Say it ain't so Willie G - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

LUVMBDiesels · #31 08-05-2010, 10:12 AM

HD has been talking about pulling out of York too.
The city has given them all sorts of tax breaks to stay but they are laying off workers and shutting down lines.

I predict they will simply outsource the whole manufacturing business to a Japanese or Chinese company and become a maker of fine badges...

SwampYankee · #32 08-05-2010, 10:33 AM

I see a lot of younger guys (20's-40's) riding V-twins; S&S, STD and some HD; but they're riding custom/semi-custom bikes that aren't Harleys. I don't think the engine concept has necessarily lost luster but the "stock" packaging may have.

#33 08-05-2010, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwampYankee

I see a lot of younger guys (20's-40's) riding V-twins; S&S, STD and some HD; but they're riding custom/semi-custom bikes that aren't Harleys. I don't think the engine concept has necessarily lost luster but the "stock" packaging may have.

I don't know much about HDs, are the custom shops that fab the upscale bikes ($40k+) making any money? Maybe HD should get much smaller and go after that market with semi-custom factory bikes.

HuskyMan · #34 08-05-2010, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig

I don't know much about HDs, are the custom shops that fab the upscale bikes ($40k+) making any money? Maybe HD should get much smaller and go after that market with semi-custom factory bikes.

that sounds like a good idea. develop into niche markets and compete on the basis of custom and semi-custom bikes. it's the sound and feel of a V-twin that attracts some riders. something about it that sounds powerful to the ear that no ricer can ever compete with. of course the engine design means vibration is transmitted to the rider. it takes a real man to tame a Harley.

I wonder how many Harleys have been sold because of THIS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHGLBy2CdjI

SwampYankee · #35 08-05-2010, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig

I don't know much about HDs, are the custom shops that fab the upscale bikes ($40k+) making any money? Maybe HD should get much smaller and go after that market with semi-custom factory bikes.

I'm not sure, I'd imagine like anyone else selling a higher-end "luxury" item isn't exactly raking in the cash right now. That might not be a bad concept, allowing customers to tailor their bikes through production. Sure, there are an almost infinite number of accessories for HDs. But they are (generally) installed after the fact; either at the dealership, shop or by the customer. Essentially you take the Harley that they produce and then the owner tailors it to his/her own taste in the aftermarket.

Obviously with mass production any customization takes its toll on the "mass" part of that, and that's how HD is set up. But many shops, especially the semi-custom ones, are building bikes from mass produced components from many different vendors along with some shop-produced "detail" items. Customers come up with the concept of the bike they want, the shop whips out their catalog and pieces together those various parts.

It's possible to build a bike that might better fit one's personality for not much more, and sometimes less, than it would cost to walk into a HD dealership, buy a new bike and then begin to personalize it.

dynalow · #36 08-05-2010, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig

I never really got the HD thing, I like BMWs, but it is too bad to see a unique design go away; all the ricers are pretty much interchangeable. If HD wants to survive, I think they need to stay up-market and build something unique and more performance oriented. I know that is what they tried to do with the v-rod, but it just didn't work for some reason. If they try to compete with the ricers on price, they will lose.

They tried, with the aforementioned Erik Buell re-adventure venture. They failed.

http://www.buell.com/en_us/tools/find-a-bike/index.asp

HuskyMan · #37 08-05-2010, 01:06 PM

I'd like to see Harley make it as an American company and prove that we can still make and produce quality products. there are a lot of memories tied to the Harley Davidson brand........

dannym · #38 08-05-2010, 01:18 PM

Actually HD screwed it up before the Vrod with the twin cam 88. Which they got wrong until they came out with the twin cam 88B.

The lack of noise and vibrations was too much for HD enthusiasts.

dynalow · #39 08-05-2010, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannym

Actually HD screwed it up before the Vrod with the twin cam 88. Which they got wrong until they came out with the twin cam 88B.

The lack of noise and vibrations was too much for HD enthusiasts.

Some of those changes were to comply with the EPA CAFE standards for noise & emissions iirc.

ImBroke · #40 08-05-2010, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dynalow

Finally, don't forget the sex appeal of Harleys.

