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The MoCo is in serious financial trouble right now. They just laid off 100 engineers in Milwaukee. All you will see in the next 2 model years is cost cutting and re-sourcing parts off shore. (no joke). If you notice they dropped the term "An American Motorcycle" from the Buell line about 2 years ago. This is due to the higher percentage of off shore parts in those bikes.
I hope you are wrong, but I fear you are right.
__________________ My Rides
2008 FLHTCUI, Candy Red Sunglo
2009 FLTR, 103 SE Stage II, Radical Custom Envy 20/200 Harley's look and feel like a motorcycle ought to
yes it was an awesome bike...but if the moco wants to increase ridership then why the hell don't they make it AFFORDABLE for more people to buy Harley...
makes sense to me lower the price but increase profit through volume..JMHO
For a business what would be the point of cheapening your product to make the same net profit? If a company made XXX million dollares a year profit selling 200,000 units or same dollar amout selling 500,000 units , just means you make LESS profit ( It is about return on an investment) so shelling out more dollars for labor and materials might mean a 10% profit OR make many less units and spend much less on materials & labor and produce the same dollar amount profit , means you would be getting a 25% return on money spent to make a profit , which would YOU rather do?)
OR to make it simple would you rather work 30 hours a week at $20/hour and earn $600 a week or work 40 hours a week and make $15 an hour and still make $600? Which is more profitable per time/cost a unit/hour?
Considering how far HD has come,I believe they will not let us down.Certainly impossible to please everyone.The very reason why the aftermarket is thriving.
Take a Sportster, strip it down to a bare bones bike * no fancy gadgets or gizmos, minimal chrome * just an all around no frills bike that the buyer can customize himself, price it in the range of 5-8K on the showroom floor, and advertise the snot out of it to the young jap bike crowd.
I seem to remember back in the day that this was how car manufacturers dealt. I could go look at a base model Camaro; 6 cylinder, skinny blackwall tires, no chrome, no radio, bench seat, etc. for a modest price. Then you could special order just about everything or go straight for a Z28, SS or RS. My brother in law ordered a Plymouth Duster (I know!) with special paint, trim and a bench seat with a floor shift! I agree; bring out an affordable big twin with no frills. Hell, we all change them as soon as we get them anyway!
The MoCo is in serious financial trouble right now. They just laid off 100 engineers in Milwaukee. All you will see in the next 2 model years is cost cutting and re-sourcing parts off shore. (no joke). If you notice they dropped the term "An American Motorcycle" from the Buell line about 2 years ago. This is due to the higher percentage of off shore parts in those bikes.
__________________
2003 FXST
Patriot Guard Rider 163818
V-Twin Cruisers MC Springfield Ohio Chapter President
Last edited by schumacher; 10-29-2009 at 11:08 AM.
Isnt that what the FXR2, 3, and 4 were all about or were they just a cvo thing?
No, when they discontinued the FXR, they had to reserve x number of frames for police bikes. Once the police departments started buying the Road King instead of FXRP's, Harley had excess frames. Instead of just scraping them, they did limited runs of FXR's with custom options and updated technology. Good business decision.
__________________
Life is out to kill you, watch your back!
2009 Fat Bob
“If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough”
-Albert Einstein
Never liked the FXR.....always saw them as a good donor for the VIN number cut out of the frame and the drivetrain.
Scrap the sporty an bring out a $5,000 softtail with the sporty 883 drivetrain.
Otherwise merge with Honda.
~Joe
__________________
2005 H/D Superglide
"When I get where I'm going, I'll be there"
Dare to turn your own wrenches-Everybody had to start doing it at one time.
Take a Sportster, strip it down to a bare bones bike * no fancy gadgets or gizmos, minimal chrome * just an all around no frills bike that the buyer can customize himself, price it in the range of 5-8K on the showroom floor, and advertise the snot out of it to the young jap bike crowd.
what fancy gizmos have you seen on a sporty? they don't even have a gas gauge..... and it is priced in the 5-8k range (for an 883)....
