HD to layoff 1,100 and close some facilities

PLUMMEN wrote:

have no fear young un,the new sherrif is gonna save us all!:laugh:

"Huh. Don't look at ALL like a sherif to me, Andy!"

:laugh:

PLUMMEN wrote:

have no fear young un,the new sherrif is gonna save us all!:laugh:

I wish this site had "rollin' all over the place smilies"
I would post about 120 of them.:laugh: :laugh:

I bet none of HD's layoff's are from Propaganda, errr I mean Marketing.....

If they made airplanes would you fly in one?

Kawickrice wrote:

If they made airplanes would you fly in one?

Death Wish? :laugh:

I also own a 1983flh. I am happy they used the same parts for 50 plus years, it makes them easy to come by. The people who own Harleys prefer that type of product, just like people who own BMWs or VWs. Harley has been geared towards RUBS (Rich Urban Bikers) the last 10-15 years. Now that crowd has moved on to something else and the prices are dropping on new and used.
The market has changed as well as the economy. I do not see it as a sign that a company that has been making motorcycles for 105 years has been nothing but a mistake.
IMO Harley should stop changeing the bike to leading edge technology and go the other way, and serve the core customer.

I will get a Harley one day. The twin cam motor is fairly reliable, not sure about the others. There is nothing wrong with fifty year old technology if your building a fifty year old bike but you cant ignore technology. They could manufacture old school looks with new technology for dependability reasons. Who wants to spend big bucks to wrench on a new bike because management will not accept change. Like I said I will get a Harley one day, but I wont buy one just to say I have one.

1995 to 2005 U.S. Motorcycle Market Share

Honda 27.4%
HD 23.7%
Yamaha 17.4%
Suzuki 10.8%
Kawasaki 8.7%

source: Web Bike World

Yes indeed, Harley has done an absolutely horrible job selling to their market. I mean look at that, Harley is only number two in US market share, and only three times the market share of Kawasaki! The Board should fire the entire management team and bring in someone that can build and sell bikes.


How does that old saying go? "None is so blind as he that will not see"

Or maybe blinded by emotional bias.

15 minutes and 15 grand dont make you a biker. Most of the weekend warriors have little to no expierence and should not be allowed on the roads with big cc bikes, that goes for the crotch rockets also.
Like the other guy said RUBS rich urban bikers, that is a majority of Harleys market share. With out the yuppies where would they be?
I like the classics myself so If Kawasaki is last in the market share so be it.
P.S. I ride with a 56 panhead and that is a beautiful bike.

Stuck in Tampa

Patton wrote:

Kawickrice wrote:

If they made airplanes would you fly in one?

Death Wish? :laugh:

Hey, I fly one of those things and if you like to ride (I rode 33years before I started flying) you would love to fly in these powered parachutes
Lynn