Harley-Davidson Sees Profit Decline; Dealers offering discounts

[willhawks]

I always thought the market for Harley's would have to someday drop out...

Perhaps that is happening now that there is real competition from Indian and Victory. Too soon to tell. That having been said, they have perhaps the most brilliant marketing department in the motorcycle world. They were ahead of the curve when it came to acknowledging the fact that there many people who like to be around motorcycles, dress like they like motorcycles, and talk about motorcycles without actually liking to RIDE motorcycles. The market is ripe with low mileage Harleys.

 

[EUGENE]

The HD 2-strokes had oil injection? I assumed they were pre-mix. A younger neighborhood guy rode a 125, that was owned by his older brother. What I recall the most, was the smell from the Klotz 2-stroke oil he used. It had a strange smell. His older brother also had one of the Aermacchi 4-stroke 350cc singles.

My family had two new H-D 350cc singles Sprints, both were lemons and sold in an 1 1/2 years. One got a new BSA Thunderbolt ,the other a new BSA 500 single, then the BMW R750/6.

 

[ka5ysy]

I used to think so. On one level I'd like to see BMW outselling HD. But given most American's taste for big, shiny, loud motorcycles, I don't believe it will ever happen. As I give it more thought, I'm glad. I like being the only one on the road around here with a unique bike. I always get the feeling as I pass the endless stream of Harleys on the road that they are completely mystified why I'm not on their brand. It's like I'm an alien from outer space and they are not sure, and uneasy, of what to make of this tall, streamlined red object coming at them.

Good morning all:

One of the funny things I see all the time: The Louisiana Department of Public Safety motorcycle safety training program for which I teach has the interesting situation that most of the instructors ride BMW bikes, GS's and a lot of RT's. The standing joke is that it is a requirement of the program to ride a BMW if you are an instructor. What is funny is that many students notice all the BMW's pretty quickly at classes and inquire about why BMW. The general consensus is that we all pretty quickly identified the proper tool for the job and went BMW.

The really funny thing is that when I taught the Riders Edge / Riding Academy courses students would likewise notice that none of the active instructors rode HD bikes, which made for interesting discussions during breaks. When the idiot GM at the shop decreed nobody could ride to class on non-HD bike I parted company with that program.


On the business front, I have been receiving lots of promotional email from the local HD dealers pushing "No Down Payment, No Payment for X months, No Interest for Y months". Another one offers "We have money to lend: 72 month financing..." Yikes ! Must be getting really hard to sell the big baggers.

 

[36654]

On the business front, I have been receiving lots of promotional email from the local HD dealers pushing "No Down Payment, No Payment for X months, No Interest for Y months". Another one offers "We have money to lend: 72 month financing..." Yikes ! Must be getting really hard to sell the big baggers.

Check the current BMW motorrad promotions..........pretty much 5% off the base MSRP.

I'm thinking this isn't a Harley only phenomenon.

 

[martyhill]

Check the current BMW motorrad promotions..........pretty much 5% off the base MSRP.

I'm thinking this isn't a Harley only phenomenon.

Not really. BMW is just passing along some savings from the large drop in the Euro vs the $. Also BMW numbers are rising while HD numbers are falling.

 

[36654]

Not really. BMW is just passing along some savings from the large drop in the Euro vs the $. Also BMW numbers are rising while HD numbers are falling.

Just remember, BMW US numbers less than 10% of H-D numbers. What is a rise for BMW US sales is potentially statistical noise for H-D sales.

Just a caution