(12-10-2023, 03:58 PM)WALRUS Wrote: My local sels BMW, Ducati, Triumph & I think Enfield. Pay ZERO attention to Enfield.
(Royal Enfield has it's nitch, and the mechanics don't complain about the quality.)
Ran into Bob Odell yesterday at the shop holiday party - hadn't seen him in 29 years. Part of the folklore of St. Louis is how he and Bill Heggerty and Brian Casey founded the first BMW Motorrad of St. Louis in a carriage house in Lafayette Square. That business was BMW-only for 30 y. Honz (Robert Honz of Honz Cycles and a saleman for Bob) became general manager of the new dealership - Gateway BMW - in 2007. Started as BMW-only, but Honz is a smart salesman and businessman. (Who else could have sold so many more R18s than the rest of the country?) Now, a very long way from the carriage house, BMW motorcycles in St. Louis are sold out of a giant new facility - far enough away from Moto Europa in the city that they were able to also pick up Donnelson's Ducati dealership....
So, BMW, Beta, Ducati, Royal Enfield.
OK - so probably not a pertinent addition to the Indian of Sturgis story, but another story to add to the trend of BMW plus dealerships.
Recent virtual tour. https://www.gatewaybmw.com/virtual-tour/
"A good man always knows his limitations...."