| Author | Message | ||
     Mikej |
http://www.jsonline.com/watch/?watch=1&date=7/17/2 008&id=43328
I've heard of some folks taking an invited/offered early retirement lately. I'm kind of curious if the M/V purchase is counted in the numbers here. And in case you missed it: "Next Tuesday, we introduce our exciting new 2009 motorcycles." | ||
| Rainman |
Just received corporate information where I work. We're in the same boat with nearly the same percentage of decrease in earnings. | ||
| Elvis |
. . . but Buell had their best quarter ever shipping over 4,000 bikes! Harley shipped a little over 80,000. Do you know what that means? Welcome to the 5% club.  THAT'S exactly why Harley bought MV Augusta. The cruiser market is saturated. If Harley wants to grow, they have to increase their presence in the sport/standard market. Expect to start getting more attention starting now. | ||
| Brumbear |
what did they spend om other ventures if Buell does well then Harley funded them they spent more made less on paper but buell made more in the end do not believe what you read | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
5%!!! Whoo!!!!! | ||
| Darthane |
It could be 50%, you'll still get treated like dirt in an unfortunate number of HD Dealerships. | ||
| Spiderman |
Darth, Sentcha a PM | ||
| Crusty |
It could be 50%, you'll still get treated like dirt in an unfortunate number of HD Dealerships. Ain't it da truth! | ||
| Cityxslicker |
I wish we could get y'all out here on the north-west coast for a big event. We cant even get a demo truck here  I have sold more Buells in the last 6 months than ALL of last year. Then numbers are up. Harley is where they were the year before. | ||
| Chellem |
Why no demo truck? Too rainy? Too far? Too hard to find? Just curious. I thought the demo truck went to any dealer who asked them. Seems like they should to me. Big wussies. ->ChelleM | ||
| Oldog |
their afraid that City will get the bikes dirty ? | ||
| Teddagreek |
I was under the impression there was cost to the dealer to bring out the demo truck... | ||
| Cityxslicker |
There is a cost for the truck, and then there is the INSURANCE that comes with it. Good jeasous gawd its a wonder business doesnt just come to a grinding halt under the cost of insurance. There is a Week long SPORT BIKE/Dual Sport RALLY in Washington, attended by 500-600 avid hooligan riders. Triumph, KTM, BMW, Aprilia all brought demo trucks last year. It is such a successful event for Triumph that they dont even attend the International Motorcycle Show. Who would you rather show your ride off to? Riders, with gear and insurance, or sunday mall lookers that may ride someday?... Local Regional Rep put the kiabash on it, three years running. Makes it difficult to steal a deal when everyone else is playing in the sandbox. Ps Two Buells stayed and did both the sport bike and dual sport events  Nothing like not having to go home and change bikes to do either rally | ||
| Rainman |
Stop it City, you're making me think hard about a Uly... | ||
| Court |
We just had a 22% rate increase, the largest in our history and have expanded our construction program to just over $7,000,000,000. It's hell trying to keep up with the increasing energy demands of New York City. Maybe HD should build power-plants . . . not altogheter a bad time to be a construction worker. One of the kids who used to work for me and started his own business just signed his first BILLION dollar contract for transmission lines and substations passing through 5 states. Alternatively you could all shut off your computers, blackberry and cellphones. HD has a golden opportunity with Buell at the moment. Let's see if they can see outside the blinders. I to am seriously looking at a Uly for as a commuter bike. | ||
| Darthane |
I to am seriously looking at a Uly for as a commuter bike. =D ...it's a perfect commuter bike (as long as you don't mind roast quadriceps!). I was 'forced' to ride the Firebolt the other day - man it felt funny after riding the UlyXT for a week and a half straight. | ||
| Hexangler |
July 18, 2008, 8:52 am Harley-Davidson Takes Its Lumps By Jerry Garrett Tags: Harley Davidson, honda If motorcycles generally get better mileage than cars, and if everyone is so concerned about the price of gasoline these days, why are motorcycle sales cratering instead of skyrocketing? It’s the economy, stupid (with apologies to Bill Clinton). “When the economy turns sour, motorcycles are considered a luxury item, and people stop buying them, it seems,” notes Kurt Antonius, a spokesman for American Honda, whose motorcycle sales, like almost everyone else’s in the industry are off around 20 percent so far this year. Harley-Davidson, which enjoyed two decades of record sales and earnings growth leading up to 2007, is the latest to feel the sting. Sales for the second quarter of 2008, which were announced Thursday, dropped by 23.3 percent from the same period last year (which was not a great quarter). Earnings were down 16.7 percent. Its stock