Charlie Cole is a Harley-Davidson dealer… a pretty successful one at that. Since the day he interviewed at Juneau Ave. HQ back in September of 1997 he has found working with The Motor Company to be the best business experience he has ever had. Recently that has turned into some of the worst times he has had… not so much personally — he could retire any time — but for his 200+ employees and loyal customer community that the Cole Harley-Davidson family of dealerships has built up in the past three decades.
He is NOT some Internet crackpot looking to cash in on clicks or make a name for himself stirring the pot online. He doesn’t believe in brand bashing, nor is he anti-anything. He is pro riding, he is pro business and pro Harley-Davidson to the core. In fact, he served a term on Harley-Davidson’s DAC and his stores have won countless Bar & Shield honors… including two Platinum Bar & Shields.
When a copy of his letter to Harley-Davidson President, CEO and Chairman of the Board Jochen Zeitz was forwarded to me, my first reaction as a magazine hack with a scoop was a Pavlovian response: “cry havoc and loose the dogs…” My response as a dealer advocate since 1991 when I joined Dealernews was “This guy has some Moxie!” Rather than see him go through what NPDA experienced when Wall Street Journal ran an internal memo as headline news, I called Charlie.
He is passionate, articulate, thorough and objective. This is not a grandstanding play (and the timing could actually hurt some of his business plans). However he feels he owes it to the industry and The Motor Company to share his thoughts.
