Last week Mr. Sandi and I drove up to Phoenix in his truck for a little over-nighter. We had some errands to run and decided to make a bit of a mini-vacation out of it and give Ellie and the new dogsitter another round of practice. One of the things we did while there was make a visit to Harley-Davidson of Scottsdale which is my favorite motorcycle dealership of any type. Scottsdale H-D bills itself as the largest Harley dealership in the world. I have no evidence to refute that claim but I don't doubt it. At 150,000 square feet, it's massive. And beautiful. It's owned by Bob Parsons, who founded and owns Go Daddy. It's a fairly new dealership and we've been there before, sometimes when it hosts events such as being the starting point for the Bikers for Boxers fundraiser ride that benefits Boxer Luv boxer rescue. I snapped a bunch of photos to share to give you an idea of what a unique place this is. It has not only motorcycles and related parts and clothes but a barbershop, tattoo studio, arcade and lounge, wedding chapel, as well as a movie theatre in the basement. Here are some photos of each of those except for the movie theatre as the basement area was closed for the time being. Although this dealership had quite a few bikes, they were very low on new bikes like everyone else. And overall they were WAY down from the super large inventory that they are known for thanks to Covid and supply chain issues. I love what's posted over the front door. Scottsdale H-D has had these custom Street Glides on display since shortly after they opened. Each is "decorated" for a branch of the U.S. military: Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard. No one was getting their hair cut yet but we did arrive just as the dealership opened at 9:00AM. The lounge area has a couple of pinball machines and little Harley mechanical "rocking horses" for the kiddies. And maybe some of the adults, too. The tattoo studio. Again, quiet on this day. I have a couple of tattoos but can't quite imagine getting one so early in the day. Today there appeared to be some sort of meeting going on on this upper level and it was being held in the chapel. If you continue on past the chalet there's a covered area where bands sometimes set up in the evenings. And in the back of the dealership where the motorcycle parking is, there are six huge gas grills that are fired up on the weekends for burgers and hot dogs. This counter is right outside the chapel and often has a supply of donuts to go with coffee from the nearby coffee machines that are always full and hot. Continued
A partial view of the showroom floor from the second level. Those are the military-designed bikes just to the front of the kiosk. This is just the women's motor clothes area! And there were three or four full sales racks--always the first thing I peruse thanks to the influence of my mom. Her motto was "Why pay full price if you can get it on sale?" While there we ran into the guy who used to be the finance manager at Tucson H-D. It was great to see him and to catch up a bit. He's glad to be back in Phoenix where he grew up. And he's really happy to be working at Scottsdale H-D where he shared that the atmosphere and attitude is very positive. You can actually feel that when you walk in the dealership front door. If Scottsdale wasn't smack in the middle of Phoenix, we'd consider taking our Harley business there. One of additional things I like about Scottsdale H-D is that their top salesman isn't a man. It's a delightful woman who knows her stuff and sells a ton of bikes. We talked with her awhile and she said that she, like our finance manager friend, loves this dealership and she really enjoys her work....because she really enjoys her customers.
What an amazing dealership... in fact, more than a dealership. Sounds like a really good vibe there too, Sandi.
Yes, @learningtofly. It really is an amazing dealership with a great vibe. The first time Mr. Sandi and I ever went to Scottsdale H-D I told him that I could just live there.
Sorry I didn't take better photos of those individual forces bikes, @Dartplayer. The next time I'm at the Scottsdale dealership I'll do that and be sure to post them and let you know!
I think that word was my exact response to this dealership the first time I walked in---WOW! And actually, I've thought that each time I've walked in that store since. Glad you enjoyed the report and pics, @Markus.
That's funny, Joe! I didn't order any of them because I'm very pleased and content with my current bikes. For now.
Off Topic Alert did you drive into scottsdale over the salt river from rural road in tempe? . i sat up there on top of tempe butte and watched that bridge wash away around 1984, when the salt was running 150,000 cubic feet per second. three one-hundred year floods in three consecutive years. ive noticded that modern motorcycle shops differ from old ones in that they dont seem to have the racks and shelves of accessories that used to be present-- the sprockets snd chemicals and tires and gadgets and chrome and manuals and so on. the local harley and honda places near me conform to the new traditions. very antiseptic
Looks a cool looking dealership Sandi, we only have 2 Harley dealers in Scotland one in Edinburgh and one in Glasgow, both are great stores but the Glasgow dealer is my favourite About Us | West Coast Harley-Davidson
Thanks for sharing Sandi. That looks a great place to hang out. Im sure many just visit to have a haircut and end up leaving on a new bike
Thanks Sandi, like an amusement park. Can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting a Harley dealership.
Sorry for my slow response, @speedrattle. Anyway, we didn't get to Scottsdale via the route you described. We do regularly ride through the Salt River Canyon between Globe and Show Low. Even with all the rains we got this summer, water levels in Arizona are uniformly low these days. There is another area this dealership for parts but I didn't post a photo of that. But you're right, there seem to be fewer and fewer parts and gadgets and manuals and such even in the ten years that I've been riding. It seems that nowadays the salesperson looks online for the parts you want or might even have--how old school--a paper catalog to look through and then your parts are ordered and you wait. And wait. And wait. It doesn't make the shopping experience nearly as fun. It would be interesting to know the data on how that change has affected parts sales.
@Dougie D That West Coast Harley-Davidson dealership looks like a really cool place, Dougie! Thanks for sharing the link. I can hardly imagine only having two dealerships in my country, though. There are two in just Tucson (though belonging to the same parent company) and there are eight of so in Phoenix! We're definitely spoiled. I have to say that having dealerships nearby has saved our bacon a few times, the last one being on our big trip this past June when the fob for my Street Glide got run over on our first day. Durango Harley-Davidson had fobs for sale and was able to marry my new fob to my bike on the spot.