did rise to $39 a share Thursday, though, as analysts had expected even worse results. But that’s down nearly 50 percent from its high of $76 a share in 2006. In April, Harley-Davidson cut back production and reduced its workforce. It announced plans to ship to dealers between 76,000 and 80,000 bikes during the second quarter, and even less — 74,000-78,000 — for the third quarter, the prime summer selling season. As recently as last year, Harley shipments approached 100,000 units per quarter. But that’s when Harley’s sales first started to slow, causing it to fall well short of Harley’s dream of selling 400,000 bikes for the year. That may be a dream that just went poof for the foreseeable future. It’s not like Harley-Davidson is hurting for money. The company still raked in $1.67 billion in total revenue for the quarter. It also recently announced plans to acquire MV Agusta, a boutique Italian bike maker, opened a lavish new museum, and previewed for the press some splashy special edition models for 2009. Those seem to sell out whether the economy is circling the drain, or not. Later this month, Harley will unveil its full line of 2009 models, and an extensive celebration of its 105th anniversary kicks off in August. “We expect U.S. economic conditions and ongoing consumer concerns to continue to create challenges at least through the end of the year,” said Jim Ziemer, Harley-Davidson’s chief executive. Still, he said, the company expects to ship more than 300,000 bikes for 2008 — a total seldom exceeded in company history. But Harley’s business probably can be expected to suffer more than many motorcycle manufacturers, because of the lack of diversity in its lineup of mostly cruiser bikes. Mr. Antonius noted some of the drop in Honda’s motorcycle sales have been offset by increased sales of scooters. “Scooters,” he said, “are flying off the shelves.” Wonder what a Harley-Davidson scooter might look like? | ||
| Mikej |
"Wonder what a Harley-Davidson scooter might look like?" In 1961 they looked like this:  http://www.maxmatic.com/Graphics/topper_mike_bikem icro.jpg Found this 1957 ad for one:  http://www.bokblad.se/sidecar/57hdsc.jpg | ||
| Spatten1 |
Sales for the second quarter of 2008, which were announced Thursday, dropped by 23.3 percent from the same period last year (which was not a great quarter). Earnings were down 16.7 percent. How in the •••• you can drop nearly 25% in sales and less than 20% at the bottom line makes no sense at all. A 20% drop in sales generally will wipe out more than 50% of profits for a manufacturer, due to the high amount of fixed costs. Where are they cutting all of these costs? Are they just moving numbers around, pushing expenses to next quarter? (Message edited by spatten1 on July 18, 2008) | ||
| Prof_stack |
Ooh, check out the fine print: "lowest center of gravity makes handling a dream." Sounds like what Erik has been doing with Buell. He must have seen this ad as a youngin'.  | ||
| Oldog |
Scott: consider this the also finnance their products (Eagle Mark) that has to be quite profitable and is part of HDI ulyxt 50 mpg comfort touring / comuter bike makes sense to me. | ||
| Doerman |
How in the •••• you can drop nearly 25% in sales and less than 20% at the bottom line makes no sense at all. I didn't look closely at the reports, but as you know the comparison is to the same quarter a year ago. So if they had extraordinary charges in Q2 07, then it is possible. I'm pumped at being a 5%-er! Since I have 3 Buells, does that make em a 15%-er?  | ||
| Reepicheep |
Not just scooters, but small dual sport sales are *way* up as well. My KLR-250 is probably worth two to three times what I paid for it less then a year ago. Shame all I paid for it was $500  (and thats only if I get it running again... ) | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Friend of mine was just offered (and accepted) 5k for a 2008 Ninja 250R. He paid 4200 otd. Rode it for 2000 miles. That bike you cant anchor to the showroom floor. Its been 30 years since Harley had a 250/350, if there is a boat they are missing, its that size | ||
| Chellem |
Not just scooters, but small dual sport sales are *way* up as well. Weird coincidence? We've had more requests for Blasts lately too. Blasts get a raw deal, but they top out the Buell (and H-D for that matter) awesome-MPG-rating at 73 highway, 69 urban. AND it will go a hell of a lot faster than a scooter! If I had a long commute, that'd probably be my bike of choice. That, plus, it's like the only one I can kinda touch the ground on. With the low seat. (Even better with no seat.) ->ChelleM | ||
| Court |
The Buell BLAST is an ideal commuter bike . . . . particularly if you live in a $9M Park Avenue place and have to struggle with that "Do I take the Blast or the limo" choice.  Court | ||
| Greenlantern |
Is the Tennis Ball functional or just a play on the "Park Ave Life"?  | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
I see a Porsche Cayenne in the background. Is that yours, Court? |
