Buell dead and Harley on the brink!

Liltroy

Liltroy

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Dont know if there has already been a thread about this but I read in the new Sport Rider magazine that buell has officially been shut down and that Harley is trying to sell off thier majority percentage of MV Augusta. So I get online and start looking into it and apparently Harley Davidson is in really bad shape! I mean "barely getting by" bad! It seems that while other bike manufacturers are still going strong due to sales in other countrys, Harleys got nowhere to turn since "nostalgic Americans" were the only people willing to pay for them in the first place. With the economy down, bikes just arent selling well here and since HD doesnt exactley have a strong market base anywhere else, they're drowning quick! Guess they did it to themselves but its still gonna suck if they do go under....I mean...who are all the Metric cruisers guys gonna have to pick on? :whistle:
 
Pardini said:
Yep, at least Harley aficionados have some 2010 models to choose from.
Click to expand...

Canadian Suzuki fans have 2010 models to choose from!
CanadaEmoticon.gif
 
Harley is building, or just built a production plant in India. Perhaps in time the love for Harley's will grow so much over there that Tata will buy Harley Davidson.

Then you can all laugh and deride your Harley Davidson friends for riding an Indian product! :laugh: :poke:

4140912552_ee3a22230f_o.jpg



Alternatively they could run to the U.S. government like they did back in the early '80's and cry for help. For those short on history, that resulted in tariffs on imported bikes of larger than 700cc...creating the abundance of models in the 600cc class.

If this occurs and you want a new Hayabusa you'll get to pay a little extra for it to keep HD afloat.
 
Alternatively they could run to the U.S. government like they did back in the early '80's and cry for help. For those short on history, that resulted in tariffs on imported bikes of larger than 700cc...creating the abundance of models in the 600cc class.

If this occurs and you want a new Hayabusa you'll get to pay a little extra for it to keep HD afloat.[/QUOTE]

WAIT WAIT WAIT!!!!!!!

Wouldn't that have been a socialist thing to do? And early 80s wasn't that the reign of President Reagan? He would never do anything socialist, would he?
 
An interesting read.

What's a 50% tarrif on a new Hayabusa? About $6k.

I do think HD is in better shape today from a product and export network perspective than they were thirty five years ago. I hope they're able to survive the current market conditions.
 
I can see Harley surviving the economic downturn, it's all the retail dealers I see suffering. There has been such a slew of NEW Dealerships opened in "BIG Prime Access" develpoment areas (they build some awesome buildings), I just can't see how all of them can survive with such small sales.

When you see Metric dealerships closing up, Harley can't be far behind.
 
Harley did do it to themselves, they are too greedy.
Their greed allows the other V-twin makers (Victory and the Metrics)
to get a foothold and take a market share.

1-Their bikes are overpriced. They dropped the prices recently at the drop of
a hat in spite of the declining value of the dollar. A couple years ago I
remember the fat boy being around 18-19000 grand...now it's 15,999.
(and they are still making money off it)

2-They are underpowered, especially for the price. And this is based on greed.
They would rather charge you a premium price for a pea shooter motor
and then ask you to pay thousands more for their "screaming eagle" (:rofl:) package.
Why oh why don't they just make the 110cu motor standard. Obviously
they want you to pay again for decent motor. Which the screaming eagle
kit only brings you to 103cu. Even with the 110 you wont win any races
but at least you can run with the big boys.

The motor thing just kills me, Victories are expensive as well but at least
you get a premium jam up motor to begin with. Yeah some models have a
100cc and some have the 106cc but they are both strong motors and I really
don't feel much of a difference. Then you get on a Harley and it's like anemic
especially when you get off a Raider or a M109.

Just remember the 96cu is an "upgrade" from the 88cu. Talk about a boat...

Note to harley, put the best motor in you have as standard. You'd sell a lot more
bikes. If all harley came with the 110 you'd more than likely put Victory out
of business and the metrics would really struggle.
 
