A huge part of H-D has been tradition and marketing. If they keep outsourcing things out of the Country I don't think the marketing dept. will be able to overcome that. Course I see plenty of bikes with a Chinese-made fairing on the front, Chinese-made US flag holder on the back, and a bunch of Chinese add-on chrome in between. At least the handlebar switches were made in North America..............................though not in the US................and yes the bike I'm sitting on in my avatar is a bike that was made in Ohio.............

 

Think about this-Harley forced all the little mom and pop HD dealers to build new stores so they could create a new image ,Those that built stayed those that didnt or couldnt Harley gave the boot-these Mom and Pop dealers catered to us Riders that kept the older bikes and gave 100%.Now when you buy a new bike its Let us show you are cloths dept REP.next see are Parts dept Rep-Next see are Finance rep and Buy that Extended Warranty and will wrap it up in one big contract. After the sale -Who ARE YOU???? After dropping 30grand-Plus charge the new rider that is clue -less 300 bucks to learn how to ride.Now dont forget when you go to trade that ride in thats to small to begin with they low ball you on the trade because that ride they talked you into prior is financed to the hilt. I think they did it to themselfs.

 

Hope HD makes it. I've got my first Harley now and just love it.
Great Bike!!! Big problem Harley has now is the price of it's bikes.
My '10 Road Glide Custom was $21,500. Almost $23,000 with the extended warantee that you really need with a Harley.That's a lot of money for a bike.
To put that in perspective...I did'nt pay that much for the last three bikes I had together...750 Honda $6,000, 1100 Honda Sabre $7,000, 1300 Yamaha Tourer $10,000. And that Yamaha was pretty comparable to my new Harley. Another example. My best freind just bought a new '09 Yamaha 1900 Stratoliner...what a bike. In every way equal to my bike...but much faster. List price...$15,500. But he paid only
$12,500. Yes Yamaha will deal. Believe me I would much rather have my Harley. But in today's economy where half the people are making less that $10 an hour...around $20,000 for a motorcycle is pretty much out of the question.
Heck...$20,000 would buy you a new Chevy Impala...or Ford Fusion...to put it into perspective. Hope I'm wrong but with this period of tight credit and low wages...I think all the car and motorcycle companies are in for a rough ride.
RonC

 

I don't remember that Harley-Davidson was ever economical. No matter what anybody says about the mom and pop dealers. They cost top dollar always. The financial bubble with mortgages and 2nd mortgages is what caused them to get big. Now the people that bought those high priced toys have to deal with it. I agree about the boutique dealerships. I imagine there will be a shakeout.

The Jap bikes will never be in the same class - except for people who don't GAS. I've met a few, but usually they grew up driving crap dirt bikes out in the boondocks and never saw a real motorcycle until they had been riding a dozen years. For me the Hog is the only motorcycle there is. Period.

 

Extended warranties are "needed" BS only a sap buys a service contract on anything. Currently I have four HD's and they have never been back to a dealer.

By the way a bigger % of HD buyers pay cash than metric buyers. HD is making a profit. Honda has been losing money for the past two years with loads of bikes still in the warehouses. Honda just cleared it's 04 and 05 Rune's this year by holding an auction. They still have a big supply of old VTX,s and others.

If the metrics have bike's equal to HD's how come they have to have fire sale prices to unload them?

You do know that over half of the over 600 cc bikes sold in the US each year are HD. All of the other brands divide up the other half.

When will you metric trolls give up? The war is over and the winner is HD. Success is determined by sales.

 

We have seen it in the America auto industry. American car makers made a terrible product until the Japanese made them "retool". They corrected for a while but then back slipped to once again making a terrible product.
HD makes a terrible product. For what they charge, for the repairs required, for the "crap" they sell in their stores they are "killing their own goose". They can't justify their increase in costs, their policy of changing standard items to assessories their BAD customer realtionships - hence the name "Stealerships".
They really deserve what they are receiving, and like before, maybe just maybe they'll find somebody within the organization that will once again appreciate their customer and treat them with "just a little respect".

 

Feel better, troll? :i con_fryingpan:

 

I just noticed something I consider "disturbing" from a what are we going to do? aspect.

In 2007 I bought a pair of mirrors for my wifes Bob ---IN CANADA for $165.00--today on ebay a dealer is advertising them for $204.00. US.

Not a good business plan----bike sales down --raise the parts prices.

 

No worries for Harley. Nothing wrong that the half billion in bail out bucks won't fix. Now that Harley is safe, it's just you and me that need to worry.