quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Kinda entertaining that I posted this thread simply to draw attention to the quality of a video shot by a couple young guys with consumer level cameras and rendered on a PC could actually look.

Sure ya did LOL...

Now post a video on Dodge Pickups...

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Kinda entertaining that I posted this thread simply to draw attention to the quality of a video shot by a couple young guys with consumer level cameras and rendered on a PC could actually look.

Sure ya did LOL...

Now post a video on Dodge Pickups...

Stop it. The group I used to ride with almost exclusively (when I rode) was all Harleys and me on my BMW R1150R. You Harley guys are a sensitive bunch.

And for the record, when I find a video on RAM trucks shot and processed by a couple young guys the same way this one was, I'll post it too.

quote:

Stop it. The group I used to ride with almost exclusively (when I rode) was all Harleys and me on my BMW R1150R. You Harley guys are a sensitive bunch.

And for the record, when I find a video on RAM trucks shot and processed by a couple young guys the same way this one was, I'll post it too.

Hey, sensitivity abounds, thank god Toyota doesn't make bikes, this stuff would never end....

Bigdeal, I think there is probably more diversity among us "Harley guys" than most people give us credit for. It is kind of interesting to me that there is all the hoopla for "Made in the USA" products but often there's criticism for Harley. They're not everyone's cup of tea that's for sure. But not all of us on Harleys are "bikers". We are just motorcyclists like the guys on Gold Wing, Beamers and all the others. And to your main point, yea, it is technically a fairly well done video.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
I can't read more than a few sentences of the story...

Herewith, the whole article:

WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVE BUSINESS

Harley Plans for Fewer Models, Simpler Factories After Coronavirus Shutdown

Motorcycle maker is turning away from plans for a wider range of new models to revive sales

By Bob Tita
Updated May 20, 2020 1:12 pm ET

Harley-Davidson Inc. is reopening its factories this week at lower production rates and sending dealers a narrower range of motorcycles, steering away from more expansive plans to stop a year's long sales slide.

Milwaukee-based Harley’s U.S. assembly plants and most of its dealers closed in March as part of a nationwide effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. As many of the company’s 698 U.S. dealers were making plans to reopen, Harley’s director of product sales, Beth Truett, told them in a memo earlier this month that about 70% of them likely wouldn’t receive any additional new motorcycles this year.

“We are using this time to course correct and rewire the company in pursuit of making Harley-Davidson one of the most desirable brands in the world,” Ms. Truett said in the memo, which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Harley’s shares rose 7.3% to $23.44 on Wednesday after the Journal reported on Harley’s strategy reversal.

Used, on-road motorcycles sold weekly at wholesale auctions declined when retail dealers closed in March,but prices have been rising lately, reflecting rising demand and a lower supply of bikes.

The shift shows how some companies are pivoting in response to the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic, reviewing operations or products that may not work amid an uncertain recovery.

Former Chief Executive Matt Levatich had planned to offset declining sales of the big, expensive bikes favored by Harley’s core baby boomer customers with dozens of new models by 2027, many of them smaller, cheaper and aimed at foreign markets. Mr. Levatich stepped down in February under pressure from shareholders threatening to initiate a proxy contest for board seats after Harley closed its fifth consecutive year of falling U.S. sales.

He has been replaced by Jochen Zeitz, a longtime Harley board member, former CEO of German athletic-apparel company Puma SE and founder of a new contemporary art museum in Cape Town, South Africa.

Bumpy Road

Harley-Davidson has tried to offset declining shipments of motorcycles in the U.S. by adding more smaller models to the lineup and increasing foreign sales.

On an earnings call last month, Mr. Zeitz said expanding the motorcycle lineup and chasing new markets diverted attention from Harley’s more profitable models and made factories too complex. He said the production revamp is warranted by deteriorating demand for motorcycles. New models that would have made their debut this summer will roll out early next year instead, he said, on a new schedule of releases before the peak spring buying season begins.

