Looks like Buell gained in all areas in the 3 month and 6 month time frames. Not sure what is "hype" when you have 19 years of record profits and are shipping 314,000 motorcycles. I think I'd call that "success", but I guess if their company name doesn't end with a vowel, it don't count, eh?
Try getting sales/profit numbers out of any Japanese company.
It was interesting in an interview with a Ducati official discussing Ducati's profits he said, "no one knows if the Japanese companies are making money or not."
I've never owned a H-D and likely never will because I like a sportier ride, but you can't argue with this company's success. There is no reason for H-D to invest millions in developing a groundbreaking powerplant--its customer base doesn't want, or care about, such things. The bikes aren't as "bullet proof" as Honda's, but they're much better than they used to be. And they epitomize the American motorcycle mystique for many folks here and abroad. Now, if I could just get one of those guys in arm chaps to wave back at me on the road . . . .
They're not being unfriendly. Arm chaps have a design flaw that creates lift at high wave angles.
Imagine the carnage caused by a wildly flinging arm chap destroying everything in its path not to mention the tears shed by its owner over losing such a valuable piece of equipment.
Rest assured, the arm chap-wearing rider is most likely winking at you as you go by.
Lets put it this way. Buell is on track to ship 12,000 motorcycles this year. The fantastic, great, perfect VFR only sold 2,000 last year. People consider Buell a failure, and they consider Honda VFR a raving success. Now tell me who is bullshytting who? Who has "hype" and hwo has "facts"? Lots of people ***** that I don't post Japanese profits and sales. Know why? There aren't any. Period. Impossible to find a Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, or Suzuki balance sheet for their motorcycle operations. It's all smoke and mirrors. Somebody over there in Japan has to have one don't they? All they ever post is " We sold more bikes than last year". They have no breakdowns as to the American market. Why? Because I have said all along that they make no money here. If they did they would brag about it. Since there is nothing to brag about, they just keep quiet. If anyone reads this and disagrees, find and post a balance sheet from a Japanese company that specifies their motorcycle market. I've looked for many hours and never found one. If you find one, I'd love to see it and will post it 10 times just in case you miss the first nine.
I've owned 5 Honda's and I'll take my Harley any day of the week. Honda's are good bikes but I did plenty of fixing them for one thing or another during ownership and none of them lasted over 33,000 miles without becoming oil burners. My Harley has almost 37,000 of my miles on it and it starts and runs like new. Only tires and routine maintenance and all done by me.
I'm not sure about the other Japanese motorcycle companies, but I know Honda does some sort of annual report for their worldwide sales. I saw a translated copy of it from 2002 or 2003 and according to it they lost money. I've tried to find a copy online but I can't. A stockbroker might be able to, though.
That might be typical of only Honda, though. Within the last two years they've done nothing but way overproduce and then discount every single bike they make. It's no surprise to me that they wouldn't turn a profit. However, one the flipside I'll bet that Yamaha turns a profit, probably mostly off their cruiser line, and maybe Kawasaki as well, since they've got quite a few models that were amortized years ago that still sell decently (Concours, their entire cruiser line, etc.)
First, they make plenty of profit in other areas of the world. Second, they would do it to dominate a market. How else can they redesign a sport bike every 3 years and sell it at the same price? Answer: You can't.
Why Japanese Companies DON'T issue earnings statements.
There is a simple reason why Japanese companies don't report earnings in press releases and it is this:
Foreign Companies trade on the US market in ADRs (American Depository Receipts) not US common stock. Therefore, there is no SEC requirement for them to publicly disclose earnings. Harley Davidson (a publicly traded US corporation) is required by law to disclose its earnings and balance sheet. Comparing Hondas legally required reporting practices with Harley Davidsons is like trying to compare apples to sprockets.
The reason that Harley sends press releases to all the relevant media outlets, is so that Harley can put an intro and footnotes on the numbers that we would be able to get anyway by simply going to the publicly available report. If they didn't publish an immediate Press Release, we would go to the public record and post the earnings report without Harley having the benefit of making their own "Official" comment on the report in the form of a Press Release.
There is no conspiracy or cover-up here, it is just corporations doing business in accordance with the rules that govern their operations. -Sean
I'm fairly certain that I DON'T want to be winked at by a person who is wearing any form of chaps, ass-less, finger, arm, gerbal, fairing or otherwise.
Well, yeah. In Honda and Kawasaki's cases, they could afford to do it because they have other parts of their business that are much larger and that could support an unprofitable motorcycle business. Honda, in particular, could just be using its motorcycle business to promote its brand image to sell more cars.
That sounds good, only just because they don't HAVE to doesn't mean they can't. I understand Harley has to to this, but why wouldn't the Japanese companies do it anyway? The Euro companies report sales and profits all the time, and they are under the same rules as the Japanese, right? If they were making a killing here, you know damn well they would get the word out. In this case I still say no words say volumes. I never said it was a cover up, just wondering what the secret is if they are so successful.
I don't like to tempt the fates but at almost 70k miles my TC88 Road King is still just as good as your Glide; tires and routine maint for the most part. I've had a minor problem with oil blowback into the breather but that's about it.
My Honda ST1100 however, while it has yet to become an oil burner at over 74,000 miles, has had odd little problems like: a kill switch which had to be replaced at about 30k (that little bytch tried to strand me in Arizona) and a cracked piece on the intake manifold which leaked anti-freeze everywhere. Also I have to replace the rear shock every 30,000 miles. All of these have been fixed under the extended warrenty but that expired in June so it'll be up to me now. Oh and I need to replace the clutch but that's my fault. Did you know a 700 lb, shafty can wheelie? It can and it's really cool.
My only problem with the Harley is I have to remember to change the oil to a thinner viscosity (from 20w50 to 10w40) during the winter months. She'll start and run below 15 degrees (Fuel injection is great!) but she bytches alot. Lots of creaks and growns from every joint. Kinda like me.
I've never been able to figure out why Harley gets bashed so roundly over their 30's technology based engines while the Japanese engines are also based on technology from the 30's. Mercedes built shortstroke DOHC racing engines before WWII. You'd think the Japanese invented all this in the 70's to listen to some people.
i recently wadded my 900ss racebike. i have a backup for now, but one of the guys in my club wants to sell a raceprepped xb9r. i have to check on the classes i can run it in first. he wants 7700. does anyone know if this is fair? wot's it like to race a buell? are they durable?
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Honda release sales figures in the past? I seem to remember seeing yearly sales figures back in the 70's. That's how we knew that Honda sold more CB350s each year than every other motorcycle company's total production combined.. including Honda's other models.
Why did they stop? It does sound fishy.
Maybe, like Ford, they lose money selling vehicles but make it up by offering the financing. They just want to avoid the embarassment of admitting it.
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