| Author | Message | ||
     Zane |
The Milwaukee-based motorcycle maker will close its factory in Kansas City, Missouri, and consolidate production in York, Pennsylvania, according to a statement Tuesday. The restructuring will eliminate about 260 U.S. jobs, Chief Executive Officer Matt Levatich said on a conference call. Trump praised the company last year as a "great example" of a business creating jobs and building factories in the country. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-harl ey-davidson-shuts-down-plant-20180130-story.html | ||
| Ratbuell |
Sounds like when they closed their East Troy plant..."surprise, we're closing the doors...NOW". | ||
| Macbuell |
Tons of companies announcing investments and expansion ... HD announces plant closure. | ||
| Greg_e |
it will add 450 in York, a mix of full-time, part-time and contract positions. Want to bet on the number of contract and part time? Was the KC facility up for union contract renewal? | ||
| Zane |
Well, building motorcycles was just a sideline anyway. It detracted from the real money maker: T-Shirts! | ||
| Tootal |
Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that KC built the Sportster and V-rod. Maybe the smaller bikes too, I don't know. Anyway, the V-rod is history and the small bike sales are what? I've never seen one on the road. | ||
| Gowindward |
KC plant builds the V-Rod platform and the Sportster platform. Not sure about the new smaller displacement bikes. Local news said 800 jobs being lost in KC. Sales are down....the motorbike market has been in decline for a about three years from what I have seen. | ||
| Snacktoast |
Just an FYI, V-Rod production ended after the 2017 model year. | ||
| Screamer |
Dynas (discontinued) were also built in KC. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
They need to diversify their product line badly. Erasing Buell was a short term thing that likely cost them dearly in the long term. I know I certainly wouldn't buy a stupid H-D branded Bajaj bike. Nor would I buy a twinkie roadsofa. They focused on a demographic that is easing into needing rascal scooters now. The whole industry is in trouble but H-D is in more trouble. I just don't see a future for them. They had a chance with Buell and Vrod still being sold side by side with the roadsofakingglides. They had people come in that would not normally come in. Now whenever I go to a dealership, all the bikes look the same. only the paint is different. Perhaps they can sell themselves back to AMF so that they can make golf carts and bowling balls. | ||
| Tootal |
Dynas (discontinued) were also built in KC. That surprises me since the dyna shared the Big Twin engine with the other models made in York. I guess since the engine plant is in Milwaukee they could ship them wherever. Combining the dyna and the softtail models obviously didn't help keep the plant open. | ||
| Ratbuell |
The market in general is changing. It's an industry thing. Millenials are...frankly, too scared to ride motorcycles. Those who do, do so for "green" misgivings - low fuel consumption equals "save the planet". Problem is...being millenials, they're broke. The ones who aren't? Are cheap. ADV bikes are turning towards the 300cc size range, to give the same "tough" image a Jeep gives...for all its parking lot use. And to keep a low price point. Broke kids want small bikes, cheap bikes...and HD ain't either of those. Nor are they "environmentally responsible". And they CERTAINLY don't fill the boy-racer attitude of the other half of young buyers - "I gotta have a literbike, I gotta go FAST!!". Until we as a nation accept motorcycles as TRANSPORTATION (like much of Europe and Asia)...we're going to have some hard seasons for the industry. Hardest hit will be the high-dollar, low-performance "road art" like HD, Indian, even things like the Gold Wing and the new Venture. They're EXPENSIVE - you can by a decent midsize CAR for these prices. The manufacturer has to have something different to get buyers going - and HD hasn't had anything different for decades. SOSDD. We shall see. | ||
| Rick_a |
Our entire society has a stigma against motorcycles. There are more unhinged drivers on the road than ever before. On Harley, they're still adjusting from an industry slump going years back. The big bump was due to gas prices primarily, where people quickly realized that maintaining a motorcycle properly is time consuming and expensive, and quickly learned of the inherent risks faced every day. Every new rider also has to endure the taunts, stories, and warnings of non-riders, while dealing with the awkwardness that is their first year on the road. Over the past few years I've seen all manner of bikes appear out of the shed vs going new. Harley is a brand image. The age of the "biker" is certainly on the decline. I see more practical, small displacement standards and sportbikes on the road than ever before. The days when every body had a blinged out land barge or open class superbike on the road are certainly gone. | ||
| S3ters |
But the sale of branded dog sweaters and coffee has increased...so they have that going for them. | ||
| Greg_e |
Fyi, I hated the road sofas until I wanted to ride two up and decided to buy. Looked at used BMW and the like, ended up with Electra Glide Ultra Classic. For commuting to work with most of whatever I need that day, or going out with a passenger... I know I chose the correct machine for me. Indian and Victory might have been a choice, but there is one thing you can count on if traveling long distances... There will be a Harley dealer within about a 2 hour span. I do hope they can pull their stuff together, but it's a big task right now and even the XG will not save them without serious changes to the line up. | ||
