Benjo Member Username: Benjo
Post Number: 46 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, July 02, 2008 - 9:38 am: | |
With today's ridiculous gas prices, more people are riding motorcycles. With all the skilled autoworkers out of work in our area, I wonder why one of the big 3 or a startup company doesn't start making bikes here in the Detroit area. I'd love to have a reliable motorcycle made right here in Detroit. |
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg
Post Number: 1694 Registered: 12-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, July 02, 2008 - 9:49 am: | |
Harley-Davidson chief Jim Ziemer is not enjoying an easy ride The iconic bike company has been hit by falling sales and has cut jobs. Is it near the end of the road? Sunday Times, June 29, 2008
....In the first quarter of this financial year, Harley-Davidson saw worldwide sales drop 5.6% - a decline particularly acute in its home market, where the fall in revenues was near 13%..... Read the entire article |
Zrx_doug Member Username: Zrx_doug
Post Number: 275 Registered: 03-2008
| Posted on Wednesday, July 02, 2008 - 10:01 am: | |
Not surprising..Harley sells an "image," not a motorcycle. People have been buying them as "investments" for the past couple decades, and the bottom has fallen out of the market, not unlike the housing market. Folks don't wanna pay twice the price for half the bike when times are tight and resale's a joke.. Japanese bikes are selling like hotcakes..and oddly enough, both Honda and Kawasaki are closing their American assembly plants. Meanwhile, the cheap third-world rip-offs have made their appearance in America.. It'd be pretty hard going for an American motorcycle company to make a start at this particular point in time.. If we use Harley as our benchmark, the Japanese & European bikes are all several light years ahead in every aspect except for loony "potato-potato" exhaust noise and branded aftermarket merchandising.. |
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2
Post Number: 1475 Registered: 07-2007
| Posted on Wednesday, July 02, 2008 - 10:23 am: | |
You can get your very own Detroit made bike right here. (Ferndale made actually) http://detroitbros.com/777/ The 60's kids who grew up and bought a lot of Harley's and drove sales trying to relive their childhood. Now that boom is slowing down. |
Wally Member Username: Wally
Post Number: 427 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, July 02, 2008 - 10:31 am: | |
Zrx_doug is right on. People didn't buy Harley's for an economical ride. They're toys for middle aged faux-bikers with expendable incomes. Nobody looking for a motorcycle to save a few bucks on gasoline is going to look at a Harley. They cost more than many small cars. The only bike Harley sells that comes close to Japanese bike pricing is the Sportster. This area seems like it would be great to start up a motorcycle company selling bikes that the average Joe Shmoe can afford, with all the unemployed engineers and skilled workers, although the union factor would most certainly inhibit anything of the sort to happen. |