Last edited:
sad thing is a girl i know who rides a ninja 250 still passed 2 guys on thier screaming eagles at about 107 mph....ninja 250 is 26 hp:rofl:
now all this happend after the r6 the gsxr 750 and my hayabusa passed them as well, but we where all 1/8 mile or better up the road when the ninja 250 caught up to them and passed..they where riding those hd's as hard as they could..shaking and swerving justtrying to stay above 100mph...was the funniestthing i ever saw...
 
Last edited:
djsin said:
sad thing is a girl i know who rides a ninja 250 still passed 2 guys on thier screaming eagles at about 107 mph....ninja 250 is 26 hp:rofl:
now all this happend after the r6 the gsxr 750 and my hayabusa passed them as well, but we where all 1/8 mile or better up the road when the ninja 250 caught up to them and passed..they where riding those hd's as hard as they could..shaking and swerving justtrying to stay above 100mph...was the funniestthing i ever saw...
Click to expand...

That is why I also own a Busa. When I have a need for speed the Busa comes out. Whne I want to put, relax, listen to tunes and smell our beautiful dairy air here in Wisconsin I pull out the Harley. 2 different animals. I wont race a pony in the Kentucky Derby and I wont put my multi million dollar horse in to the pony riding circuit.
 
Justyntym said:
Harley did do it to themselves, they are too greedy.
Their greed allows the other V-twin makers (Victory and the Metrics)
to get a foothold and take a market share.

1-Their bikes are overpriced. They dropped the prices recently at the drop of
a hat in spite of the declining value of the dollar. A couple years ago I
remember the fat boy being around 18-19000 grand...now it's 15,999.
(and they are still making money off it)

2-They are underpowered, especially for the price. And this is based on greed.
They would rather charge you a premium price for a pea shooter motor
and then ask you to pay thousands more for their "screaming eagle" (:rofl:) package.
Why oh why don't they just make the 110cu motor standard. Obviously
they want you to pay again for decent motor. Which the screaming eagle
kit only brings you to 103cu. Even with the 110 you wont win any races
but at least you can run with the big boys.

The motor thing just kills me, Victories are expensive as well but at least
you get a premium jam up motor to begin with. Yeah some models have a
100cc and some have the 106cc but they are both strong motors and I really
don't feel much of a difference. Then you get on a Harley and it's like anemic
especially when you get off a Raider or a M109.

Just remember the 96cu is an "upgrade" from the 88cu. Talk about a boat...

Note to harley, put the best motor in you have as standard. You'd sell a lot more
bikes. If all harley came with the 110 you'd more than likely put Victory out
of business and the metrics would really struggle.
Click to expand...

I have been saying this for years also. Why would anyone pay a 10k premium for the 110 motor when the metrics run better at a lower price point. Put the 110 motor in as stock and sales will go up. The 96 is weak in comparison to any of the big Jap or victor motors.
 
Lurch said:
That is why I also own a Busa. When I have a need for speed the Busa comes out. Whne I want to put, relax, listen to tunes and smell our beautiful dairy air here in Wisconsin I pull out the Harley. 2 different animals. I wont race a pony in the Kentucky Derby and I wont put my multi million dollar horse in to the pony riding circuit.
Click to expand...

The problem is your Multi million dollar horse runs like a pony and your
kentucky Derby runner only cost the price of a pony...that's the stickler :poke:

And the other V-twin in the market cost the price of a pony with much
stronger motors. I don't need to race on a V-Twin but I still want to feel
some grab when I twist the throttle...especially when the harley costs thousands
more.

The other rub is the difference between the rubber mounted motor and the
"B" 96B or balanced motor. The rubber mounted motor (dyna's, etc...) feels
a bit stronger (albeit not by much) but at idle...it jiggles so much it looks like
it's f'd up and missing parts and at riding speed, the pegs still vibrate so much
my feet go numb. The "B" motor on the other hand is much smoother but is even
slower than the dyna motors.

I could see paying a little bit extra for the Harleys if they put in the 110s as
standard so you could at least keep up with the cheaper jap twins.
 
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