[Jeff in Kentucky]

For other motorcycle forums i have spent time at, they get quieter during the summer when everyone is out riding, except for the people closer to the equator or in the Arizona desert who ride more in the winter when it is not too hot, and busier during the winter when people are home more after work.

Maybe this forum is different because it is set up more for beginners, who might not plan for all winter to get a motorcycle. Maybe it is partly from the slow economy this year.

It is surprising how little is now written about the severe recession in the early 1980s, similar to this recession. Three motorcycle dealers around here closed their doors this year:

“The Dunstall organisation became a victim of the sharp decline in the motorcycle market at the end of the 1970’s with its attendant drop in sales and profits. Paul leased out unused factory space to other businesses and finally sold the name in 1982. It died within 3 years.”

“In 1981, AMF sold Harley-Davidson to a group of thirteen investors led by Vaughn Beals and Willie G. Davidson for $80 million…In the early eighties with very low sales numbers, Harley-Davidson claimed that Japanese manufacturers were importing motorcycles into the US in such volume as to harm or threaten to harm domestic producers. After an investigation by the US International Trade Commission, President Reagan imposed in 1983 a 45% tariff on imported motorcycles with over 700cc engine capacity.”