I posted this on the Valkyrie (VRCC) site and started an interesting conversation so I'll post it here, too. I was having my truck serviced last week and walked to a nearby Honda dealer while I waited. I talked to a salesman I've known for a long time and asked him about the row of about a dozen used Harley Davidsons on the floor. He said they had an agreement with a finance company to take their repossessed Harleys. Apparently, the H-D dealers don't want them as they are having too much trouble selling new motorcycles.

How things have changed! Just 15 or so years ago you could buy a new Harley, ride it for a year, then sell it for a profit. Today some dealers won't even take a trade.

But Harley isn't alone. The same salesman said they used to sell a few dozen small Hondas right before Christmas, but these days they're lucky to sell 2 or 3. And a salesman at another Honda dealer told me of a Saturday in the 1980s when they delivered 11 new Goldwings. They would have delivered an even dozen but one owner couldn't get to the dealership before closing time.

I'm amazed we still have such a large selection of excellent motorcycles to choose from. But I get this feeling that in a decade or so the motorcycle marketplace won't be so broad, and we'll look back at this time as the 'good old days'.