4 Responses to “Can Harley Survive?”

1. Dean "D-Day" says on November 24th, 2008 at 10:50 am :
   

   Harley has been through worse times than this. (Can anybody say AMF?)
   I’m sure they’ll pull through.

   (Funny comment about bailing out the tattoo & leather industries though.)

2. Jeffry says on November 24th, 2008 at 12:07 pm :
   

   It will be interesting to see how big financing division losses may be.

3. Steve says on November 25th, 2008 at 9:12 am :
   

   I don’t care if I am part of the problem. I’m going to continue being a rebel. (A biker for 43 years now and still no piercings or tattoos). I’m just not interested in them.

   Seriously, the big three Automakers are still using black ink in their books (for now). But with over 3,000,000 people who depend on General Motors alone for employment, a bailout seems to be not only likely, but imperative. It sure looks as if the big three execs saw that $700 billion bailout as something to try to get a piece of. For certain, sales are down and most likely will stay down for new vehicles for a while, but I believe motorcycles will be in greater demand than ever, especially for fuel economy. Harley may have to (”gasp”) lower their prices, or learn to bargain at the dealerships, but there will always be plenty of people like me, who’ve wanted a Harley since they first saw or heard one. I was hooked when I took my first ride with one of my dad’s friends at the age of 4 or 5 (that may have been an Indian). But I’m still not gettin’ a tattoo or piercing. (I do have plenty of leather though).

4. Jack Riepe says on November 25th, 2008 at 10:24 am :
   

   I think at least two marques will come close to extinction as per their 2009 sales in the US. One because its Halloween costume life-style is based on converting gold into chrome excess, with the sale of clothing and trick or treat stuff becoming more important than the actual two-wheeled hardware itself. And the other because the cost of its trademark bikes is about $4000 more than a decent compact car, coupled with the fact the new corporate strategy is to have two dealers in the US (one on each coast).

   I said this in my blog too, in a recent story predicting the impact of the economic downturn on motorcycles. The average age of the typical Harley rider is 58! The average age of the BMW rider is 112. The motorcycle industry has come to rely on this age bracket as having the disposable cash for flashy new motorcycles and gear. Yet these are the same folks who have seen their investments, their IRAs, their 401Ks savagely devalued, while their jobs are now in question. People who are canceling retirement and vacations are not spending their dwindling cash in the motorcycle market.

   And whatever you manage to save in gas, you will piss away in tires.

   Thia is going to be a bad year for the biking industry.

   Jack Riepe
   “Twisted Roads”

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