[seruzawa]

Did you catch idiot's post below? Apparently he hates HD because they sell their bikes for more than it costs to build them!! The Japanes would never do that! They are altruistic organizations who provide motorcycles for below cost, naturally.



ROTFLMAO!

 

[ValknMag]

'04 Lowrider $14,995

'04 Softtail Standard (don't see a custom) $13,695

'04 Superglide $11,995



I chose the lowest price on each of these. Price doesn't include the $215 freight fee listed on the site. The Lowrider seems to have taken the biggest drop. Don't know what the MSRP on a '99 Softtail was, as a Custom let alone the Standard, but add the cost of freight, and it probably held its own. Assuming MSRP was paid with no grease tax, and ignoring the $5000 in extras. The Superglide doesn't help my argument at all. But then, that's assuming someone pays the $13 k for it, and that the owner paid sticker for it.



I don't want anyone to think I'm Harley bashing. I'm bashing folks who think Harleys are immune to Supply and Demand.

 

[39970]

Midnight Rider! Was yours the distant thunder heard in the night?

Where is the HighwayMan??? Hopefully out riding across this Great Country, on the only TRUE Motorcycle EVER made with a hand selected crew of his Manly Brothers in search of Atrocituors to thrash, Crotch Rocketeers to bash and good times to stash. I've heard the rumors, you know the ones. There is NO WAY that the Universally Feared, Respected and Beloved HighwayMan is just some Canuck who's been hitting the bottle heavy. Only a Man amoung Men can speak with such Force and Conviction and pull it off. If they don't get it, they just don't understand.

 

[30968]

Some produced products, some didn't. Evidently, the distinction between "products" and "durable goods" is lost on you. Nonetheless, not producing a product is seldom a bar to success. For example, the Harley dealerships that have been getting rich for the past 20 years don't produce any products. HDFS doesn't produce any products, either, and look how much money they're raking in. I wish Harley-Davidson continued success. I just hope they don't go bust and wind up looking ridiculous. Although, I'd love to get my hands on an FXD Dubya-G for around $12.5K.

 

[seruzawa]

Who thinks that HD is exempt from the principles of supply and demand? Certainly not I. Quite the opposite. No matter what the economy is doing the demand for HDs remains high. Most companies only wish they had the level of demand for their products that HD has.



The Superglide you mentioned is below MSRP. So maybe the demand isn't as high as it was. But look at all the deals the Japanese are offering to keep their bikes moving. Doesn't seem that HD can go along like this forever, but they just seem to keep on selling and selling and selling. Without any special giveaways or finance deals.. at least around here.

 

[21726]

Re: Midnight Rider! Was yours the distant thunder heard in the night?

Does The HighWayMan really pull it off? Does 'pull it off' mean the same on your side of the pond as it does here in Limeyland? LOL

 

[KPaulCook]

Did you read it all????let me count the ways (leak/cracks) the Buell Firebolt sucks

[*]I did become a little wary when our XB sprung a slow leak at its oil cooler fitting, and it got a little worse when I saw another XB12R with a similar oil leak. I brushed that off as a supplier problem and rationalized that it probably wasn’t endemic to all the XBs.

Other bad news

I got a little more worried when I loaded the Firebolt into the MCUSA van to return it and noticed a cast aluminum part at the front of the engine had a crack running two-thirds of the way through! Buell calls this part the "front isolator

[*]

"A rider’s vision can literally blur while waiting at a traffic light, and the trembling engine moves around so much that onlookers occasionally are frightened the big lump might jump out of the bike"

[*]"The engine occasionally coughs through the intake when cracking the throttle off-idle, especially when hot, and this hiccup once caused the bike to stall when trying to get underway from a stop light."

[*]"I cursed inside my helmet about the dearth of top-end power when wringing it out, and the clunky, Massey Fergusson gearbox was annoying as I snapped off upshifts and downshifts like I was riding a 600. "

[*] Trolling the Firebolt around town revealed a few other idiosyncrasies. That *****in’ looking side-exit exhaust outlet from the underslung muffler dumps hot exhaust at a rider’s left foot at a stop or when leaving a light, eventually making boots and pants smell like burned fuel. [*]While the fan may aid long-term durability, it is also an irritation as it whines like a trust-funder forced to work at Starbucks. Not only does the fan activate when riding slow, it also comes on as soon as the ignition is shut off, sounding like a warning system alarm or a small jet engine. [*]The unfinished (non-glossy) inner fairing panels look a bit cheap from the ****pit, and the plastic turn signal switch and bar control housings look and feel chintzy

 

[KPaulCook]

Re: Another bad review for the new Firebolt (reality check)

Your inferior SDSU education is showing again

 

[seruzawa]

Re: Midnight Rider! Was yours the distant thunder heard in the night?

