I was reading the Financial news sites this AM and in an article HD claimed it had added 52,000 NEW RIDERS in 2018. That seemed rather odd as they have lost sales, profit, and market share in 2018.

Could this new rider figure be actually true, or s a gimmick of accounting? The only reason I can think of is that they must have sold a LOT of the Sportsters and the 500 and 750cc class bikes, which obviously are lower dollars and lower real profits.

Any ideas from anybody on this?

 

Harley has stated that their goal is to create riders, regardless of brand. Many people go through the course without buying a HD or buying a new/used HD from the dealer.
The number is simply how many people have taken the rider course through their dealer network. That's it. No marketing BS other than that. Has nothing to do with sales.

Really not hard to see or accept that people take a HD riding course, get their endorsement and then buy a used Rebel to dump 10 times before getting a different bike (maybe HD, maybe not)

 

Harley can claim anything they want, nobody is going to challenge them on that statement. It is pure marketing BS.

But HD is claiming Trumps tariffs were the cause of the loss

https://markets.businessinsider.com/...9-1-1027904892

Any financial loss the MoCo incurs is the fault of their poor management and marketing, plus crawling into bed with the EPA didn't help sales.... why am I going to give up my older bike for a bike they are going to void the warranty on if I modify the intake or exhaust system or use a tuner on.

My wife sold off our HOG stock in 2014, she made the right decision at the right time

 

Delete

 

IF for no other reason that "everyone ages".......as older riders age, quit riding or die off, they're replaced by "NEW RIDERS".......as others have suggested, possibly not buying HD's but "new" riders none the less. I wonder how many "new drivers (cars)" are created every year yet car sales go up and down every few years.

It's all about "marketing" and how optimistic your marketing department wants to spin numbers. It's the job of marketing to "market" and being positive is always better than negative.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/harley-da...122600213.html

 

Sold HOG a few months ago and bought some cannabis stock. At least that one's almost 12% to the good at this writing.

 

https://www.webbikeworld.com/harley-davidson-says-goodbye-to-profits-thanks-to-trump-tariffs/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-29/harley-profit-wiped-out-by-tariffs-as-sales-continue-slumping

 

"... But the motorcycle maker has more than tariffs and angry tweets to blame for its performance. U.S. retail sales tumbled 10 percent in the three months ended in December, the eighth consecutive quarterly drop. Chief Executive Officer Matt Levatich is having trouble attracting younger riders and plans to offer cheaper bikes and sell more clothing and gear -- including on Amazon -- to reach new customers."

Did ya miss this part? Of course you did, all you do is read headlines. The good news is your post contained only a link....no need to edit. Moron.

 

There will be plenty of people that will jump in here to claim it's all just rumors, they can operate for an eternity while they loose their ***.

It's what they get for hitching their wagons with the pc generation. With every turn they seem to pu$$y up their product and reputation. They made their bed, they can die in it. jmo Plenty of older bikes left to buy.