big shake up happening at harley

[Lloyd Smale]

some major stock holder are stagging a takeover. there say harley destroyed sale with defending gays and spending their money on ev and off road tourers that cater  to the woke yuppies instead of their old school buyers. the want to ditch the livewire and cut back drastically the blacked out everything and go back to actually using chrome. they certainly have my support.

[Dee]

I was one of the top salespersons in a large Harley Davidson dealership, and for about 3 months at the largest dealership in Texas.
Most of the customers are older folks, that have older tastes and actual credit. Harley Davidson markup is obscene. On slow mid-week days I've cut some deals where the buyer was ecstatic, and myself, and the dealership still made several  thousand dollars. That, combined with poor management is why Harley Davidson has brand, and money woes.

Younger folks have less credit, and have found that they can buy a better motorcycle, cheaper elsewhere.

[Lloyd Smale]

yup i was in the local shop this winter and they had a whole showroom filled with unsold bikes. most marked down 20% and the salesmen said he could beat that price. he said harley made them take a load of trikes because they had so many not sold.nbet this spring you could get a hell of a deal on last years bikes. hell they have no room in the showroom for the new ones. even had 2 year old new ones there. i thought seriously on a trike but my fatboy is about like new and i just dont ride much anymore. thought maybe with a trike the wife would be more likely to ride but shed rather 4 wheels and gets nervous on anything less and doesnt much like chilly weather or getting caught in the rain so ill probably just keep my bike. it scratches the itch when im in the mood and its paid for and i dont feel pressure to ride more because i have a 25k bike and a payment!!

[Land_Owner]

Angry stockholders voting with their money are the funded "Gold Standard" of mostly peaceful protest as compared to the "might is right" unfunded mostly violent protests of the Socialist Left.

[victorcharlie]

My wife and I passed a group of Harleys riders awhile back and the wife said "I wonder where they're going".......my reply was "probably to a retirement party".   I don't see many Harley riders without grey hair.  Takes a fair amount of money to buy one, and bit more to maintain one, and only a few of the younger people have that kind of money.  If they do, most spend it on something else.

Never mind that they did the bud light thing and went woke......

Lloyd, it don't eat much either.......only when you ride it......do you have to feed it....

[Lloyd Smale]

had one since 1975 and will have one in the garage when i die, that said it could be this one and it might have a layer of dust on it when they pick it up for the grandson. but he will look cool going to high school on it in 2040!! sadly i doubtfully will be there to see it

[ironglow]

  Harley has been through hard times before, and survived..  Remember when the bean counters at ATF almost killed them ?

  A curious side note; my wife's maiden name was Davidson.  Her nephew, a dedicated rider once said that if he had a son, he would name him Harley.

   Well, time rolled on and he had a child..a daughter...no son and now none likely...

[neckisred]

Used Harley prices are at an all time low in my opinion. I recently purchased a carbureted 2006 FatBoy from a local small shop for $5k. Book value on this bike is only around $3900. Bike was obviously someones baby and very well cared for. An estimated $3k in  Harley chrome and accessories that suit my taste. I suspect some performance motor work as well. The bike is a handful and a real head turner. Full service from the local shop including new tires and a new battery, all fluids etc. Delivered to my door in an enclosed trailer in mid February.

Yup. I paid $1100 over book price, but I'm fairly confident the bike should always be worth close to what I paid. And like the shirt says......"If I have to explain it, you wouldn't understand" A whole lot of fun for $5k.

[Lloyd Smale]

yup you can buy alot of bike for 5-6k today. i remember back in the 80s-90s i could buy a new harley, drive it 2 years and get what i paid for it. some had to wait over 3 years in line to buy a new one, i was friends with and road with the shop owner and could order about anything i wanted. only string was i had to let him sell my old bike and keep 5% of the money but that wasnt to make him money. it mostly covered the paper work shuffle on both bikes. he just wanted my old ones to sell to keep some comming back to his dealership and mostly sold them to guys on the list for a new one, didnt matter to me. i could buy a new harley every year or 2 for a few hundred bucks. today you drive a 30k bike off the lot and it takes a 20% hit on day one. odd thing i see too is the price of used sportsters that cost much less are as high as the big bikes at 10 years. cant figure that out unless the new yuppie drivers are afraid of the big bikes

Used Harley prices are at an all time low in my opinion. I recently purchased a carbureted 2006 FatBoy from a local small shop for $5k. Book value on this bike is only around $3900. Bike was obviously someones baby and very well cared for. An estimated $3k in  Harley chrome and accessories that suit my taste. I suspect some performance motor work as well. The bike is a handful and a real head turner. Full service from the local shop including new tires and a new battery, all fluids etc. Delivered to my door in an enclosed trailer in mid February.

Yup. I paid $1100 over book price, but I'm fairly confident the bike should always be worth close to what I paid. And like the shirt says......"If I have to explain it, you wouldn't understand" A whole lot of fun for $5k.

[ironglow]

 
     Could this be another "shakeup" at Harley ?   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wX4V7NajA4

    I realize that comparing a Harley to a Hayabusa is "apple and oranges", but some of the viewer remarks below the video are genuinely funny, though !

  ..But seriously, Trump's move to cut the ridiculously high tariffs on Harleys around the world, may help Harley..

[gypsyman]

 First Harley I had, bought it brand new, was one of the Italian bikes they imported, late 60's-early 70's, 350cc Sprint in !971. In '73 bought a '66 Shovelhead and had that till the mid 90's and had a '91 Road King after that. Now ride a 1996 Sportster. I could hit the lottery for millions and wouldn't buy a new one. Older ones just look better, my opinion. victorcharlie hit it on the head. Younger crowd just doesn't have the same attitude. Seen where they are going to have a limited edition model for over $100,000. Yea, good luck with that!!

[Lloyd Smale]

they have a year old cvo for 60K!!! at the shop right now. beatiful orange but for that they can keep it!!

First Harley I had, bought it brand new, was one of the Italian bikes they imported, late 60's-early 70's, 350cc Sprint in !971. In '73 bought a '66 Shovelhead and had that till the mid 90's and had a '91 Road King after that. Now ride a 1996 Sportster. I could hit the lottery for millions and wouldn't buy a new one. Older ones just look better, my opinion. victorcharlie hit it on the head. Younger crowd just doesn't have the same attitude. Seen where they are going to have a limited edition model for over $100,000. Yea, good luck with that!!

[Bob Riebe]

   
                                                      Because He Couldn't Pick Harley-Davidson's New CEO, Board Member Resigns                                     
                                               https://www.rideapart.com/news/756379/harley-davidson-board-member-resigns-ceo-pick/