Plant closing

[Lee H. Mann]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/mone...-city-plant-motorcycle-sales-fall/1078008001/

 

[Sully]

Maybe HD should lower their prices on parts and service. $200.00 for an Oil change is ridiculous.

 

[MDO]

I just read that story.

Harley-Davidson will close its Kansas City, Missouri.

as part of a cost-cutting move as it continues to face dwindling shipments.

The move will result in 800 layoffs at the Kansas City facility, beginning midyear, and it will close by the third quarter of 2019.​

They said they will be adding 450 jobs to the York, PA plant I believe that's where our trikes are made.

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Darn snowflakes just aren't buying bikes ... LOL

 

[vwbug72501]

"Safe Space" issues.

 

[Lee H. Mann]

The average life expectancy for a business is about 10 years.

Sears-Roebuck started in 1906 and made it 110 years or so.

We live in a time when nothing is going to remain as normal.

Harley-Davidson has no off-season interests like a lot of the other manufacturers offer. Their product is limited to a sunny day.

Average age of riders has gone from 33 years old to 44 years old in the last 20 years. What will the average age of riders be in 10 years from now ?

Many of today's businesses are temporary at best to serve the consumer at his demand for the moment. When the consumer is no longer interested, culture changes, need changes, the business must adapt to the trend and possibly even out of their own realm.

In the meantime other upstarts have managed a foothold and are ahead of the learning (earning) curve. It is almost too late for Harley to embrace the rejection and market products the next wave demands like Harley-Davidson I-Phones.

I may have been a little premature in my judgement of Harley-Davidson and any future products, they may have already been working with Apple.

[h=1]U.S. Probes Apple Over Updates That Slow Older iPhones[/h]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...over-updates-that-slow-older-iphones-jd1yahj7

 

[LadyonaMission]

This article about an electric HD just showed up on my browser home page:

Harley-Davidson's fourth-quarter earnings report was a good news, bad news situation. The bad news, according to the Milwaukee Business Journal, is that 2017 sales were down 6.7 percent worldwide, and 8.5 percent in the U.S., which has typically been H-D's stronghold. The motorcycle company will also be closing its Kansas City, Missouri plant and rolling operations into its York, Pennsylvania plant. Sales drops and layoffs have sadly become a trend for H-D.

But there is a silver, or rather an electric lining to the story. Harley-Davidson also announced that it is just 18 months away from releasing its first production electric motorcycle. This is much sooner than the 2021 and "eventually" release dates previously announced."The EV motorcycle market is in its infancy today, but we believe premium Harley-Davidson electric motorcycles will help drive excitement and participation in the sport globally," Matt Levatich, Harley-Davidson’s president and CEO told the Milwaukee Business Journal. "As we expand our EV capabilities and commitment, we get even more excited about the role electric motorcycles will play in growing our business."

Harley-Davidson first revealed its interest in electric motorcycles in 2014 with the LiveWire concept, a cool looking bike that made around 74-horsepower and 56 pound-feet of torque, a zero to 60 time around 4 seconds, and a range of 50 miles. Certainly, more range would be required in a production version. The Energica Ego we tested runs between 90 and 120 miles depending on how aggressively you ride it. But battery technology has advanced since then, making similar numbers fairly easy to hit.It may seem strange for H-D, a brand that practically invented the "loud pipes save lives" crowd, to be looking at a quiet electric future, but in many ways it makes sense.

Harley-Davidson's sales are declining because its traditional customers are aging out of riding, and younger riders aren't as interested in riding eternal, shiny and chrome. Amid criticism that H-D is stuck in the past, it may be bypassing the present entirely to focus on the future of motorcycles. Companies like Energica and Zero have made good progress on electric bikes, but are tiny compared to the H-D juggernaut, which can put both its huge manufacturing and marketing departments behind making an electric Harley the motorcycle of choice for a new generation of riders.​

 

[Jack Klarich]

I just read that story.

Harley-Davidson will close its Kansas City, Missouri.

as part of a cost-cutting move as it continues to face dwindling shipments.

The move will result in 800 layoffs at the Kansas City facility, beginning midyear, and it will close by the third quarter of 2019.​

They said they will be adding 450 jobs to the York, PA plant I believe that's where our trikes are made.

You are correct

It is sad about the KC plant

That was a fairly new plant

Also I believe the Sportser and V Rod were built there

 

[peteg59]

While we will enjoy riding "old" internal combustion machines for the here and now, electric powered cycles are only a matter of time.

Battery technology has come a long way, and should continue to evolve, but big oil/gasoline companies will lose big if/when the govt. eventually outlaws fossil fuels in motor vehicles.

