Bar & Shield winning dealership sets standard for operations, customer experience
This article first appeared in the May edition of Powersports Business.
Diamondback Harley-Davidson isn’t one of the largest Harley dealerships in the country, but what it lacks in square footage, it makes up for in operational excellence and premium customer experience.
And its efforts aren’t going unnoticed, as the Lawton, Oklahoma-based dealership recently received Harley-Davidson’s 2025 Platinum Bar & Shield Award for exceptional service, a recognition given to the top five Harley dealerships in the nation.
Harley-Davidson’s Bar & Shield program is the company’s comprehensive dealer performance and rewards initiative, measuring results across overall sales, financing performance, and customer satisfaction. Performance baselines are established using historical benchmarks at both national and territory levels.
People and processes
The recognition was the dealership’s second Bar & Shield Award, earning Silver status in 2024. Diamondback General Manager Bobby Callahan credits his staff and the procedures put in place by his managing team for continuing to raise the bar and bring home back-to-back awards.
“It’s just people and processes. We have a solid management staff, and our team all drank the Kool-Aid. They get on board with every kind of process that we put in place,” Callahan says. “And it takes good people to do what we did. The store is running on all cylinders.”
However, Diamondback — like so many dealerships across the country — endured post-pandemic adversity. The store opened in 2019, and after the Covid sales surge, the store went through some growing pains. But even during that period of difficulty, Callahan believed the market still had a pulse, and it was just a matter of putting the right managers in place, knowing what processes to work through, and getting team members to buy into the vision.
“Every week we’d have manager meetings,” he recalls. “We went over our opportunities and, eventually, our sales jumped, and service followed.”
The two Bar & Shield Awards are a testament to how effective Diamondbacks processes have been. After riding the ship, Diamondback is in an even better position to thrive, now that the industry has stabilized somewhat.
“I think the market, based on what I’m seeing, is definitely stronger this year than it was last year, especially for U.S. sales.” — Bobby Callahan
Staying ahead of inventory
That’s a good sign considering Diamondback had a successful 2025. Callahan says the dealership, as of early April, is only sitting on three 2025 models — every other new unit is a ‘26. He estimates that the dealership sold between 215 and 229 new units last year, and feels the store is in great shape for 2026.
“Some dealers are not that fortunate, but we did a good job at the end of the year to push out the ‘25s, and here we are with only three carryovers left,” he says. “That helps with everything — especially because you’re not discounting as much.”
Among the more popular models sold at Diamondback has been Harley’s Trike range. Callahan says this year it positioned itself to have enough inventory to meet demand, and says the models have “really excelled” lately.
For 2026, Callahan predicts a 10% increase in major unit sales, putting the dealership at around 450 annual bike sales.
New outpacing pre-owned
Diamondback typically carries roughly 100 units on its showroom floor, about a fifty-fifty split between new and used. But Callahan says new unit sales are slightly outpacing his used machines. Pre-owned vehicles are a great way to get customers through the door, he says, but once they’re in, it’s the perfect opportunity to push the new units.
“There are a lot of dealers that push the pre-owned, but we focus more on our new bikes,” he says. “If somebody comes in on a straight line for a pre-owned, our dealers do a good job giving them that option on a new bike. That really lets us have a better new-to-used ratio, and it’s really working for us.”
Attracting new riders
As for clientele, Diamondback is still seeing plenty of traditional, old-school Harley HOGs, but it is also attracting some younger riders, especially recent graduates of its in-house Riding Academy. Callahan says sport model bikes like the Nightster are popular with new graduates, particularly because of the $10,000 price point.
“Those are the easiest flips to those Riding Academy students that just graduated and to younger riders — especially in this economy. We can’t keep enough of them (in inventory),” he says.
Diamondback is also generating new ridership through events and demo days. The dealership recently had the Harley-Davidson demo truck roll through with the 2026 model range available for test rides. It also hosts other monthly get-togethers like Poker Runs, Ladies Bike Night, and other events featuring food trucks and live music. “We try to have something going on every weekend,” Callahan says.
But the dealership’s biggest event is its Bikers and Bras benefit held in October. Now in its seventh year, the annual benefit raises money for area cancer centers that help fund transportation for patients going to and from treatment centers. For its 2025 benefit, Diamondback raised $8,000 for Cancer Centers of Southwest Oklahoma.
New CEO, new direction
Although Diamondback Harley-Davidson has been able to elude some of the difficulties other H-D stores have run into, Callahan says he’s optimistic about the company’s new CEO, Artie Starrs, and the direction he wants to drive Harley. And after having a face-to-face with the new chief executive, Callahan knows dramatic change isn’t likely to happen overnight, but says Starrs gave him confidence about the direction of the company through his approach to dealers and the new ideas brought to the table.
“We’re excited to see him come in here with fresh ideas, and he’s listening to the dealers,” Callahan says. “I think the future is bright. It’s not going to be an immediate change, but over the next couple of years, we’re going to see it. He’s definitely a smart guy, and I think he’s going to do what he needs to do.”
