Thread: Is Harley Davidson Corp doomed?

So it seems almost any news coming from Harley Davidson Co is not good. From closing down plants, losing market share to Indian (Polaris Corp), Recalls on a lot of bikes, and now I hear about export tariff.. I know that young people are not buying the heavyweight cruisers in general but Harley seems to be the company hardest hit by this. Is Harley doomed or do you think they can pull themselves out of this downward trend? I know there are strong opinions on the Harley brand, either love or hate and I'm not interested in name calling or stereotyping of each motorcycle brands riders. I hate to see an iconic American company shutting factories down and workers losing jobs.. So can they pull through (again) and how do they do this before filing bankruptcy or shutting down?... Btw, I've had many motorcycles in the last 30+ years since turning 18 and buying a little 250cc metric including 5 Harleys. I have a Road King now that I put many miles on each year but if you ask me if my next motorcycle will be another Harley my answer is No... Thanks for any input, Scott

If my memory serves me correctly, back in the 70's, they branded with AMF. That was a disaster! But they overcame their opportunities. In today's market, I believe they got a dose of reality and forgot about where they came from and who the customer is. I think (and truly hope) they come back. They are an american icon!

Back when AMF (American Machine & Foundry) took over, they went to crap so Willie G. Davidson & several investor's bought the MOCO back June 16, 1981 & they were doing good but then Willie G. retired in 2012 & they have been going through some changes & reason being, they are trying to cater to the younger people & now they have done away with the Dyna models. Actually they made bikes like the Low Rider a Softail now which I don't like. I loved the Dyna models because they had the "A" motor in them which had no counter balancers in them like the baggers don't also. To me, it's just that much more things to go out on them. When I was turning wrenches for dealerships, I had to take a motor apart once because of a noise it was making. I ended up taking the motor out of the frame after I took the top end off but after splitting the engine cases I found one of the balancer bearings was beginning to fail. Anyway, they are trying to cater to the younger generation out there yet there are still some old school people like myself out there who would rather have the older bikes. They recently shut down the plant in Kansas City, Missouri & that was where the Dyna's & other bikes were made. Their market shares are going down & they need to do something if they want to stay alive. As for recalls, most every motor company has them but for them to have recalls on ABS brake systems is not good but one reason is the brake fluid is supposed to be flushed out at certain intervals & some dealers weren't doing that which was causing a vlave to fail in the ABS systems. Some people do their own maintenance but if they do, they should have a factory manual which shows when to flush out the old brake fluid. They have come out with Platinum Dot 4 brake fluid which is what they are now replacing the old brake fluid with. My 100th anniversary FXDWG was totaled last May when some moron turned out in front of me. I will not buy a new one again. I have 2 old shovelhead's & I'm going back old school.
I need to schedule an appointment for my GMC because there are 2-3 recalls on it.
Back when they bought the motor company back from AMF, they sent each dealership a framed document of the buy back. I happened to have an original copy.

My 1st Harley was a 1974 AMF right foot shift 1000cc Sportster that was a POS.. Not because it was an AMF but because it had been used and abused many times over... Ironically one of my favorite looking Harley's is a 1977 silver/gray Superglide.. But I think you are right, the company was just hanging on during the AMF years and were fortunate to come back. On a side note I see Gibson Guitar company is going through the same sort of sotuation.. Losing iconic companies is never good..

Glad to hear you made it through the accident.. Took me 2yrs for someone to buy my 94 Wideglide.. Beautiful bike and still shake my head at the price I sold it for..

Yes, I know for a fact they are trying to get the younger generation on Harley's & many of them for some reason, don't like the vibration. I know women love it plus these days there are many women owner/riders. I didn't mind it & always have Loctite on hand. Today's riders aren't like the old days. I read articles about how they have had to change because of what the younger generation demanded & now look what has happened. Willie G. is or will be 85 this year but if he was still involved, I don't think it would be the way it is. The world has changed & a friend of mine who rides a pan said he doesn't belong in this world anymore, referring to the new generation.
I had to come back & edit. I'm glad to make it through that one too but I have been down several times due to idiots on the road. Then they lie because they don't want to accept the responsibility. The one before this last one was a drunk 23 year old kid made a left turn in front of me coming from the other direction & they almost totaled it them. Like I said, the world had changed. The last one was caused by people who weren't in the US very long & they tried to flee the scene but the light turned red & they had to stop behind 2 other cars that stopped & acted as if nothing happened. They were trying to make the green light. People came running to my aid asking if I was okay, if I needed EMS but I got to my feet & said if I felt worse by the time I got home, i would go to the E.R. Then someone asked me who else was involved & I pointed at the car & asked someone to call police & to take pics of their license plate. They saw that & got out of their car, waked back to where I was & asked, "what's wrong"? They tied to say hey were coming from the same direction as I was but they were crossing over & appeared to be slowing down in the median but then hit the gas. The officer got there & got my story then got theres, then came back to me & said our stories don't match & I told him, "that's because they're lying". it's crazy these days. I see a light turn yellow, I begin to slow down & when I'm sitting at the light which just turned red, 3-4 cars will run the light! I'm a veteran of road rash!

Getting rid of the dyna was probably a bad move as far as the market goes . A mate of mine just traded in his fat Bob with nearly 70 thousand miles on it.
Got a break out and he hates it. Handles like a 9 inch grinder...
The full dressed Indians are butt ugly to me.
Could be a bit of a saturation point too. You can pick up a very nice second hand bike here for next to nothing, so why buy the latest?
Bring back AMF so they break down all the farging time, then everyone will need a new one...

What export tariff?

Bob

Also, I meant to write this earlier but they have a plant in india & have been building certain models there for about 3 years now.

@BobH.. Most likely just political BS.. The EU is threatening high taxes on certain items coming into their country from us.. Kentucky Whiskey, Harley Bikes and a few other random items also listed.. Apparently in retaliation for something the US did.. ??