Dismal numbers
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,923
Likes: 266
From: Deep in the heart of New Jersey
I sold a Harley this year ,and bought a Harley this year. The one I bought was older then what I sold. I said f@%^ it, no job , nothing that looks like a job coming my way. I'm 56 been out for almost 2 years, and don't know if I'll ever get back to work. I may be going to hell in a bucket, but at least I'm enjoying the ride.,,
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 6,913
Likes: 87
From:
I'm not the kind of customer that dealers and manufacturers look for. I keep my bikes for a long time and in all the years and all the bikes that I have been riding, I have always paid cash for my motorcycles. I have never needed a motorcycle in the non-rider's definition. I have always needed it in my mind.
Mr. Lock's latter statement hits the nail on the head. "You can make all the rational arguments about safety and cost and resale value, but there's still that voice in the back of your head saying you've got to do it. Motorcycling won't die...".
I see it in the eyes of little kids when I am riding by. There is something about a motorcycle that just screams individualism, freedom, daring, etc. and those things are longed for in a great many people beginning at a very young age and continuing into old age senility ( unless one becomes frightened of real living).
And Harley stock prices continue to rise.
Mr. Lock's latter statement hits the nail on the head. "You can make all the rational arguments about safety and cost and resale value, but there's still that voice in the back of your head saying you've got to do it. Motorcycling won't die...".
I see it in the eyes of little kids when I am riding by. There is something about a motorcycle that just screams individualism, freedom, daring, etc. and those things are longed for in a great many people beginning at a very young age and continuing into old age senility ( unless one becomes frightened of real living).
And Harley stock prices continue to rise.
Club Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 66,126
Likes: 51,458
From: Niles Canyon Ca.
Hard times no doubt but the one rule I set for myself a VERY LONG time ago was if I cannot pay outright for it I didn't need it . And yes I wrote a check when I wanted that $22,000 pickup as I will for anything else . A house in California is the only exception to that rule I've made because of which I'll survive this reasonably intact and still retire in 8 yrs . Oh ya I have a degree but I'm blue collar by choice so no silver spoons involved , just worked better for me .
As the article pointed out a bike particularly a Harley is reward toy for most people too bad so many went neck deep in debt to get one when they financially shouldn't have . Talk started about 10 yrs ago about when the HD bubble was going to pop it actually hung a couple years longer than I thought it would .
Here's a scary little fact you won't see posted anywhere . Used to be when a harley was ripped off the motor & drive train were the main reason , now they throw those away thieves are after all the sheetmetal and add on's . Hell of a market for that stuff it seems with the MOCO taking 3-5 months to ship and wanting your unborn child for the price tag . A lot of those rubbies are dropping them bikes .
Road Captain
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 618
Likes: 0
From: Buffalo NY
Hard times no doubt but the one rule I set for myself a VERY LONG time ago was if I cannot pay outright for it I didn't need it . And yes I wrote a check when I wanted that $22,000 pickup as I will for anything else . A house in California is the only exception to that rule I've made because of which I'll survive this reasonably intact and still retire in 8 yrs . Oh ya I have a degree but I'm blue collar by choice so no silver spoons involved , just worked better for me .
As the article pointed out a bike particularly a Harley is reward toy for most people too bad so many went neck deep in debt to get one when they financially shouldn't have . Talk started about 10 yrs ago about when the HD bubble was going to pop it actually hung a couple years longer than I thought it would .
Here's a scary little fact you won't see posted anywhere . Used to be when a harley was ripped off the motor & drive train were the main reason , now they throw those away thieves are after all the sheetmetal and add on's . Hell of a market for that stuff it seems with the MOCO taking 3-5 months to ship and wanting your unborn child for the price tag . A lot of those rubbies are dropping them bikes .
As the article pointed out a bike particularly a Harley is reward toy for most people too bad so many went neck deep in debt to get one when they financially shouldn't have . Talk started about 10 yrs ago about when the HD bubble was going to pop it actually hung a couple years longer than I thought it would .
Here's a scary little fact you won't see posted anywhere . Used to be when a harley was ripped off the motor & drive train were the main reason , now they throw those away thieves are after all the sheetmetal and add on's . Hell of a market for that stuff it seems with the MOCO taking 3-5 months to ship and wanting your unborn child for the price tag . A lot of those rubbies are dropping them bikes .
Road Master
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,231
Likes: 0
From: FLORIDA
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 8,438
Likes: 6
From: Gulf Coast of Mississippi
It has finally come to pass where people's spending habits have caught up with them. There was a time where people, when thinking about purchasing something, considered the what if factor. What if I get laid off... what if I get sick... you know that kind of stuff. In the last 30-40 years things changed. Both the man and the woman in a family started working so they could buy bigger and more expensive things. Keeping up with the Jone's or out doing the Joneses became the mindset. They over extended themselves and now the economy is really suffering because they left themselves no room to maneuver with respect to their bills.
Everything got over inflated because of the false demand when the government stepped in and tried to make everyone a home owner and financial institutions considered 100 percent of both incomes as one. The biggest problem with that is you are twice as likely to lose part of that income somewhere in time and twice as likely not being able to cover your obligations.
The problem now it that companies can not sell a product to those can not afford what they already have. After all the dust settles and people have learned their lessons. Things will get back to basics and the market will get back to a normal rhythm.
Charlie D.
Everything got over inflated because of the false demand when the government stepped in and tried to make everyone a home owner and financial institutions considered 100 percent of both incomes as one. The biggest problem with that is you are twice as likely to lose part of that income somewhere in time and twice as likely not being able to cover your obligations.
The problem now it that companies can not sell a product to those can not afford what they already have. After all the dust settles and people have learned their lessons. Things will get back to basics and the market will get back to a normal rhythm.
Charlie D.
Road Master
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,013
Likes: 1
From: New Brunswick, C-eh-n-eh-d-eh
It has finally come to pass where people's spending habits have caught up with them. There was a time where people, when thinking about purchasing something, considered the what if factor. What if I get laid off... what if I get sick... you know that kind of stuff. In the last 30-40 years things changed. Both the man and the woman in a family started working so they could buy bigger and more expensive things. Keeping up with the Jone's or out doing the Joneses became the mindset. They over extended themselves and now the economy is really suffering because they left themselves no room to maneuver with respect to their bills.
Everything got over inflated because of the false demand when the government stepped in and tried to make everyone a home owner and financial institutions considered 100 percent of both incomes as one. The biggest problem with that is you are twice as likely to lose part of that income somewhere in time and twice as likely not being able to cover your obligations.
The problem now it that companies can not sell a product to those can not afford what they already have. After all the dust settles and people have learned their lessons. Things will get back to basics and the market will get back to a normal rhythm.
Charlie D.
Everything got over inflated because of the false demand when the government stepped in and tried to make everyone a home owner and financial institutions considered 100 percent of both incomes as one. The biggest problem with that is you are twice as likely to lose part of that income somewhere in time and twice as likely not being able to cover your obligations.
The problem now it that companies can not sell a product to those can not afford what they already have. After all the dust settles and people have learned their lessons. Things will get back to basics and the market will get back to a normal rhythm.
Charlie D.
