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Powersports Business • April 2025 • 7

Attorneys from Seyfarth Law recently posted news about a Massachusetts federal court ruling in favor of Harley-Davidson over a dealer.

Ronnie’ s Cycle Sales of Pittsfield, an authorized Harley-Davidson dealer since 1956, challenged Harley’ s 2021 Internet Sales Policy in its filing( Ronnie’ s Cycle Sales of Pittsfield, Inc. v. Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Inc.). Under the 2014 dealer agreement between the dealer and the manufacturer, the parties agreed the dealer would operate from a single( brick-and-mortar) location in Western Massachusetts and would be responsible for promoting the retail sale of Harley-Davidson motorcycles in its territory.

According to Harley’ s dealer agreement, the dealer can’ t sell to non-retail customers but could sell P & A through its website,“ only as permitted by [ Harley-Davidson ] in writing,” the law firm states.

In the dealer agreement, Harley had the right to enforce policies that were believed necessary to carry out the purpose or intent of the agreement. In June 2021, the manufacturer announced it was implementing a new Internet Sales Policy to ensure that its trademark was represented consistently across all internet sales channels.

The policy allowed customers to order products online for pickup at any Harley- Davidson dealership. It also allowed dealers to ship products ordered online directly to retail customers, but only if those customers resided in the dealer’ s assigned territory. It prohibited the sale of Harley parts and accessories to non-

Harley OEM retail locations. Still, it allowed the sale of parts and accessories to non-OEM retailers if those non-OEM retailers were located in the dealer’ s assigned territory.

Harley then adopted a non-retail sales policy prohibiting dealers from selling its products to non-authorized aftermarket retailers outside the dealer’ s assigned territory.

The Massachusetts dealer believed the new policies threatened its business model since Ronnie’ s derived most of its revenue from selling Harley parts and accessories to an affiliated non-Harley OEM retail location in its assigned territory. The retailers sold these products to two affiliated aftermarket stores in New York and Vermont, with a

“ lucrative online business” selling branded parts and accessories to customers nationwide. Harley believed these practices were unauthorized due to its revised non-retail and internet sales policies.

The law firm sided with Harley in this case, saying Ronnie’ s was explicitly prohibited from selling to the customer in question because( 1) the affiliated retail location within the dealer’ s assigned territory was a non-Harley OEM retail location( selling other motorcycle brands) and( 2) the dealer could not sell parts and accessories to the non-OEM aftermarket retail locations outside of the dealer’ s assigned territory.

Harley offered to help Ronnie’ s Cycle transition its business practice to focus on retail sales at its physical location, but the dealer rejected this assistance and filed suit in federal court in February 2022, alleging the manufacturer had breached the dealer agreement between the parties; had unlawfully modified the dealer agreement; and had imposed anticompetitive territorial restrictions in violation of the Massachusetts Antitrust Act.

COURT DISMISSES DEALER’ S CLAIMS In an unpublished decision in December, the court granted the motion, holding that

See Harley, Page 8

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Hideout Harley Davidson in Joplin, Missouri, announced on March 4 that it would be closing at the end of the month.

Hideout Harley posted recently on its Facebook page that it will be shutting down for good March 31. The dealership was also featured on local news station KOAM’ s website, offering more details.

“ After proudly serving the SWMO Community and helping riders find their freedom on the open road, we’ ll close our doors for the final time— forever grateful for the memories and journeys shared,” Hideout Harley-Davidson says in a statement. – Hideout Harley-Davidson The dealership will reduce prices on its current inventory until the end of the month and will reduce business hours.

We wish the owners and employees the best in their new chapter, but it is sad to see a dealership unable to survive in these times.

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