Something Big Is Changing at Harley-Davidson — A Tough Road for an American Icon as Dealerships Shut Down
Philip Uwaoma
Sat, January 3, 2026 at 11:00 AM EST
4 min read
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Harley-Davidson, the nearly 122-year-old American motorcycle maker, is navigating one of the most turbulent periods in its recent history as multiple dealerships across the United States close permanently in 2025.
The closures are the offshoots of deep structural challenges facing the company, from changing consumer demand, a shifting economic environment, and efforts by new leadership to reverse an extended period of financial decline and brand weakening. These developments are playing out at a time when Harley is trying to stabilize its core business while accomplishing a major transformation of its financial operations.
In the first weeks of 2025, 11 Harley-Davidson dealerships closed their doors for good in towns spread across the country including Springfield in Illinois, Bloomsburg in Pennsylvania, eastern Iowa, Elkhart in Indiana, Maryland, Colorado and Wyoming, Texas, and Missouri.
These closures affected dealerships that had been in business for decades, many of them family owned and central to local riding communities. The Sun says owners cited unsustainable economic pressures and decisions made by the manufacturer that made their businesses unviable.
A Network Under Pressure
Dealership closures are not isolated incidents. Reports and community discussions on motorcycle forums show an ongoing trend of stores shutting quietly or being consolidated into larger operations.
Dealership owners and riders point to a convergence of factors, including a shrinking pool of traditional Harley buyers, rising operating costs, rising interest rates, and sharply falling sales traffic that have made the retail model difficult to sustain. In some cases, dealers have had to merge with larger groups to survive.
Underlying business performance trends help explain why Harley’s dealership network is under strain. In the second quarter of 2025, Harley reported a significant drop in revenue from its motorcycle business of about 23 percent compared to the previous year.
Weak retail sales and reduced dealer inventories accounted for much of the decline. In the same period, global motorcycle shipments were also down sharply as the company deliberately reduced dealer stock to better balance supply with soft demand.
Weak retail performance has ripple effects for dealers. Motorcycle dealerships rely on sales margins, service revenue and accessory sales to remain profitable. When retail traffic shrinks and inventory sits unsold for long periods, dealerships can quickly become unprofitable.
Many dealers also invested heavily in elaborate showroom and service facilities in past years expecting continued growth. Instead, their costs remain high while customer demand falls short of projections.
Story Continues
A Billion-Dollar Band-Aid on a Generational Problem
A critical dimension of the company’s challenges is demographic change. Harley’s traditional customer base tends to be older and wealthier than the typical motorcycle buyer. Younger riders have been slower to adopt Harley-Davidson models, even as competitors produce bikes that better align with emerging preferences for lighter, more affordable, and technologically advanced machines.
Electric motorcycle efforts like the LiveWire program gained attention but have not yet delivered broad market demand.
In response to these economic pressures and dealer stress, Harley has pursued major financial moves. The company completed a large strategic transaction involving Harley-Davidson Financial Services, selling interests and loan receivables to global investment firms KKR and PIMCO.
The move unlocked more than a billion dollars in cash for Harley and allowed the company to reduce debt and reposition its financial structure for greater flexibility. While the strategy does not directly involve dealership operations, it strengthened the company’s overall balance sheet.
The Weight of an Icon
Internally, leadership changes have followed. A new CEO, Artie Starrs, took over leadership after a period of turmoil in the executive ranks. The company has also announced other shifts in senior leadership roles in an effort to bolster commercial, dealer, marketing and operational functions. These moves are intended to unify strategy across product development, dealer support and brand positioning as Harley seeks to renew its connection with riders.
Starrs and other executives have publicly emphasized dealer network health as vital to any turnaround. In corporate earnings calls, the company pledged to strengthen dealer support through market specific promotions, inventory discipline and relaxed compliance penalties for facility guidelines to give dealers more breathing room. However, these measures come after years of declining sales and mounting financial pressure at the store level.
The closures have prompted strong reactions among riders and dealership communities. Longtime customers lament the loss of neighborhood Harley shops that provided not only motorcycle sales and service but a social connection point for riders. Local clubs had often relied on these dealerships for events and maintenance, and closures mean increased travel distances for many riders seeking dealer support.
As Harley’s story in 2025 unfolds, the brand’s iconic status brings scrutiny from both inside and outside the motorcycle world. Enthusiasts hope the company can rejuvenate demand and modernize its appeal. Dealers hope for more consistent corporate backing and viable economics. Investors watch to see whether strategic financial moves deliver lasting benefit.
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