Like a woman told me once, "You don't get laid on a Honda"

Turning heads on a Harley is sorta like turning heads driving your Benz.
How many heads you gonna turn driving a Honda Accord.

Every man's fantasy you know. Some are lucky to live it.

I almost forgot to plug Milwaukee. Friendliest people I've ever run across. Much nicer that us eastern folk imho .

I grew up in Kenosha, so I know all about the Harley Mystique. I'm not about turning heads, or getting laid using my bike. Sure I almost bought a Fat Boy, but when I thought hard about it, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm not driving my Benz as a status symbol, I enjoy working on it and driving a car with over 300k miles on it.

panZZer · #41 08-05-2010, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig

I don't know much about HDs, are the custom shops that fab the upscale bikes ($40k+) making any money? Maybe HD should get much smaller and go after that market with semi-custom factory bikes.

The larger ones like Iron Horse took a dive shortly after the crash, people aren't chargin this kinda stuff on their 100k limit cards anymore.

#42 08-05-2010, 09:19 PM

Well, BMW seems to be doing OK at the moment in the upscale bike market:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/bmw-profits-boom-on-global-recovery-and-chinese-demand-2042438.html

mgburg · #43 08-05-2010, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dynalow

NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Milwaukee without Harley Davidson...???

About those manufacturing jobs.....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38561236/?gt1=43001

Somewhere I have a picture of me shaking then Governor Jim Doyle's hand at the 100th Anniversary Parade in Milwaukee in 2003.

Yo Guv, what up !!!!

dynalow, you ALMOST hit the nail on the head...

What you should have done is taken Doyle's hand and shoved it up his @55 instead of shaking it. Didn't you feel his other hand in your pocket while you had ahold of the other one?

HD just got slammed with some half-assed, retro-style tax ($24,000,000) that our Demo-heavy Assembly and Senate passed and "Diamond Jim" Doyle gleefully signed.

Willy G. (Who I met and personally had the pleasure of being amazed at his attentivness to minute details...story later...) and company are letting the people of Wisconsin know that $24M is the straw that's breaking the camels' back...it has nothing to do with the Union workers in Milwaukee. It's the f***ing taxes and the fact that the State feels it has the right to keep coming after those that really work for a living...and not living off the state itself. Those loans? Someone in the State Legilature must have figured that if HD is getting loans, they somehow have a right to tax that company more...'cause they have the cash available and if you're a Wisconsin-based company with the nice infrastructure in place, you're not just going to pull up tent-stakes and leave now...eh?

Someone mentioned Mercury Marine...they too, used to be a Wisconsin product...but they pulled their manufacturing processes out of Fond du Lac (fond' due lack) because of Union issues and taxes by the State. And where are they now? In some state that appriciates having tax-paying citizens gainfully employed and not asking the State to hold their hand and tuck 'em in at night.

Wisconsin knows the story of the Golden Goose...they just don't believe it.

And they're killing ANY goose for revenue 'cause they just can't say no to the lazy, the lard-oes and the Unions. And they're too stupid to figure out that you just can't keep on borrowing if you have no more PRIVATE-ENTERPRISE BUSINESSES IN BUSINESS to help pay it back. Banks can't be THAT STUPID, can they?????

Sorry to say it, but if the State legislature doesn't call itself back into session, real soon and rescind that series of half-assed taxes, there may be no HD to save AFTER the November elections...and the Dems will have no one to blame except an Out-Of-Office, Lame Duck Govenor and their up-rooted-from-their-Capital-seats Dems.. THEMSELVES.

And, as usual, the Repos will be left with the mess to clean up.

If I was working for the State of Wisconsin right now, I'd be looking for a new job in another state, or remembering what goes into the makings of a "Big Mac."

vwbuge · #44 08-06-2010, 06:45 AM

Let's face it, HD is a modern antique. Kind of reminds me of the Royal Enfield. I almost want to say "serves them right" because of the stuff they tried to pull about patenting the sound.

BS.

I will stick to modern technology. I'll take my Duc over a Harley any day.

Jim B. · #45 08-06-2010, 08:17 AM

While many folks deride HD owners for the slogan "LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES" the fact remains, it is pretty hard to argue "right of way" with them, when 50 of them, in a pack, are all coming down the road in the opposite direction from you....