Who'da thunk.... cling to the past and focus on an aging market, and your business shrivel up and die. Good riddance. Hopefully H-D's employees can go work for a company with a future. Harley's best products came out ~55 years ago :facepalm:
QuoteThings are getting worse for Harley-Davidson, the maker of motorcycles that your dad aspired to ride. They will be closing a plant in Kansas City, Missouri, the company disclosed today, while reporting fourth-quarter profits that fell 82 percent (!) compared to the fourth quarter of last year. They also announced they'll be making an electric motorcycle, so there's that, too.
Harley made $8.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, compared with $47.18 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The company has been in decline for years now, as sales have sagged because consumers are worried about things like safety. In addition, baby boomers, who bought a very large amount of motorcycles back in the day and remain a big part of Harley's demographic, are also getting older.
https://jalopnik.com/harley-davidson-is-sad-and-getting-sadder-1822557878
Accountants have always been their main demographic. They are being replaced by AIs. AIs don't ride.
Harley isn't going away, they've suffered way worse than this.
What Jalopnik fails to mention was that while profits were way down vs Q4 2016, revenue was actually up by 10% for Q4 2017, year over year. Their profits took a hit because of some large, one-time expenses including a major product recall and some tax stuff.
The comments are funny. :tounge:
My brother (not the most socially conscious) used to tell the joke: "What's the difference between a Harley and a vacuum cleaner? Where you put the dirtbag!"
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on January 31, 2018, 08:02:18 AM
My brother (not the most socially conscious) used to tell the joke: "What's the difference between a Harley and a vacuum cleaner? Where you put the dirtbag!"
Lol, surprised I hadn't heard that one.
Wow, a thread started by a guy who hates cruiser bikes (Harleys in particular) that references a poorly written article by a guy who hates Harleys for an audience that hates Harleys. Its like an inbred hate fest.
Na, I think Sporty may be pissed about something else. ;) Or maybe just at me.
Quote from: RomanChariot on January 31, 2018, 10:37:25 AM
Wow, a thread started by a guy who hates cruiser bikes (Harleys in particular) that references a poorly written article by a guy who hates Harleys for an audience that hates Harleys. Its like an inbred hate fest.
That's the only reason I clicked on the thread. :thumbsup:
Most bike companies are doing poorly. Damn millennials!
Quote from: RomanChariot on January 31, 2018, 10:37:25 AM
Wow, a thread started by a guy who hates cruiser bikes (Harleys in particular) that references a poorly written article by a guy who hates Harleys for an audience that hates Harleys. Its like an inbred hate fest.
I'm quite pleased with myself if I must say so (which I must)
Quote from: CaminoRacer on January 31, 2018, 12:56:07 PM
Most bike companies are doing poorly. Damn millennials!
This is true! Sadly I'll prolly end up on a Hog in a couple years! SMH.........
Quote from: MX793 on January 31, 2018, 06:29:12 AM
What Jalopnik fails to mention was that while profits were way down vs Q4 2016, revenue was actually up by 10% for Q4 2017, year over year. Their profits took a hit because of some large, one-time expenses including a major product recall and some tax stuff.
Then why the layoffs?
Quote from: 12,000 RPM on February 01, 2018, 06:21:03 AM
Then why the layoffs?
I'm not saying HD is doing great, but presenting it as "Harley's earnings down 83% from last year!" is disingenuous doom and gloom. Sales/deliveries were down both for the quarter and the year. The forecast isn't showing an up turn in the near future. Management obviously felt the need to adjust the size of the workforce. But things aren't nearly as grim as this article portrays if one actually looks at all the data instead of cherry picking one extraordinary stat and stripping away the context.
They are getting desperate to dive into the millenial market.
https://youtu.be/6Adj8ixHleE
They literally spent millions on advertising and to shove their V-twin in a dirtbike frame so they could say #metoo for a 10 minute event.
Quote from: giant_mtb on February 01, 2018, 03:14:49 PM
They are getting desperate to dive into the millenial market.
https://youtu.be/6Adj8ixHleE
They literally spent millions on advertising and to shove their V-twin in a dirtbike frame so they could say #metoo for a 10 minute event.
