OK in a lot of the country motorcycling is seasonal. We don't ride in the snow.
Why dont harley make some cool snowmobiles, ATVs, or even a t-twin snow blower? It would be cool as hell! Give the dealer something to sell when the snow flies

 

Sounds like you wanna take HD back to the old AMF days.

 

I did my part to help them when I bought the bike and accessories. Who says they need saving now?

 

Let the MoCo save themselves. Focusing on their core products and making them the best in class products versus cheaping them out for short term gains will save them. Plus their financial arm of the company is what has hurt them so they need to fire all those jerkwads who decided to loan money at ridiculous interest rates to idiots who cant make the payments.

However, even though all of that sounds sensible there is no doubt they wil cost cut the bikes until they hit the AMF days again and their loyal following will all get pizzed off and go elsewhere. The guy running the company is not a motorcycle guy.......so it is slash & burn time.

Typical US financially driven corporate BS.

 

Because there is no way I will pay 15k for a v twin blower...lol But back in the day they did make a snowmobile

 

They made snow mobiles for a while, back in the 70's. Owned Holiday Rambler Motor coaches as well. They dumped all that, must not be very profitable.

 

Yep...reminds me of the old saying about why the most valued man in the business is the old timer...when the new kids on the block come up with great new ideas, he can explain to them why that didn't work the FIRST time around...

 

Let Harley Davidson save themselves,they know what they need to do to stay afloat !!!

 

First off, you wouldn't be saving Harley, you would be saving their stockholders. You might remember these guys, they are the ones that profitted when Harley moved their parts suppliers off shore and left tons of people in all walks of life out of work. Too bad they're unemployed. They might have the money to buy a HD and they could now be the ones "saving harley davidson".
Let's run to the dealer and pick up a $28 tee shirt made by a 10 year old in wuhunglo china.

 

...they haven't done ANYTHING for me since I bought my bike. If anything; it is because I decided to go with H-D that I have invested WAY more money on my motorcycle than I ever intended to. And it only keeps getting worse. The cost of their parts goes up almost every season in what I consider to be disproportionate amounts. I can understand if a product is improved upon from one season to the next or if it changes significantly enough that the process of manufacturing it and possibly the cost has to be altered significantly. But in some cases, it just seems senseless.

Just to give an example; I own a 08 Crossbones and after a season and a half I decided that I wanted a slightly lower seat height but I did not want to give up the sprung solo saddle look so I opted to go with the 1925 style solo saddle which has about an inch less of padding. I remembered that when I purchased my Bones, those saddles retailed for $199. When I went back to consider purchasing one back in December of 2009, they were now selling for $269 and had been selling for that price since the introduction of the 2009 model year!!!! In one season the price for the same seat went up $70!!! And it gets better. Just yesterday I was at the dealership looking through their 2007 parts catalog (one year before the Cross Bones came out) to look at parts for the FLSTSC since I am converting my Bones to more of that style of Springer and I just happened to notice the same 1925 solo saddle in that book. I then noticed that from that year to the next when I bought my Bones, it had gone up by $30 from $169 to the $199 that I remembered. To sum it up; in less than 3 seasons (2007-2009) the SAME EXACT seat with no changes or improvements has risen in price by a staggering $100!!! Maybe I am missing something but that seems a bit absurd to me! That's like a 60% increase. I don't know about anyone else but my salary has not gone up by almost 60% in the last three years. I can go on with more examples of this but I get so pissed just thinking about it! The only thing that keeps me indulging my new love of H-D is eBay. I got my solo saddle brand new on eBay for $180. Otherwise I might still be riding on the stock seat. In fact almost EVERY mod I have done to my Harley has come from eBay at huge savings and half of the items I have purchased have been new and not pre-owned. Sure, eBay can be a bit like playing the stock market and carries some risk but overall it has reduced a potential $2200 investment in aftermarket parts to more like $900 for me. I'm sure that is bad for the MOCO's bottom line but ultimately that is not the most important thing on my list of priorities when it comes to spending my hard earned cash on my hobby.

But there are other areas besides parts where I feel like people are getting robbed. One of those concerns the 500 mile service that you are asked to have done after you purchase you new bike. Maybe some of you can shed some light on the the thinking behind this? Oh I understand that much of it has to do with ensuring that the new motorcycle is functioning up to standards and such and such. But if that is the case, then IMO that expense needs to come out of THEIR pocket! 500 miles is less than two weeks riding to me! The bike is still practically brand new at that point and I fail to understand why so soon after I make my purchase, I have to sink another $425 to make sure it is all good. I mean; I have bought at least two brand new cars in my life and I don't remember having to dig into my pocket the moment I drove them home to make sure they were good to go. On the contrary, any little issue that may come up is made good by the car dealership. In one case, I bought a car and one of the rear light bulbs went out after about a month. I bought it and replaced it myself at Wal-Mart since they only cost a couple of bucks. When I happened to mention it to the dealership they paid me for the light bulb. Why H-D doesn't have this same sort of mentality is beyond me...?

If the MOCO needs saving, then they need to be the first to do something about it and I don't think that the answer is in the introduction of non motorcycle items. Especially since they will probably apply their pricing practices to those areas as well, ensuring that only the most devote H-D followers will care enough to shell out their coin for it.

I LOVE my H-D motorcycle...but honestly the MOCO needs to be a little more considerate towards their loyal followers. They may find that to be the solution to their financial woes.