Well think of it this way. Whens the last time you called customer service at AT&T or any other big company and actually talked to someone here? They all outsource it to india. Whens the last time that you bought anything from walmart and looked at the tag? made in india. The cost of production in india is immensely cheap. What if H-D did start producing bikes in india made a BIG profit margin then started importing them for sale in America to save money.

My thoughts on the subject are that if they made a bike that people want to buy then you wont have a problem with lagging sales here in america. H-D has never had a problem selling bikes here through all the years, depressions, recessions, etc.. so whats the problem now??? They arent making bikes ppl want to buy on a large scale. H-D was only selling 18000 bikes a year before the introduction of the softail and the Evolution engine. That move singlehandedly saved H-D from bankruptsy. Look at what H-D does. Its 5 years behind every trend, and still fudges it most time. You cant make something nobody wants, charge to much for it, then move sales overseas to make up for your mistakes...

 

i couldnt agree more

 

I resent spending money on a planned obsolescent item from a company that outsources the customer service dept to an overseas company that can't communicate with me when I call them and have trouble. I loose all control and want to just scream.

I would love a job at Harley in a customer service position...just let them call me for help with their Harley's.. I swear I will get even for every single time any one ever had trouble being understood...

 

EPA is Killing Harley, I wonder if the bikes that go to India will have to have the catalytic converters on them? 08 economic crash is not condusive to selling high end recreation items.

A republic, a style of government where the people are represented by the representatives! Did you tell your Representative to allow tax incentives for taking production overseas.

Poll 10,000 middle class or working class and see how they feel about outsourcing, do you think the majority want out sourcing and dumping legacy cost. Legacy Cost, that means there goes your Health Care and Retirement for the one's still working.

Just ask 10,000 manufacturing workers and...Oh! I'm sorry, don't guess you can ask 10,000 manufacturing workers anything...WE DON"T HAVE ANY MORE MANUFACTURING

 

They are already planning(or have they done it yet?) to outsource theyre chrome plating and other smaller things to other companys. Do you think we will see any savings?? No. We will see the same bike produced for the same price and H-D will pocket the money and we will be stuck with chinese chrome on our bikes.

 

I think it's a safe bet to say that sooner of later some of those "Indian" Harleys (now that kinda sounds funny) will make there way into the good old USA. If that does ever happens on a big scale, I will be finished with Harley-Davidson. I wouldn't care how good, fast, or cheep they were, I wouldn't be needing any of them. ........ And I'm also sure that the MOCO doesn't give a chit about what I think about the situation as well.

 

My sentiments exactly. I grew up in North Carolina. We were caught in the textile outsourcing fiasco that put whole familys out of work. Everyone had at least a family member who worked in a textile mill. They shut them down everywhere and caused people who worked there whole lives in that job to lose everything. My mom worked in the textile mills for 15 years!!! What are people supposed to do when you take away theyre whole life they knew just to save money...? Didnt save any money in the end...

 

Honestly........

How much will you work for?

No less than $30.00 an hour?

Some guy in India will do your job for $0.30 an hour.......

You own H-D, what do you do? Do the math.......

Not sayin' it's right or wrong, just sayin'.

 

Would you buy a H-D from this guy?

 

Look at the bling you put on your bike. How much of that is really "made in the USA"?
As long as 51% of your bike is "made in America", it can still be called American.