Despite the hopes that the pleasant temperatures that dominated November would stay around forever, winter's eventual arrival has likely ended hopes of riding motorcycles on the road until springtime.
Bikers young and old enjoyed the longer season, but the late start due to a rough spring season, possibly combined with the flagging national economy kept sales of the big bikes around normal.
"Actually, looking back, it's real close to what we did last year, believe it or not," said Bill Upham, general manager of Roughrider Harley-Davidson in Minot. "So right now, it's kind of at par or maybe a little better."
That trend, however, did not carry over to the store's other inventory, Upham said.
"As far as bike sales, it's about the same, but motorclothes and parts? I think that's a little better than last year," he said.
At Pure Honda of Minot, owner Jeremy Berg agreed that the late summer boosted sales in some areas but not so much in others.
"As far as the on-road stuff the cruisers, the touring stuff it was definitely down, I think due to the weather," Berg said. "But the off-road stuff was still good, especially the ATVs (all-terrain vehicles). The weather doesn't really seem to matter with those."
"Last year, it snowed like crazy and we sold tons of plows, tons of tracked units, ATVs took off when they were supposed to take off," said Darin Benno with Pure Honda of Minot's sales department. "This year, they haven't taken off as much because of the nicer weather. We're down in plow sales and down in track sales."
"It's a seasonal thing, but we have snowblowers this year so we're kind of hoping for some snow," Berg laughed.
"But then again, I've been selling dirt bikes (later in the season)," Benno added.
At stores like these, especially with so many nice "toys" around, most employees are also customers.
Upham gladly admits he owns a bike, while the twinkle in the eyes of Berg and Benno make no secret they enjoy playing as well as selling.
So did they enjoy the extra fun time that the pleasant November temperatures provided them?
"Abolutely," Upham said. "I can have (the riding weather) all year around."
"We loved it," Berg said. "We'll ride whenever we can."
"We've got a track down here (behind the store)," Benno said. "We've been riding that thing every couple of days."
"Part of you wants to have snow, but part of you wants to have the nice weather, so you can enjoy it too," Berg said.
