Hardly Abelson are a victim of their own controlling of their dealers and accessories. They are expected to be solus dealers and not supply non HD branded accessories through their shops. There was a HD dealer about 4 miles away from us a good few years ago and they had to stop selling HD because they refused to be a solus dealer and move their dealership into Coventry. It started when the HD rep arrived and took down ALL of the non HD accessories from the display which the dealer had not only set up but paid for. £10's of thousands in parts had to be put out of sight and sold to other shops or sent back to the suppliers. They told the HD rep to come with a truck and take the bikes away. They then sold Triumph and several other brands and never touched HD again. They are too controlling of their dealers and very litigious if you do not comply with their terms. This may have worked in the USA 20 years ago but now other brands are getting a foot hold in the USA HD is struggling again. They relied on the US government taxing bikes over 750cc heavily in the 1980's with the 4.4% tariff changing to 49.4% over night. Without the US government stepping in HD would have gone bust in the 1980's. So I think you need to look into the History and working practices of HD to see why they are suffering with dealers globally. One of my good Friends worked at HD UK for about 12 months and recently left to work for Alpinestars. Just reading Visordown is not exactly giving the reasons for their problems. There was also the "woke" and it's " Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" backlash recently with US buyers boycotting the brand...
That's interesting... I think one of the positives about Harley is their multiple dealerships throughout the USA.. don't have to go far to find a dealership if you're needing maintenance (as long as the model year isn't too old).. can't imagine how much more money they would make if they weren't exclusively, Harley...
Regarding your question about Harley Davidson’s involvement in other industries - They’re big into Bumper Stickers, Tee Shirts riding apparel with there logo plastered on it all . They probably would have done better in the clothing industry. Although I’m guessing quality would suffer on that front, also. All in all, it’s a very sad company, IMHO.
Overpriced underpowered shite.....quite literally....heavy badly made, through the roof cost of spares. They weight more than a collapsing star and look awful. The sad thing is....50 60 70 years ago they were good (for the time) - if i was going to buy a Harley (which i never would) i would buy a vintage one....same for triumph...id never buy one - this is just me/my personal opinion...put a gun to my head...speed triple..nothing else...theres a few models in their range that are kinda ok...but thats it...most of their bobber/classic stuff is just riding the coat tails of their style 50 years ago - again...if i was going to buy a triumph...id buy an old vintage one... EV's wont take off until Graphene battery technology is available...when that happens sign me up (but ill always own petrol based bikes) As for Trump we in the UK dont really have a dog in the fight but, the last 4 years from here the US has gone down rapidly so a change was probably needed....see what they can do..
They have been making the most dreadful junk for many years now.... I just saw all their bikes at a car show last year, and the HARD plastic edges were so rough and unpolished that you could cut your fingers on them. So you would think they were cheap. But no. Quite the opposite. INSANE prices for junk. Its a race to the bottom. And its been going on for 20 years at least.
Harley have made only cruiser style bikes since year dot because they see them as the most American, what America wants. They pushed that for so long and been so good at that image anything outwith a cruiser style isn't seen as a true Harley. They tried change with the Vrod, then the smaller 500 & 750s and Live wire but they didn't sell. Also a replacement drive belt supplied and fitted by a Harley shop cost £1600! Come on Harley. Selling my Fatbob wasn't easy either, several franchises wouldn't touch it, a two owner full history bike. It's gone now and good riddance.
Harley Davidson’s are generally overpriced, overweight, overhyped, underpowered and underwhelming. The company markets themselves as selling a “Lifestyle” brand . To me this is a veiled attempt at glossing over the shortcomings of their product, which by any objective standards are blatantly obvious. Furthermore the “rebel” or “bad boy” image is connoted with the associative outlaw biker gangs that require members to ride only HD’s of a certain size. This to many has a macho appeal and, superficial as it is, draws individuals to the brand regardless of reliability and value for cost issues.
From what i hear.. Harley does their own financing.. so getting approved for a loan isnt that difficult. Sorta preditory loaning if you ask me. Btw....Trump would need a 3/4 senate vote to change the 22md Amendment... It's not gonna happen.
Harley Davidson has been taking a loss for years. In general, slow, overpriced and deemed as old fashioned by many. They don't explore and try and go with the times, if they were more reliable. They would sell more... Thank God Trump got in, certainly better than the alternative, now get Starmer out, then all is good...
@captain_context9991 When you say those, I assume you mean Trump and Starmer? To answer that question, yes, I do know that Trump is the president of the US and Starmer is the prime minister of our country.. Easy question, easy to answer, Are there any more questions that I can help you with, based on the relevant subject?
