Ad agency of 31 years drops Harley-Davidson

[bigguy]

Not sure what, if anything, this means to us.
Link to AP story on Google.

[solo1]

If, as Harley says, the shift will be to young people, where would these  'young' people get $16- 25k for a motorcycle. Oh yeah ,interest rates are low.

[big turkey]

You think this might be due to the economy and the market is flooded with Harleys.

Or is it just the ad agency president rides a Honda.

begs to wonder.

I vote stinkin economy and all those underpriced imports people are buying.

You can get a Super Glide for 11,000 or a Honda Interstate for 12,500(The New Interstate).

5 years from now the Honda will be worth half it's retail and the Harley will still be worth 8,500.

Well maybe those imports are priced about the same for the basic models in both brands.

Instead of riding a Harley clone , you could ride the real McCoy.

The better deal is obvious.

Big Al

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

You think this might be due to the economy and the market is flooded with Harleys.

Or is it just the ad agency president rides a Honda.

begs to wonder.

I vote stinkin economy and all those underpriced imports people are buying.

You can get a Super Glide for 11,000 or a Honda Interstate for 12,500(The New Interstate).

5 years from now the Honda will be worth half it's retail and the Harley will still be worth 8,500.

Well maybe those imports are priced about the same for the basic models in both brands.

Instead of riding a Harley clone , you could ride the real McCoy.

The better deal is obvious.

Big Al

I don't agree with you 100% here Al...I can get close out of my Valkyrie what I paid for it 12 years ago very few bikes out there that can make that claim.Also look at Craigslist , Flea-Bay the local classifieds etc....Harley's for sale out number every other mfg there is.

[big turkey]

That's good to hear Joe, since I own one of those Valkyries as well.

Big AL

[fudgie]

Does HD really need to advertise? Maybe that is extra cash they can save by cutting some of there advertisement. Everyone know who HD is, even the non mc world. Its one of the most recognized symbols in the world.

[fudgie]

You think this might be due to the economy and the market is flooded with Harleys.

Or is it just the ad agency president rides a Honda.

begs to wonder.

I vote stinkin economy and all those underpriced imports people are buying.

You can get a Super Glide for 11,000 or a Honda Interstate for 12,500(The New Interstate).

5 years from now the Honda will be worth half it's retail and the Harley will still be worth 8,500.

Well maybe those imports are priced about the same for the basic models in both brands.

Instead of riding a Harley clone , you could ride the real McCoy.

The better deal is obvious.

Big Al

I also disagree. My Tourer is worth $3k less then what I paid for it 10 yrs ago. Thats good resale. The thing about metrics are the reliability. Ive seen 4 bikes in 3 days at Sturgis need work at camp. Half for the same known HD problems. Compensator sproket, timing chains (on the TC Revo), stator/volt meter. A guy dumping $2k in his on his vacation, was enough to sell me not to get one. All had 50-65k on the odo.

[big turkey]

And As Joe always says they are marketing geniuses.

Big Al

They could sell a Drownin man a glass of water.

[big turkey]

I could make 2 thousand on my Valkyrie, as it is worth more than I paid for it.

Four If i sold it to somebody in Canada.

From what I have read.

Big AL

[Tropic traveler]

5 years from now the Honda will be worth half it's retail and the Harley will still be worth 8,500.

Well maybe those imports are priced about the same for the basic models in both brands.

Instead of riding a Harley clone , you could ride the real McCoy.

The better deal is obvious.

Big Al

AND, you would look like a total badass. 

[RoadKill]

The Valk is an exception to the rule as far as resale on a non-Harley. But it seems to me that motorcycles in general have grown in demand (fuel prices,I assume  ??? ) and Harley resale has suffered the most due to the poor economy and so many of them being "owned by the bank" and a FLOOD of repo's ! Just my thoughts....No gov't report to back it up and i did not check snopes 

[Bob E.]

A few years ago, my friend bought a new 100th anniversary Heritage Softail...paid about $23,000 for it. A couple years later when he was trying to make this same point to me, I looked on ebay, craigslist, cycletrader, etc.  That same bike was selling (or at least advertised) for around $17,000 to $18,000.  Thats a loss of $5000 to $6000 in just a couple years.  I had just paid $9000 for my Valk a year or so before he bought his.  It was used, but had less than 400 miles (yes...four hundred miles) so it was basically new.  And the fact is, I saw the paperwork from the guy that I bought it from.  He had paid $9500 for it brand new as a left-over.  Anyways, my thought was that I knew I could get alot more than $4000 for my Valk at the time.  Heck, even if I had paid retail at $13000, I was pretty sure I could get a good deal more than $7000 for it at the time, especially considering I could probably still get close to that for it now.  So, sure his bike had retained more value as a percentage of the original sale price and had a higher resale price.  But he was still going to lose alot more dollars on the sale than I would have.

[Kaiser]

If you think HDs are expensive now, wait until they quit making them.

Big Al (and ever other HD owner) is sitting on a freakin' gold mine if HD can't turn things around and they go under.

[fudgie]

If you think HDs are expensive now, wait until they quit making them.

Big Al (and ever other HD owner) is sitting on a freakin' gold mine if HD can't turn things around and they go under.

I disagree. Look at the old pan heads and Evo's. They no longer make them and they dont sell for very much.

[big turkey]

Gold Mine No, Harley ain't dead yet, far from it.

They have a market , and when Obama Dumb Ass is out of office things will get rolling again.

People in Business hate this man and guess what it shows, they are voting with their money.

Waiting it out and him out of office.

Three more years and the money will flow if we ain't lost our friggin minds and voted him in again.

Just like Bush, any body is better than the one we got.

Big AL

[big turkey]

I dropped a Harley Davidson at a stop sign once.

Drunk and forgot to put my foot down.

Big AL

[fudgie]

I dropped a Harley Davidson at a stop sign once.

Drunk and forgot to put my foot down.

Big AL

  I make it a point not to stop till I get home when i'm like that. 

[JustJim]

What struck me in the story is this line: "... the Milwaukee-based motorcycle maker has slashed its marketing spending in recent years amid slumping sales."

It seems to me that most businesses get this backwards. When sales slump, you should INCREASE your advertising and marketing budgets. And when the economy is bad you should INCREASE your advertising and marketing budgets. You are competing for fewer dollars, so you need to do more to attract the customers who have money. But most businesses see the advertising and marketing budgets as luxury spending, so it's one of the first places they look to trim.

[MNBill]

My son wanted to ride with me this spring. We went bike shopping and found a Sportster, super nice bike for $5000. I have a friend I went to High School with that owns (with her husband) the local clothing store that sells Harley motorcycles. I went to the shop and was told by her not to buy the bike, my son liked it so I ask her if $3500 would be to much. She again said do not buy it, it was made before HD rubber mounted the engines and he would not be able to ride it for any distance without his hands getting numb. I thanked her, and she DID NOT try and sell me something off the floor (for those of you that think she said this to sell me a bike). My son has a 1300 VTX now and loves riding it.