| Oddalloy |
Here's a link to another article about the closure from Industrial Equipment News: https://www.ien.com/operations/news/20990647/harle ydavidson-shuts-down-plant?utm_medium=email&utm_so urce=Engineeering%20News%20Today%2001302018&utm_te rm=18930 | ||
| Froggy |
I'm not seeing that as the problem. I'm a millenial, and I remember that virtually nobody in my age group had a drivers license at 16, I was basically the only one and ended up ferrying people around until my mid 20s. Nobody else really wanted to, it wasn't like the 60s or whatever where getting a car was freedom. Today we get that freedom via phones. Slowly my friends got their license and their own wheels, mostly because I egged them into it. You are right about the being broke thing, I ended up being lucky and nailing a great job while in college and ended up buying a brand new loaded up Ulysses before I could legally drink. Most of my friends ended up with a lot of college debt and wages that make it difficult to afford rent, so getting wheels was economically a difficult task. Even to this day, now in my early 30s, my friends are driving old clunkers. I've taught some friends to ride, and even got one to take the MSF class but still lacks a bike due to funds. A decent used Blast or similar sub 500cc bike is worth than his truck. My sister is in her late 20s thankfully got her license at 16, and she had similar experience with many friends not being drivers. The generation after me has even less desire for their own wheels (be it 2 or 4), and prefer to use mass transit and rideshare services. I don't think there is much any brand can do to attract young buyers that are not already interested in motorcycles, it isn't that they are scared but just don't have the interest. All the young riders I know got into riding because of someone they knew that rode, so perhaps pulling a Joe Camel and making riding more appealing to the underage would help. | ||
| 86129squids |
"... so perhaps pulling a Joe Camel and making riding more appealing to the underage would help."   | ||
| Zane |
Just got a call call from the internet sales guy at the HD dealership that I take my XT to when I can't fix it myself. He said he had over 200 new bikes in stock plus a ton of used bikes. He's trying to move them any way he can. They just aren't selling but you still want one don't you. That seemed to be the message I heard. (Message edited by Zane on January 31, 2018) | ||
| Twobuells |
KC stared with building the Sportsers that left York V-Rods were built in KC until last year Dynas left York and went to KC 500 and 750 Street built in KC, HDI bikes built overseas Softails left York and went to KC Last year Dynas were discontinued and New Softails were built Second Quarter this year Softails will come back to York and Sportster and Street to follow by 2019 | ||
| Twobuells |
the Buell Blast was set up to build in KC but the big Shock recall kept the Blast in East Troy to keep Buell going | ||
| Steveford |
“They didn’t even give us a call ahead of time.” That sounds about right. I can't picture that electric motorcycle saving their bacon, either. The Harley Faithful have pretty much alienated the rest of the two wheeled community and the die hard brigade seems unlikely to embrace something that you can't put drag pipes on. | ||
| Ffbuell1 |
To me it seems more obvious as time goes by that H-D really screwed up big time by getting rid of Buell, On almost every forum you can read about people saying (bring back Buell) I think Harley desperately needs a line of affordable Performance bikes to get the non Harley types into their dealership's ,but the problem is they already had that in Buell but as we all know by now most dealers could give a damn and hid the bikes in a corner and it is obvious top H-D brass couldn't care less either ,and that attitude is biting them in the ass big tine! Also to me the efforts they (H-D) have made in the past at so called performance machines have severely lacked in so many area's that non Harley types weren't interested and the so called faith full weren't either ,One has to wonder what kind of engineering are they capable of? look at the flat track and drag racing program's Vance and Hines are the lead on those programs . So in closing I doubt any one at Harley will read this but just in case There are about 125,000 of us Buell customers are now laughing | ||
| Midknyte |
>There are about 125,000 of us Buell customers are now laughing No, not really. But I do giggle when I ride mine, for different reasons. | ||
| Hootowl |
Yeah, who knows what the real number is? Between the wrecks, the choppers, and those of us with multiple Buells... | ||
| Pwnzor |
IDGAF about HD | ||
| Zacks |
..something that you can't put drag pipes on. Aftermarket opportunity: Drag pipes with speakers and a recorded loop of straight pipes. | ||
| Ourdee |
This generation coming of age has grown up with all kinds of electronic interference. As a child a stick and yelling bang gave me playtime outdoors with like kids. A bicycle was a right of passage. A motorized bike to ride was a goal at 13. I worked and bought my first motorcycle at 14. Kids today are spoiled by entertainment. We watched a fire before going to sleep in a tent. | ||
| Willmrx |
https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/05/11/harley-da vidson-jobs-reportedly-being-shipped-to-thailand http://thehill.com/homenews/news/387120-harley-dav idson-to-open-plant-in-thailand-after-closing-one- in-kansas-city |
