Harley Stock Down Over Six Percent

[Zeniac]

Not too suprising there has been talk of this happening for months now.

[eekadog]

if i have $$$ i will be a harley stock owner after the 12th...

[Logan01]

That's to bad, they are a good company.









First post....

[Logan01]

well it was first whe I started it...

[cstewart77]

I took a ride to my local Harley dealer a few weeks ago....always a dog and pony show there. If you don't ride up on a Harley I feel they treat you like junk. Regardless I wanted to see the new Street Bob.



They had many more bikes in stock then previous years and the sales rep called me a day later asking if I could purchase before the end of the month. I took pleasure in the fact that inventory isn't moving like it has been. They price the bikes at least 3k over msrp.



So I ask, why the cost difference? His reply was that msrp is suggested and demand calls for the higher cost...well, not anymore buddy.



Chris

[gatling]

I agree. The dealers in the LA area are still stupidly posting prices $2K over MSRP. I was in Oregon last week and they have MSRP posted on their bikes, and the sales guy at the Oregon dealership told me they are "very negotiable." I asked the guy in LA about that. His response? "We have a lot longer riding season here." Give me a break. I may ride a Harley, but I ain't stupid...



Don't get me wrong; I have a '92 softail I've had since it was new, and I love it. I think the dealers have been price gouging for a good 15 years now, and it is catching up with them. And, don't let all that BS about nostalgia, heritage, and 100 years of existence confuse you. They may have a 100+ year history, but try getting a dealer to work on a Harley more than 10 years old. My local dealer (Pomona Valley HD) flat out refused to touch my '92 when it lunched the engine 6 months ago. Nice people, but that policy is just flat stupid. I ended up taking the bike to a local independent and I had him rebuild the engine with all S&S components. It's now a 96-inch torque monster, and it cost about the same as a Harley rebuild would have cost (if the dealer had been willing to touch my bike, which they weren't).



Joe Berk

www.joeberkphotography.com

[sv1000rider]

USED Harleys are almost reasonable now.



And I hope the true "stealers" suffer the most.



Is a repeat of the AMF-Harley period not too far off? (chuckle, chuckle, snort)

[Fenton]

Hey that five year chart looks good compared to my Dell and Cisco shares.

Of course it's never a good thing when this happens unless the guy living across the street from you has named all the family pets Harley and couldn't identify a sportster from 20 paces. Then it's a riot.



Seriously, I would love a Road King to run around on. I just have a problem with my "second" bike costing twice as much as my first.

[fireworks]

Something was bound to happen. It seemed that a good bit of the appeal for people to buy a Harley was the name alone. Who knows how much real support they have for their product. That's the problem with trends; they change. It seems like choppers are the new Harley. If that makes sense.



One thing I've been wondering is if there current strategy to pull younger buyers into the fold is working. The V-rod isn't exactly cheap, and the Sportster is old school; but has the most realistic price. Buell seems to be the odd man out, as Harley really needs a performance bike themselves. I just don't see people that are interested in Buell's caring to much about the association with Harley. So how does Buell help Harley? If Harley put the V-Rod engine into a decent frame (not cruiser focused); not jack up the ride height like on the Street Rod (talk about parts bin special), and price it in line with the Japanese, I wonder what the response would be.

[eekadog]

maybe they need to up the displacement on the twin cam 88....

why spend the extra 5 large to get a harley, when you can get a metric with a big honking engine...