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Posted by Brendan Mel is right. You cannot beat the staff at Bloomington HD-Aprillia. Jeff is on the ball. He has many enthusiasts working for him, and he is an enthusiast himself. To me, those are the type of guys to buy from. Racye Guthrie at Bloomington Powersports is the same. Rayce, Julie and Chase are heavily involved in motorcycling. Andy Gutish at Competition Cycle (KTM) in TH is great too. I don't know much about the Indian shop in Terre Haute, but I will not go there because I cannot stand a particular asshole that is involved with that shop. I also have a slight problem with Indian in the first place, even if they do have their own engine now. It's still wrong. Wabash Valley HD does a great deal of business. I frequented the shop when Brian Butts worked there. He left, and many of his WV HD customers followed him to his new shop in Indy. There is a dealer in the above mentioned area that has lost what selling bikes is about. This dealer chooses not to order the "wierd, won't sell bikes" because they are looking at their bottom line. Recently, a bike they chose not to stock ended up being virtually sold out in the states the first two weeks on the market. They may do this because they are being cautious. While I may disagree with their strategies, and that particular shop's customer service could really use some improvement, they are still in business. Something has to be said about that. The old saying "Nice guys finish last" holds true. Too many dealers that have gone above and beyond, end up going below. It's a tough one. You could find the perfect dealership, buy your bike, and get pissed off because the parts guy who just found out his wife was doing the owner of the shop he worked for, wouldn't give you the service you wanted. You just never know. I do wish that when particular dealerships are given contstructive criticism about their customer service, they actually listen and try to make improvements instead of pointing to the board that shows how many units they are selling that month. I can go on and on about this, but I am going on a long ride for the next few days, on my bike that I purchased from Bloomington Powersports in Bloomington., and I need to get some rest. I bought my V-Strom there because Rayce is a friend of mine, a true enthusiast, we agreed on a fair deal, and he had it in stock (he did keep the other unit for himself!) Chad at Thompson's gave me a great price, but couldn't get one in. Dave Wells at Dreyers went out of his way to work with me, even after he found out the units he had in were more than likely sold. Good luck, and I hope you find the right bike, and dealer.
on 4/17/2002, 10:52 pm
This is an interesting one. I worked at Thomspons for about 7 years. Out of the gazzilion bikes I have had in the last ten years, I purchased bikes from Thompson's, Hughes Honda (now closed) several from Bloomington Powersports, the BMW Shop in Savoy, IL. Being very active in the MC community, I hear many stories good and bad about every dealer in the area. I am sure that when I sold bikes, I made a few mad here and there. It could have been because I was having a bad day, or the person I was working with just plain sucked. 
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