you dont get the emails from H/D ? I got one and it had a link to a pic..

 

I don't mind them having the attitude that you have to pay full price for a Harley because I agree it keeps the brand strong. It also keeps the value of used bikes up where we all want them to be. I do, however, have a problem with them charging premium dollars for Chinese made parts!

 

"*****"You gotta pay full price for a Harley," Olin said. The Harley-Davidson brand has strong appeal in international markets."

It's part of that mentallity that put the American auto industry where it is today.(Fortunately they're making changes and hopefully turning it around)

Harley Davidson is very fortunate that it has a few things going for it that most companies can only dream of.

1) Owner loyalty
2) An excellent product
3) The inability of another company replicating their lineup

Harley davidson should begin asking itself a couple of questions:

1) Is todays generation as loyal as previous ones?

2) In todays global economy it's only a matter of time that someone fugures out who to duplicate the Harley lineup at a lower price. And then what happens to all those jobs in Milwaukee??

I hope Harley Davidson is around for a long long time and keep manufacturing some of the best production motorcycles in the world, however you should start thinkng about why you're starting to loose money.........................

Just my 2 cents..............

 

That's ok, except it doesn't take much into account those that are borderline not being able to buy new bikes. In a lot of cases, not even being able to afford decent used ones.

 

I don't have a problem with that strategy. I, like everybody else, wants to get the best deal possible and I will go out of my way to get it. But when you start seeing a business cutting prices (and their margins) just to move product, then you know they overproduced.

I suspect in the case of Harley that they know their volumes are not going to increase a lot even if they implement substantial price cuts since these are luxury items. If a potential customer is feeling the financial pinch or worried that he might, then he probably won't be looking at a new bike whether its $20K or $18K. So, if they cut prices, volumes don't increase substantially but their gross profit takes a huge hit. I think I'd rather buy from a smaller but successful company rather than one that tries to be everything to everybody and may not be around next year.

 

Link to the Forty-Eight

 

You have a good point. Unfortunately, there's no magical answer to make the masses happy, as you said.

 

I agree with this. When something gets cheap enough for everyone to have one, everyone will have one and then all of them will be worthless.

 

There's a difference between cheap and less expensive and more affordable to a degree without everyone having one. Part of marketing is to maintain a planned profit growth. That can't be accomplished if more units are not sold. The down side of that is when the economy is a major player things don't happen the way everyone want them to. Normal planning is out the door when that happens.

 

I agree with some of what HD does, hopefully they have a good plan for the future.

I would still like to see them come out with a low/med cruiser to compete in the 650-1000CC range and priced $7k-11K range. This would help draw in new riders and women riders who do not want a huge bike. The sportsers are really cruisers and try to appeal more to the young tough guy look. I know a couple of women riders who are V-Stars 950s and Kwa 900s that would love an HD if their was one in that range. You can get a full decked out 950 Tourer for $9K in a metric but HD has nothing to compete. I could see HD coming out with a whole new lineup below the Dyna's.

One of the biggest things HD has going for it is it's dealers. Their network and the setup is way above any metric dealers. Granted their is more cost assoicated but you do not see people planning rides to the metric dealer to hang out for a couple of hours.

I hope HD stays around a long time. The wife and I are new to it so plan on being here a long time.