For that reason don't expect battery powered vehicles to overtake fossil fueled vehicles in US sales, until the technology is here for the big oil companies to profit from recharging stations they setup and run, around the country.

Lots of "politics" involved in going from one fuel type to another, and big oil is already well entrenched in the pockets of our lawmakers in congress to prevent them from making a wholesale change anytime soon....

 

[Lee H. Mann]

While we will enjoy riding "old" internal combustion machines for the here and now, electric powered cycles are only a matter of time.

Battery technology has come a long way, and should continue to evolve, but big oil/gasoline companies will lose big if/when the govt. eventually outlaws fossil fuels in motor vehicles.

For that reason don't expect battery powered vehicles to overtake fossil fueled vehicles in US sales, until the technology is here for the big oil companies to profit from recharging stations they setup and run, around the country.

Lots of "politics" involved in going from one fuel type to another, and big oil is already well entrenched in the pockets of our lawmakers in congress to prevent them from making a wholesale change anytime soon....

It would take 2 weeks to get to Sturgis on an electric right now and just about wear out a sleeping bag. Great transportation going to and from work provided your commute is not more than an hour each way. Just about every electric vehicle will need a charging station for itself, what a logistical mess. How many charging stations will there be in and around Sturgis in 2025 for use 1 week a year and at what cost. Unfortunately Sturgis and other motorcycle rally points will certainly die the same death that that may overtake Harley-Davidson.

To much to do and not enough time to react to it all !!!!

Emergency, Emergency, everybody to get off streets !!!

....but I won't be here when it happens so you young people enjoy the ride while you can.....

 

[peteg59]

Just about every electric vehicle will need a charging station for itself, what a logistical mess. How many charging stations will there be in and around Sturgis in 2025 for use 1 week a year and at what cost. ....but I won't be here when it happens so you young people enjoy the ride while you can.....

That is one of the many problems with electric vehicle technology today however when the new technology arrives, the charging terminals we will use will all be "universal" meaning every vehicle no matter the maker, will accept the same charging apparatus.

Recharge times will likely take about the same time as fueling up with gasoline today, and mileage between charges will be much longer than what it currently is today.

All it takes is money and a determined bunch of scientists and engineers working to advance battery technology, and electric vehicles will eventually push out internal combustion powered vehicles.

Much is happening right now already in Europe, and it is definitely gaining in popularity over there.

It's coming here in the US, whether we want it or not, but likely after we're no longer above ground & taking nourishment....

 

[rhino 2]

Lets face it Harley riders and i'll bet Indian riders also are getting older... Younger riders can't hack the price of the new bikes, And the used ones are also out of their price range ...

Thats just the way it is......

 

[Sidecarbill]

Harleys are two wheeled Buicks. Kids don't want something their old man was driving. The harley crowd will be quickly disappearing in near future.

 

[Jack Klarich]

Lets face it Harley riders and i'll bet Indian riders also are getting older... Younger riders can't hack the price of the new bikes, And the used ones are also out of their price range ...

Thats just the way it is......

Right, they do not have the disposable income that we enjoyed

 

[Lee H. Mann]

Right, they do not have the disposable income that we enjoyed

That is because they disposed of it when they should have been saving it. A dollar burns a hole in their pocket !!!!

 

[Jack Klarich]

I hope any Dyna owners that may have a wreck and need a frame can still get the real deal from the MOCO

 

[triwinggirl]

I grew up racing motocross on Honda's, then graduated to racing crotch rockets. like me the younger crowd just find these bike way more fun than a Harley. I would not trade in my GoldWing trike JOY it has a better ride and I will rebuild it until I cant then get a new one and transfer as many parts as I can. I love that my trike is more expensive and way bigger and faster, I just don't like Harley's. I have bad ears and most Harley's have open exhaust's that hurt my ears making it hard to ride with them.

 

[frostbite51]

The future of EVs will be in China, not the US or Europe. According to one report, there are roughly 2 million EVs on the road now. China has half of them, many made by companies we never heard of.

Another report says that in 2016 China installed enough solar panels to cover a soccer field every hour of every day for the year - that's over 750 million square feet.

I was looking at the Zero web site. They claim a 100 mile range and only 81 cents to recharge. That's under a penny a mile. My Dyna gets 48 MPG, and with $3 gas that equals 6.5 cents a mile. Add a $50 oil change every 5000 miles that an EV doesn't need and there's another penny, or 7.5 cents a mile to ride my Dyna. If I had a 20-30 mile commute every day and could buy an EV that would cut 80% off my fuel costs it would look mighty tempting...