[quote=ken thompson;4142912]You shouldn't say things like this in public.

Why not?
I admit that I am not a savvy investor, I have invested the last 20 years of my life in a military pension, the next 20 will be in 401k for my second career. My wife has her 401k, and we dabble a little in online trading (just hoping we get lucky) Between the two of us when I hit 65 we will have three retirements plus social security (if it still exists).
Am I guilty of spending more than I should right now to enjoy life?, you bet! But today may be my last day on this planet, and my friends and family will be able to say at my funeral "he lived life to the fullest!" Will yours say that about you?

 

True, but... As long as HD didn't get caught up in some of the exotic ponzi schemes that Bear Stearns, Merrill, and Wamu did they should weather this storm. At least HD still manufactures something. There will be a number of dealerships that close and it will take years to reduce the used bike inventories, but even with 10% unemployment (a real possiblity) that means 90% of us are still working and people will still want bikes, parts, clothing, etc.

 

I wonder if this HD catch phrase "will fly" when some can no longer make their payments to MOCO?

 

Interesting POV ... riddle me this batman? Why can a company like Toyota build cars in the US at a profit but GM, FORD, and Chrysler can't? Are those big corporations less "greedy" than the big 3 or maybe they are not under the constraints of "greedy" labor ... just something to consider.[/QUOTE]

There will always be Japanese cars, I guess I've just accepted them, What makes my guts churn is the influx Korean automobiles, these junk chinese "motorcycles" and scooters, and buying anything from a country where there isn't equal trade(that's a big one, I know..) It is next to impossible to purchase everything Made in U.S.A. but nobody even thats that into consideration anymore.
Good point on the Big 3, Honda USA no longer builds motorcycles in the U.S. because they were loosing money. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Toyota, Honda (cars), Subaru that have plants in the U.S. Japanese cars have the reputation on being reliable and inexpensive, GM/Chrysler/Ford all build cars that are equal in reliability and priced as good if not better, I think their poor sales are also related to the loss of sales to jap companies that has also contributed their current state.

 

This is dumb article. HD is a well ran company fiscally but pisses me off customer treatment. Every sound company is down.

Just another stupid article that is written by expert on econmics that wild fire expert last week and hurricane expert two years ago. Just pandering unneeded emotion noting else.

 

extech,
your point is taken but consider this. It has only been the past few recent years where the American car companies equaled or came close to relaibility of the Japanese car makers. Many Americans suffered with poor quality and short warranty periods and were burned by it, some repeatedly. You can't expect anyone to jump on the GM/ Ford/ Chrysler bandwagon over night. Plus they once again prove how mis-managed they really are (asking us for a bailout), further degrading confidence in them for much of anything.

Honda did not move MC Manufacturing back to Japan because they were losing money here. Just the opposite in fact. They had outgrown their car building capabilities and needed the plant space for autos and so, moved the 'easier to ship" product back to Japan's MC plant.

But you are right about labor. I myself work for a Fortune 300 Company with plants Globally. Some of our worst performers in terms of quality and work ethic (that actually hurt us) are right here in Ohio and are the few that are Unionized. Our Company does allot of acquisitions and those plants and product lines were acquired years ago. But the attitude there and end results coming from there is a real hinderance at times. It's those same "labor" issues that are now crippling GM and the others.

 

[QUOTE=1Coastie;4142979]Amen!
Us bitchin' about the economy isn't going to change anything, it just seems like we all stand around waiting for things to get better, and then complain about bagger wobble or decelleration pop, what we really need to do is find out what each of us can really do to help the economy. I wish I knew.