A POPULAR longtime Harley-Davidson dealership is being sold after 26 years, with the store now facing an uncertain future.
The iconic motorcycle dealership held its last day in business under the current owners on Saturday.
A Harley-Davidson dealership in Kewanee, Illinois, is being sold after 26 years[/caption]
The dealership was previously owned by motorcycle racer Roger Reiman[/caption]
Reiman, right, won the Daytona 200 three times in a successful career[/caption]
Only merchandise was for sale on the final day, and all sales were expected to be cash-only.
The owners of Reiman’s Harley-Davidson dealership in Kewanee, Illinois, have kept the small business in their family for more than a quarter of a century.
It is being sold to Walter Brothers Harley Davidson dealership in Peoria, Illinois.
They said on Facebook they had made the decision to sell up over the summer.
Scott Packee, who took over the running of the family business from his father, Dennis, explained the move had been a long time coming.
“Him and I bought a brand new bass boat four years ago — literally right as Covid hit,” he wrote.
“We’ve never used it. I’ll be damned, this summer, I put my boys — his grandboys — in that boat, and we went fishing.
“When we went fishing, we decided, you know, maybe it’s time that we do…things a little different.”
The dealership in Kewanee, a small town of just 12,000 people around 115 miles southwest of Chicago, previously had a famous owner.
It was passed to Dennis Packee by legendary motorcycle champion Roger Reiman.
Reiman, a national champion motorcycle racer in the 1960s, won the Daytona 200 three times.
He was also head mechanic for famous motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel.
Reiman died tragically in 1997 in a chain-reaction pile-up while practicing for the Daytona Battle of the Legends.
That year, Packee took over the dealership.
The following year, he was inducted into the Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame.
Who was Roger Reiman?
ROGER Reiman was a national champion motorcycle racer in the 1960s.
He grew up in Kewanee, Illinois, where his parents owned a Harley-Davidson dealership.
After graduating from high school in 1956, he began his racing career.
Among the highlights from his distinguished career was his winning the Daytona 200 three times.
In 1970, he took over the running of his family’s dealership and reduced his racing schedule.
He also became head mechanic for the legendary daredevil Evel Knievel.
Reiman kept racing until the end of his life, and it was while practicing for the Daytona Battle of the Legends when he was tragically killed in 1997.
His motorcycle was caught up in a chain reaction pile-up.
Reiman’s funeral was help in Kewanee, with a three-block cortege of motorcycles providing what Star-Courier reporter Dave Clarke described as “a final salute to a fallen hero.”
Among the many who paid tribute to Reiman was fellow Kewanee motorcycle racer Bill Scott, who won the 1959 Daytona 100.
Source: The Kewanee Historical Society
Scott Packee told local radio station WGIL he had sold up because he wanted to spend more time with his father, who is now 80.
“It is time for us to actually be able to go out and actually go for a ride,” he said.
“We haven’t got to do that in 26 years, basically. We haven’t been able to go out and actually put our knees in the breeze.”
He added that he had taken to Facebook over “mean” rumors that had bubbled up over recent weeks.
The sale is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks, he said.
Many customers expressed their disappointment at the sale.
One, Colin, described the business as a “Great local HD dealership for many years,” and added that he hoped the “new owners keep it a family vibe!!”
Another, Tyler, wrote on Facebook, “On to I’m sure bigger and better things. Reimans has been a beacon of fairness and honesty where other dealers have fallen short.
“Scott, wish you guys the best moving forward.”
