Lawrence motorcycle lovers will no longer need to leave town to look for Harley-Davidson cycles. A new dealership has brought Harleys and their distinct, rumbling engines to north Lawrence.

Riverfront Harley-Davidson, 608 N. Second St., opened in mid-December.

Owner Mike Patterson said his Topeka dealership had needed to expand, and that Lawrence was the right market for him to tap into.

“A lot of our customers already come from Lawrence, and we’ve had a lot of growth with our business here in Topeka,” Patterson said.

He said business at Riverfront had been better than expected to this point, but that it was too early to determine if the store was successful.

“One thing that’s unique to the Lawrence store is that we are a smaller store,” Patterson said. “We think that’s important because the Harley-Davidson bike is a real personal product.”

Rick Campbell, editor and publisher of Motorcycle Industry Magazine, said Harley-Davidson increased its sales 20-fold from 1984 to 2004, though the growth has slowed somewhat since then.

He also attributed the growth partly to the reputation the company has developed.

“Harley sold lifestyle,” Campbell said, “as well as a pretty damn good motorcycle.”

Crystal Brennan, O’Fallon, Mo., senior, said she had inherited a love for Harley-Davidson motorcycles from her family. She said she had not yet heard about the Riverfront Harley store, but she said she planned to visit the store now.

Patterson said Harley-Davidson had grown partly because Harley provided a community as well as bikes.

“It’s a unique product that brings a diverse group of people together,” he said.

Brennan said Harley fans liked to gather together, and the Riverfront store might give Harley fans in Lawrence that opportunity.

Kansan staff writer Matt Erickson can be contacted at merickson@kansan.com.

— Edited by Ryan Schneider