| Author | Message | ||
     Chainsaw |
Harley-Davidson Rumble Into China "Another challenge is the price of the bikes, which range from $1,200 to $3,745. Urban incomes average about $2,200 a year in Beijing." I think it's a great opportunity for HD and it's investors to get a foothold in this huge market, but just how can they sell motorcycles overseas for so darn cheap? They're still being built here, and HD China's web page show the Road King Custom as having the same Twin Cam 88 engine, so I assume these are nearly identical products. I could live with a speedo in KPH for the $13,000 dollar savings!  (Message edited by chainsaw on April 08, 2006) | ||
| Oldog |
the instruments would be marked in simplified chinese .... could you read the manuals?  | ||
| Chainsaw |
Whoops! Looks like ABC News misplaced a decimal point. Bullgirlie pointed out Yahoo's article. ...Another challenge is the price of the bikes, which range from $12,000 to $37,450. Urban incomes average about $2,200 a year in Beijing. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060408/ap_on_bi_ge/china_harley_arrives_7 | ||
| Buellgirlie |
ha ha. pretty big difference, that darn decimal point.  D | ||
| Outrider |
Gosh, for the sake of generating a little quality conversation, I think we should post copies of the article in the customer waiting rooms at our HD dealerships and distribute them at all the gatherings.  Just make sure you have plenty of copies with you as I wouldn't think they would remain posted for long.  On the humorous side, I have more invested in HD accessories on my Wide Glide than the Chinese pay for a whole bike. The ironic part of that is almost all of them were manufactured in China.  On the serious side, not being an international economics type, I honestly don't understand that large of a price discrepancy assuming the article was referencing US dollars. When I was doing business with the Chinese (1980 to 2000), I inquired why so many were riding around LA in high roller cars like the Mercedes Benz. The answer was always the same. A Mercedes in the US cost about the same as a Honda Acura in China. Incidentally, the Japanese and Korean's gave the same answer. If true and Harley's prices reflect economic changes since then, it looks like our economy is really upside down. | ||
| Outrider |
Dora...Thanks for the input. I feel much better now. | ||
| Buellgirlie |
"we're here to help" outrider. i think thats a midas brakes commercial or something...? who knows? it just popped in my head. off to tinker on the racebike, D |
