NYT story on Harley-Davidson

[Zigzag]

slide show is here

Story is here

read it and post your reactions

[Rembrant]

It's unfortunate that so many companies (not just the likes of GM, and HD) got caught up in all this credit nonsense of the past 5 years or so...

There were all kinds of economists (or "predictionists") that were warning of this credit crash / recession. Doesn't matter if it's houses, Harley's, or flat screen TV's, people were spending way more money than they could afford. It's strange that so many companies just kept ramping up production and expanding and expanding. Were there so many people that just didn't see it coming? Oh well, what the hell do I know. I'm just another hick with a keyboard...lol.

I'm not a Harley guy, but my old man has one and he loves it. To me, I wish they had stayed smaller, and kept the same loyal fans. Now, everybody has one it seems.

I can't imagine HD ever going away, but at the end of the day, if they weather this recession ok, they'll likely end up being alot smaller company, and that may not be such a bad thing for them.

[eRider]

you are right Rembrant,
Harley-Davidson is one of those companies that will be around for long time.
this downturn will certainly make every company re-asses itself and maybe re-invent itself

[vbear]

Companies like Victory have set a new stage for reliable and custom factory rides....victory has become the bullet proof ride to compare all makes to....Harley is trying to follow the victory lead on factory custom bikes but is hampered by historical reliability.....tools in your back pocket.....Honda has created a custom factory chopper this year....again following the lead of victory through their custom order program...vegas...hammer...jackpot....Now we have the "vision"...reported as the best touring bike we have...and only two years old....Victory is growing leaps and bounds and will continue to force reliability and value into the riding community....these are the sorts of companies that should survive....
I have owned them all |Harley,,,,honda...yamaha...gold wing...venture royal....guess what i ride now....ha ha

[Ravenrider]

As an X1%er and riding Harley's since 1972. Harley has abandoned it's core customer about 19 years ago. The only ones that were riding Harleys in the 70's, and *0's were the "lifestyle" bikers, clubs or not. Cops had switched to Kawasaki's, Beemers, Guzzi's and Wings. Granted some police dept.'s stayed Harley, but a lot didn't. If it wasn't for Ronald Reagan and one Bank executive who saw a Harley tattoo on some guys arm as he was getting into the elevator on his way to discuss wether Harley should be given a loan or not, thought about the tattoo and realized about Harley loyalty. Harley then started stealing ideas from their loyal customer base, and started sueing and patenting stuff they never had anything to do with. They even tried to patent the sound of the bikes.

That being said I've always had Harleys and probably always will, I have two right, a 91 Sturgis and an 08 Decker.

[jbrough7]

Everyone knows it is way easier to keep a customer than to attract a new one. yet dealers just dont seem to care about making us happy. wonder why??? are there so many dudes out there with disposable income now that they can afford to lose a few here and there??

[PaulB]

It appears that not only the dealers, but the manufacturers don't seem to care about losing customers. I bought an 07 Yamaha 1100 classic new and it ran like a piece of "dirt" for the whole time I owned it. After the warranty ran out they washed their hands of it claiming that no one else had any problems. I suggested that I would go and buy a good bike "Honda" ----- no response ------ so I did. I couldn't be happier with the new bike. Thank you Yamaha....