ROTFL!! Thanks for the best laugh all morning.

I always did like British humor.

 

[ValknMag]

I was actually surprised about 2 years ago when I saw a Harley commercial on television. Think it was the old man telling his kids about how me missed out on buying a Harley...



That's when I started looking at HD prices. I could not recall them buying TV spots before, because they never needed to. How many people noted that, in addition to the growth in earnings this past quarter, HD shipped more units, as well? They're playing catch-up with demand, and the lower prices I've been seeing in the paper looks like they're just about caught up.



Forgive me if I misunderstood your intent, Buzglyd, but you wrote,



"Don't forget about all those low mileage used Evos flooding the market and depressing the used prices.



That's gonna happen soon, right?"

Sounds like sarcasm to me. Like I said, I might be wrong--I've been wrong before--but it sounds like you don't think the HD used market will be saturated any time soon. If I happen to be interpreting that correctly, that is the sort of thing that makes the poster appear to say that HDs will hold their value indefinitely, or that nobody will ever sell their Harleys, or they'll never tire of being pretend bikers (No, I'm not saying all Harley riders are pretenders...but I personally know 3 who ride less than 1000 miles a year).



Heck, I'm even looking for a Road King to come down to an attractive price. Nothing in the Harley lineup would sway me from my Valkyrie, to say nothing of my CBR1100XX...but I want a long distance bike, and women seem attracted to Harleys. Hey, if one bike can get me in the saddle in both meanings of the word.... ; )

 

[KPaulCook]

Re: Another Record? Buy a 57 Chevy and make me happy.

Price-Cost=Profit Suzy no problem there. But in H-D's case the Cost is only the price of labor and material since any (cough) R&D was paid for back in the 1950's So keep buying the motorcycle equivalent to a 57 Chevy. Please support by daughters' college fund.

 

[KPaulCook]

Re: I hope so because....

Oh yeah Harley's are so popular in Europe (not)

 

[longride]

My, how you somehow twisted what I said. Tell me the difference between "products" and "durable goods". I don't think there is muc if any, but go for it. Tell me one dotcom that produced ANYTHING. They were service oriented to provide something that was a pipe dream. Ya think that's why it all collapsed? Duh! Maybe "service" and "products" is lost on you. The dealers make money selling PRODUCTS don't they? Maybe I missed something there. HDFS finances PRODUCTS don't they? Did I miss something there too? I've been watching H-D since 1970, and they NEVER have discounted their products. Not even when they were going out of business in the 80's. Never. That is 33 years on my count. they never got cheaper. If you are waiting for that "cheap Harley" you will be waiting a Looooooooog time.

 

[seruzawa]

Re: Another bad review for the new Firebolt (reality check)

Heh heh. Japanese bike partisans should be careful about comments about cracking frames. GoldwingGoldwingGoldwingGoldwing.

This clown Kook is simply unbelieveable.

 

[Neal]

The current P/E ratio for HD stock is 21.00;definitely NOT an overpriced stock.its stock actually went down this year despite incredible sales because people kept predicting 2004 would be a bad year due to post 100 year anniversary sales drops.I sold my little bit of stock(at a good profit) because I bought into this theory.If Harley REALLY produces and sells 318000units in 04 we were all wrong.Their HAS to be an end to this incredible boom sometime,but an end to a boom doesnt mean a bust.Judging by the 30 somethings riding HD's around here I expect HD to remain strong for the foreseeable future

 

[KPaulCook]

Picture of a cracked motor mount on new Buell

Click here to view the crack

 

[pushrod]

Re: Picture of a cracked motor mount on new Buell

Yessir, that there is a crack!

Looks to be a metallurgical problem.

The question then becomes, did the engineers at Honda and H-D (sorry, Buell) go to the same school?

 

[seruzawa]

Ohnonononono.. you have it all wrong. According to MO's resident expert prognosticator only 50-something greyponytailed babyboomers are buying Harleys. All those 30-somethings you see riding them are only figments of your imagination. (sarcasm off).



And you are absolutely right. Then end of the boom doesn't automatically man a bust.

 

[longride]

Re: Midnight Rider! Was yours the distant thunder heard in the night?

Gimme those Benny Hill reruns any day of the week!

 

[longride]

The big question is why is he following you around like a lost school girl? I think he's torn between you are Buz. You guys are gonna have to decide who which one gets him.