Death of HD

moto.monk

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2019
Messages
1,090
Location
los angeles
Covid is finishing them off, from the looks of it they might not even make it the another year here in the US.
 

JamesGang

I'm Rick James
Joined
Jun 16, 2018
Messages
236
Location
Cape Breton Island
HD pulled it's badge from a local shop here in Sydney, NS. It was not for lack of sales. This tiny shop managed to tick all the boxes required by a franchise to keep HD happy. Yet here we are having to travel 5 hours to the nearest HD dealer now.
 

moto.monk

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2019
Messages
1,090
Location
los angeles
The new market is china and I think read somewhere that the bikes will be made there and not being produced in India anymore. The South America market is still going. EU market is dying.
 

Checkswrecks

Ungenear to broked stuff
Staff member
Global Moderator
2011 Site Supporter
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
11,489
Location
Damascus, MD
If you read the news a lot you'll notice that HD just signed with Qianjiang, which just happens to own Bennelli and just rebased their 1300 which is a direct threat to the big Japanese names like Yamaha. Qianjiang makes over a million motorcycles and motorbikes a year under various badges. A YEAR. Plus India and China are now in a quiet war so whatever China can do to undercut India is game in China's view. India is where a big part of the Street 750s are currently being made, so my guess is that Qiangjiang will pick up those.

The future of the HD company is not in the big bikes, it's in little ones.
 

Checkswrecks

Ungenear to broked stuff
Staff member
Global Moderator
2011 Site Supporter
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Messages
11,489
Location
Damascus, MD
I'm wondering about the union guys in Milwaukee and York with the Qianjiang deal. While I'm sure those two places will keep making the big old dinosaurs do those workers recognize working with Qianjiang is the only way the company can survive, or do they simply stop at the potential loss of US jobs. There's no way a US mfg could make smaller bikes and compete with Qianjiang, yet those are the vast bulk of non-US sales.

Wonder how long before a China-sourced and HD branded small electric bike is sold here?
 

Madhatter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2013
Messages
3,846
Location
buda texas
good morning all.... been watching the Ewen Mcgregor Charlie Borman series "Long Way Up " featuring all electric Harly Davidson one off prototype motorcycles ...... so far I have been impressed with the ruggedness of these bikes , it shows Harley "can" build a motorcycle . as for all electric , I'm not ready for it , takes to long to recharge so the battery range runs your schedule . and till there are recharging stations like gas stations ...... motels and hotels are the place for charging stations as you will need a place to stay while this happens . interesting show and bikes.check it out on Apple TV.
 

Sierra1

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2016
Messages
14,819
Location
Joshua TX
My kid will tell you that doesn't work anyway. His bike is stupid loud. . . . he still got hit.
 

RogerRZ

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2018
Messages
257
Location
New Brunswick, Canada
The shop local to me quietly dropped the brand too. Now Suzuki and Honda only. Just a couple of years ago, they had boutiquefied the HD side of their shop, and crammed the other two in a space about 20% of its size, Almost as an afterthought. This was no doubt done at the request of the mothership.
TheY seemed to be doing ok, as did the other NB shop that is closing (There will only be one dealer left in NB).

Looks like HD wants fewer dealerships on the balance sheet, they are probably seen as liabilities, and not attractive to potential equity firms.

Funny anecdote on my local HD shop: I went and test rode a bunch of them when the road show rolled into town. I was still Riding the wheels off my thousand dollar C10 Concours at the time. Of all the people who also rode their bikes there, I had the cheapest bike by a factor of ten. On the other hand, I had the most expensive helmet, also by a factor of ten (an Arai). I also ruined the group photo for seven out of the eight outings (I missed one at lunch) with my high viz riding jacket. Guess which one was on their website...:)
 
Top