By having fewer motorcycles in the market, Harley said it is trying to appeal to customers of premium-priced brands with limited availability. That approach is common among makers of sports cars and some luxury products that keep manufacturing volumes well below demand for them.

“Our strategy to limit motorcycle product in the showroom is purposefully designed to drive exclusivity,” Ms. Truett said in her memo.

Harley is reopening its plants in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania this week and said it would accelerate production in phases. The motorcycles that Harley will start making again this month will be limited to bestselling models in a limited palette of colors and without customizable features for the remainder of the year, Ms. Truett wrote.

Wrong Way

Some U.S. dealers said the production cuts will sap further sales at dealerships that were closed for nearly two months. “You’re not going to catch up,” said Zoli Dudevsky, owner of a Harley dealership near Cleveland.

Some dealers said they have enough new motorcycles to cover a month or two of sales, but that those stocks would be depleted sooner if demand rises. Several said customer traffic at their reopened showrooms has been better than they expected, in part because motorcycle riding is an alternative to other types of recreation discouraged under social-distancing rules.

“We’ve noticed a lot of people getting bikes out of storage that haven’t been running in years,” said John Lyon, a dealer in Vermont.

George Gatto, owner of two dealerships in the Pittsburgh area, said he isn’t expecting any new motorcycles from Harley until August, when the company plans to deliver two motorcycles to one of his dealerships. The company is urging dealers to sell more used motorcycles, a market that Harley executives in the past regarded as detracting from sales of new models.

“If Harley is taking all the new bikes away from me, I’ll have to make that up with used,” Mr. Gatto said.

Mr. Gatto said he is trying to acquire more used motorcycles, but so are other dealers. Prices for used Harleys purchased at auctions have risen by about 20% in recent weeks, he said. Dealers who need new bikes to fill orders say they will have to buy them from other dealers, in some cases at a premium.

Harley projects that dealers’ stocks of new motorcycles will fall by 65% by year’s end, Ms. Truett’s memo to the dealers said. “Dealers should plan for an extremely tight year from an inventory perspective,” she wrote.

I was mildly interested in a H-D 15 years ago as well as it's Buell cousin and was close to buying the Buell but ended up on a BMW as a first bike. My riding buddy also wanted a BMW for commuting and his uncle shamed him into a Sportster which he bought instead.

He came up to visit and help us build our deck one holiday weekend and we swapped bikes...my used '97 F650 and his brand new 2004 1200XL Sportster. He commented how refined mine was in comparison for half the price.

I sold my BMW years ago for many of the same reasons stated here; too many close calls and a fair ask of my wife "please don't let me raise our daughter alone". She never gave an ultimatum thankfully and it was 100% my decision to sell it. I still miss it and I eyeball new bikes coming out with a desire to buy again at some point (new Honda Africa or TransAlp? Yes, please).

H-D is not even on my radar these days. Last thing that was mildly interesting was the V-Rod because of the styling and F.A. Porsche input. "not a real Harley..." was the common refrain.

quote:

Originally posted by RoverSig:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
I can't read more than a few sentences of the story...

Herewith, the whole article:

Thanks!

Harley doesn't have the kind of brand to have "exclusivity" and be driven by limited availability... Honestly, that might work on women's clothing - maybe urban youth brand clothing - but no where else...

Ferrari builds limited models of some cars - as do a few of the other ultra-high end car makers - honestly, I'm not sure they could build more of those models - and there's a great deal more to those products than their rarity...

If HD wants to start building ultra-high end, really advanced motorcycles, it could be interesting. (I think they would have to buy someone/relaunch Buell/buy Zero, etc) But, they're a rather large company to switch to that, completely - and it would take a significant culture shift.

American industry, in general, aims for 90-95% of what's possible, in robust designs, with minimal maintenance, and massive volumes. $100/hp high performance cars, coffee grinders, ice cream machines, etc.

I'd love to see Harley embrace that, a bit more. I do not know what that looks like, in a motorcycle - but I'm pretty sure it involves carbon fiber, Ti, perhaps hybrid drives, etc more than pretty lines, chrome, and pipes so loud that damage the hearing of people driving convertibles.