Now that Indian's eating H-D's lunch at flat track, they need to make a grab at any remaining motorcycle competitions they might stand any chance at.
Pretty easy to win the "competition" when you're the only motor on the track. I would've been a lot more interested if the riders were able to ride their actual, personal race bikes. That was just a 10 minute commercial for HD.
Quote from: giant_mtb on February 01, 2018, 04:18:21 PM
Pretty easy to win the "competition" when you're the only motor on the track. I would've been a lot more interested if the riders were able to ride their actual, personal race bikes. That was just a 10 minute commercial for HD.
That's H-D's motorsport MO. For years, they have predominantly only entered competitions where they are either the only allowed bike/engine manufacturer or where the rules give them a huge advantage. They dominated flat track because they were the only manufacturer using a full works bike. Until Indian showed up in 2016 with a full works bike...
Quote from: MX793 on February 01, 2018, 04:22:36 PM
That's H-D's motorsport MO. For years, they have predominantly only entered competitions where they are either the only allowed bike/engine manufacturer or where the rules give them a huge advantage. They dominated flat track because they were the only manufacturer using a full works bike. Until Indian showed up in 2016 with a full works bike...
Bleh. :confused:
I feel like they'd get a lot more respect if they...didn't do that. :hammerhead:
Wasn't there a time, long long ago, when H-D was a legit sportbike brand?
Quote from: 12,000 RPM on February 01, 2018, 04:30:11 PM
Wasn't there a time, long long ago, when H-D was a legit sportbike brand?
Not by any modern interpretation of the term "sportbike" (e.g. a fully-faired road racer). Harley made "high performance" motorcycles, relatively speaking when compared to what else was out there. They were very successful in dirt and oval racing. But the interpretation of "performance" at the time was horsepower and straight-line speed, not handling or braking. The era Harley was making "sport bikes" was the same era in which this:
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AxZ9F2ZWx_U/maxresdefault.jpg)
was considered a "sports car" and the Watkins Glen Grand Prix was held on dirt and gravel road surfaces.
They did build a faired road racer back in the 1960s and 70s (based on the KR and XR 750s used for dirt track), but IIRC these were factory race bikes not offered to the general public. The KR and XR were also outdated from day one and only competitive because of favorable class rules. The road-race versions were using drum brakes on the front wheel well beyond the time everyone else was running disks.
In the late 50's, Sportsters were one of the hottest bikes around. XLCH, baby. :praise:
I'm still marveling at how poorly-written that article is. Mental age of what, 12 or so?
What's with the Harley hate though? Everybody loves the deafening sound of obsolete smelly, agricultural V-twins shattering the peace. And all those dentists' fat rolls & plumbers' cracks.
Big tire baggers are all the rage in the inner city........
Quote from: Gotta-Qik-C6 on February 02, 2018, 11:03:24 AM
Big tire baggers are all the rage in the inner city........
Yea for all the cruiser hate I'd love a chopped M109R with a fatty
Quote from: 12,000 RPM on February 03, 2018, 01:02:08 PM
Yea for all the cruiser hate I'd love a chopped M109R with a fatty
Well, I suppose cruisers have to evolve like everything else.
(http://www.suzukicycles.com/~/media/C8FE93CECF024BDF956FC1F259AF5700.ashx?h=344)
My first bike was a Suzuki, just sayin'.
Isn't a fatty a large marijuana cigarette? Sorry, I'm an old fart. :lol:
Quote from: shp4man on February 03, 2018, 01:09:38 PM
Well, I suppose cruisers have to evolve like everything else.
(http://www.suzukicycles.com/~/media/C8FE93CECF024BDF956FC1F259AF5700.ashx?h=344)
My first bike was a Suzuki, just sayin'.
Isn't a fatty a large marijuana cigarette? Sorry, I'm an old fart. :lol:
A marijuana cigarette (cigarette tobacco mixed with weed) is usually referred to as a spliff. A blunt refers to a cigar/marijuana mix. A joint is a cigarette shape, but is just marijuana. A "fatty" just refers to a relatively large version of any of these, but typically a joint.
Where I am from a fatty is a big butt
In this context I was referring to an oversized rear tire
*phatty