Hardly Abelson are a victim of their own controlling of their dealers and accessories. They are expected to be solus dealers and not supply non HD branded accessories through their shops. There was a HD dealer about 4 miles away from us a good few years ago and they had to stop selling HD because they refused to be a solus dealer and move their dealership into Coventry. It started when the HD rep arrived and took down ALL of the non HD accessories from the display which the dealer had not only set up but paid for. £10's of thousands in parts had to be put out of sight and sold to other shops or sent back to the suppliers. They told the HD rep to come with a truck and take the bikes away. They then sold Triumph and several other brands and never touched HD again. They are too controlling of their dealers and very litigious if you do not comply with their terms. This may have worked in the USA 20 years ago but now other brands are getting a foot hold in the USA HD is struggling again. They relied on the US government taxing bikes over 750cc heavily in the 1980's with the 4.4% tariff changing to 49.4% over night. Without the US government stepping in HD would have gone bust in the 1980's.
So I think you need to look into the History and working practices of HD to see why they are suffering with dealers globally. One of my good Friends worked at HD UK for about 12 months and recently left to work for Alpinestars. Just reading Visordown is not exactly giving the reasons for their problems. There was also the "woke" and it's " Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" backlash recently with US buyers boycotting the brand...
That's interesting... I think one of the positives about Harley is their multiple dealerships throughout the USA.. don't have to go far to find a dealership if you're needing maintenance (as long as the model year isn't too old).. can't imagine how much more money they would make if they weren't exclusively, Harley...
Regarding your question about Harley Davidson’s involvement in other industries - They’re big into Bumper Stickers, Tee Shirts riding apparel with there logo plastered on it all . They probably would have done better in the clothing industry. Although I’m guessing quality would suffer on that front, also. All in all, it’s a very sad company, IMHO.
Overpriced underpowered shite.....quite literally....heavy badly made, through the roof cost of spares. They weight more than a collapsing star and look awful. The sad thing is....50 60 70 years ago they were good (for the time) - if i was going to buy a Harley (which i never would) i would buy a vintage one....same for triumph...id never buy one - this is just me/my personal opinion...put a gun to my head...speed triple..nothing else...theres a few models in their range that are kinda ok...but thats it...most of their bobber/classic stuff is just riding the coat tails of their style 50 years ago - again...if i was going to buy a triumph...id buy an old vintage one...
EV's wont take off until Graphene battery technology is available...when that happens sign me up (but ill always own petrol based bikes)
As for Trump we in the UK dont really have a dog in the fight but, the last 4 years from here the US has gone down rapidly so a change was probably needed....see what they can do..
That's not new news, they have had financial issues for years...
They have been making the most dreadful junk for many years now.... I just saw all their bikes at a car show last year, and the HARD plastic edges were so rough and unpolished that you could cut your fingers on them. So you would think they were cheap. But no. Quite the opposite. INSANE prices for junk.
Its a race to the bottom. And its been going on for 20 years at least.
Harley have made only cruiser style bikes since year dot because they see them as the most American, what America wants. They pushed that for so long and been so good at that image anything outwith a cruiser style isn't seen as a true Harley. They tried change with the Vrod, then the smaller 500 & 750s and Live wire but they didn't sell. Also a replacement drive belt supplied and fitted by a Harley shop cost £1600! Come on Harley. Selling my Fatbob wasn't easy either, several franchises wouldn't touch it, a two owner full history bike. It's gone now and good riddance.
I saw a video of someone changing their drive belt.. Holy crap that was some crazy amount of work just to change a freaking belt..
Harley Davidson’s are generally overpriced, overweight, overhyped, underpowered and underwhelming. The company markets themselves as selling a “Lifestyle” brand . To me this is a veiled attempt at glossing over the shortcomings of their product, which by any objective standards are blatantly obvious. Furthermore the “rebel” or “bad boy” image is connoted with the associative outlaw biker gangs that require members to ride only HD’s of a certain size. This to many has a macho appeal and, superficial as it is, draws individuals to the brand regardless of reliability and value for cost issues.
From what i hear.. Harley does their own financing.. so getting approved for a loan isnt that difficult. Sorta preditory loaning if you ask me.
Btw....Trump would need a 3/4 senate vote to change the 22md Amendment... It's not gonna happen.
Harleys suck
Harley Davidson has been taking a loss for years. In general, slow, overpriced and deemed as old fashioned by many. They don't explore and try and go with the times, if they were more reliable. They would sell more...
Thank God Trump got in, certainly better than the alternative, now get Starmer out, then all is good...
You do know those are in different countries, right?
@captain_context9991 Please elaborate...
@captain_context9991 When you say those, I assume you mean Trump and Starmer? To answer that question, yes, I do know that Trump is the president of the US and Starmer is the prime minister of our country..
Easy question, easy to answer,
Are there any more questions that I can help you with, based on the relevant subject?