Colonial Harley-Davidson (September 26, 2009)

On a rainy, gray dreary day in Virginia, what could be better than visiting a bike shop? That was my thinking this Saturday morning when I got into the Neon (which unlike my Kawasaki Vulcan is a real POS) and drove to Colonial Harley-Davidson at 1701 Temple Parkway in Prince George, VA. The shop was easy to find (being rather huge) and having a bright orange roof as you can see in the photo at left. There were quite a few cars in the lot (but no bikes owing to the weather) which shows that great minds think alike (or at least bikers know where to go when it looks like the skies will unload any minute.
They had a really good selection of motorcycles and surprisingly even some new Buell Motorcycles. I like the Buell line (and if you have not seen the new "2010 Buell Blast" video, check it out at the Buell web site). While very innovative motorcycles (with features such as fuel in the frame, and oil in the swingarm) they have been hampered by the use of Harley-Davidson engines. Great for cruising motorcycles, but a bit lame for sportbikes. The 1125R uses a Helicon 1125 V-twin engine; fuel injected, water cooled (two radiators) designed by Rotax (who has also made motorcycle engines for BMW, Aprilia as well as small aircraft engines. That should help level the field. The bike has (according to reviews) put the Buell more into competition with other sportbikes out there.
In addition to the Buell's they also had a big line of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. I checked out some of the 2010 models, plus the shop area (very nice and well equipped), as well as the very nice customer lounge. Been to a few Harley-Davidson shops (many of my friends ride Harley and like to be near the shops on rides...I joke it is to get parts that fall off, though they are much better made than a few years ago) and really liked this one. I was greeted but not hassled and was free to wander around without being bothered which is nice. They also have a large selection of clothing and motorcycle items (I found a great helmet that I may go back for with an aviation theme. I liked this motorcycle shop.
Nearby was another shop, this one was Burcham Cycles which sells Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha motorcycles. I also visited that shop, and will comment on that visit in my very next post.