Posted on 10/15/2009 6:24:25 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Continuing hard times at Harley-Davidson came to something of a head Thursday with the announcement that the company was killing its Buell line of sport bikes almost immediately and actively looking for a buyer for its MV Agusta brand.
Harley, which is based in Milwaukee, also disclosed continuing losses at its finance unit and a decline in sales of its heavyweight Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Overall, Harley’s net income for the third quarter plunged by 84 percent from last year, which was also a down year for the company.
The Buell brand, based in East Troy, Wis., will shut down later this month, although Harley will continue to supply replacement parts and honor warranty claims. About 180 workers will lose their jobs. (Buell has provided an online page for customers here.)
(Excerpt) Read more at wheels.blogs.nytimes.com ...
Harley has a bigger problem than the Buells.
The bike owners have willingly priced their rides outside the range of most buyers.
Harley bubble is bursting.
Yeah I figured this happen eventually. I couldn’t afford a harley either so I went with a Yamaha. Looks great and runs great for about 1/4 the price of a Harley. Buells are way overpriced.
Harley is also moving it’s York, PA plant down south. Of course, Fast Eddie Rendell is doing all that he can to keep them in PA.
Erik Buell started this company 26 years ago in a garage and put his all into it. Watch this video, and you’ll have a hard time not breaking up too:
Great American enterprise, while this may be necessary that doesn’t make it any less painful. The problem is, you can’t give sport bikes away these days, and as others have said, HOG has bigger problems. A shame.
Union workers and a Democrat-run state, not a good combination for any business.
DUCATI!
Cousin Mineral was big on BSAs.
Heartbreaking for Erik Buell to be sure.
Harley Davidson builds very expensive antique replicas for old men to tool around on.
Dude, I went to the MotoGP event in Indianapolis. There were thousands of bikes parked there. The only ones that broke down were three Ducatis.
u didn’t see the ones that blew by you
Hey! I represent that remark.
Why does every Harley-Davidson thread inevitably attract comments from people that are only looking for an excuse to hate on The Motor Company?
Reminds me of the Palin threads. Same phenomenon.
I have owned a few Jap crotch rockets. Now that I’m, “All growed up” I would like to get into a cruiser/traditional style bike. Much as I would love to purchase a Harley, they have just priced themselves out of the market. Not too mention I want to be a rider not a mechanic. It’s too bad, I would like to support an American company but it’s most likely I will buy a Jap clone like a Kawasaki Vulcan. 1/4 the price, twice as reliable and half the maintenance. It’s a no-brainer. Harley Davidson has become like a diamond ring on Liz Taylor’s finger. Big, gaudy, expensive and ultimately worthless.
Probably has something to do with the HD owners that have talked trash about rice burners and jap crap. Maybe?
Reminds me of the Palin threads. Same phenomenon.
Don't flatter yourself LOL!
I did the same a couple of weeks ago, used Harleys are unrealistically expensive, more so here in Alaska so I too bought a new Yamaha a V-Star 1300 Tourer.
Doubtful. The Harley haters always seem to strike first, and usually without provocation.
The Harley folks that I know couldn't care less what you ride.
I had several of those things, all 441 Victors. I rode them across the country. They were not any kind of highway bikes.At 70 mph yo can't tell where the pegs are. They are just a buzz somewhere under your feet.
You just made all the arguments for buying a Yamaha. Over 26 years I had 27 or 28 different bikes. Most of the riding I did was across the continent or long commutes. I only had one new bike and it was a Honda dog. Of all my used bikes the Yamahas were far and away the most reliable and the Virago needed the least adjusting and maintenance. The Yamahas all got better gas mileage than any of the others of comparable displacement and power.
As an owner of both a metric cruiser (Suzuki Marauder) and a Harley (Softail Custom), I can honestly say my experience has been completely opposite of what you have written.
Oil changes are more of a hassle on the Harley than the import, but that's it. (Harley has separate engine oil, transmission oil, and primary chain case oil to change.) But I found lubricating and adjusting the chain on the import to be more of a pain than any other periodic maintenance. The Harley has a Kevlar reinforced drive belt that doesn't need lubrication and doesn't stretch much compared to the chain drives.
More significantly, my Harley has given me 23,000 miles of trouble-free riding in all sorts of conditions. Two summers of NYC gridlocks, 20 deg F winters in the north east (handles well in snow too), 100+ deg F in Arizona & Nevada deserts including long runs of wide open throttle, 6000 miles of highway riding day after day after day with few breaks, showing off with dumping the clutch and doing burnouts and wheelies...
The Suzuki was no such machine. At just under 10,000 miles, the big end bearing on the front cylinder wiped after going wide open passing cars on the highway while accelerating from 60 mph to 90 mph. I rebuilt the engine, replacing the crankshaft, bearings, and both connecting rods. At a hair over 20,000 miles, that same bearing wiped sitting in NYC traffic.
The Harley is by far the most expensive motorcycle I ever bought at $17,000. ($20,000 including taxes and a set of pipes.) In some ways I still can't believe I spent that much money. But it is also by far the best motorcycle I have ever owned and it's worth every penny to me.
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