Nov. 13--For months, Michael Summers has eyed the same 2009 pearl-yellow CVO Road Glide whenever he goes into Mills Harley-Davidson in Burlington City.

Summers, 55, of Fairless Hills, a Harley-Davidson devotee, said that, in a normal economy, he would have traded in his current motorcycle -- a 2004 Road Glide -- for the new $31,000 bike in a heartbeat.

"This is not a normal economy," said the parts manager for a construction-equipment company in Lionville, who's fearful he could lose his job any day because major road-construction work has dried up. "We don't know when this is going to end."

It's not surprising that sales of big, expensive toys, like motorcyles, RVs and boats, are taking a hit in this bad economy.

With the credit markets in turmoil, the long-standing tradition of going to a Harley-Davidson dealership, picking out a bike, and getting the loan to pay for it all under one roof, is in jeopardy.

"There's no doubt the economic turmoil and lowered consumer confidence continue to make this a very tough business environment," said company spokesman Bob Klein.

In April, the company, with headquarters in Milwaukee, announced that, because of decreased demand, it was reducing shipments of H-D bikes for the rest of the year.

It also announced 730 layoffs -- with 328 of those coming at Harley-Davidson's final-assembly operations in York, Pa. The staff cuts were completed over the summer.

Third-quarter earnings released last month showed revenue for Harley-Davidson decreased about 8 percent year-over-year, to $1.42 billion. Retail sales declined 15.5 percent.

For the first nine months of this year, retail sales of new Harley-Davidson motorcycles were down 11.9 percent in the United States, compared with the same period a year earlier. "People are afraid to spend," said Mills salesman Vince Ruggeri. "They aren't thinking about motorcyles right now."

There's row upon row of glistening bikes of every conceivable color and design inside the 46,000-square-foot showroom at Brian's Harley-Davidson in Langhorne.

But foot traffic is off about 20 percent this year, said owner Brian Bentley. Bikes at the shop range in price from $6,500 for a two-wheeler, to $30,000 for a customized bike; a three-wheel motorcyle runs about $33,000.

The Langhorne store, like all independent Harley dealerships, relies on the company's in-house financing unit -- known as Harley-Davidson Financial Services, or HDFS -- to finance its inventory and consumer loans. But that funding source has been depleted.