house. Not bad. Not bad at all.........

[Deadly Silent Ninja]

I agree that Harley has a very good network and they need the update that Brammo will bring. I actually have a very good HD dealership 20 minutes from me and I am pretty sure they would do a great job selling Brammo. But, it's a very big dealership that focused on costumer service and had no problem selling Buell.
I just hope the other HD dealerships, especially the MD ones, will be able to offer the same care and respect for Brammo.
It would be awesome if the Eagle Riders program, which used to have Buell Blasts to teach new riders, starts using Enertias and Empulses...

[SamM]

Going to a Harley dealership for service on my Brammo motorcycle is a deal breaker for me. I won't step foot into any H-D dealership. They have nothing that I want to see and nothing that I would own. I've had enough bad dealings with more than one dealership to not trust any of them to touch a bike of mine. Why, you ask? For years, I owned and rode only Buell motorcycles. Buying parts was a hassle, getting the bikes serviced was a hassle and the superior attitudes were totally uncalled for. The last straw was when they actually tried to kill me and destroyed my bike.   

SamM

[skadamo]

The last straw was when they actually tried to kill me and destroyed my bike.   

SamM

That was not nice. Do you mean by killing Buell they did this?

I see a dealership near Orlando. I should be out there before the end of the year to check it out. Have family near there.