And so it starts.

[oldironnow]

Fatfatboy wrote

I sent an email to that media email and got an automated response that basically said it was for journalists searching for media so I did some poking around and got the CEO’s email address so if anyone is interested here it is.

[e-mail]

What a find. 👍👍
Thank you

[Fatfatboy]

HD back peddled the DEI crap.

https://thehill.com/business/4836609-harley-davidson-ends-diversity-inclusion-program/amp/

[Fatfatboy]

Harley Davidson Chief Financial Officer is stepping down after 17 years and HD is laying off another 500 people after laying off 200 already. This equals 14% of the companies working force.
The existing treasury will cover the CFO’s position.
Personally I think the wrong guy stepped down. Although the treasury was just another bean counter that came from Pepsi.

https://www.cfodive.com/news/harley-davidson-mass-layoffs-restructuring/581337/


Yeah, sells are in the crapper. It would be interesting to see just how much the slow down in sales is effecting on manufacturers.

I did see a video of an Indian dealer explaining to the YouTube world that they are getting in more trade ins than they can sell so they are giving almost nothing for the HD bikes. His recommendation was to just hang on to the bike until the slowdown picks back up after the election and interest rates drop or until their bikes are paid off and they can sell it outright.

[hacksaw]

motogrady wrote

Where have you gone?
Willie Davidson
A nation turns its lonely eyes to  you
Woo woo woo,
Woo woo hoo

What’s that you say, Mrs. Robinson?
Willie G has left and gone away
Hey hey hey
Hey hey hey

Mrs Robinson , my wife , says fuck Harley-Davidson
My translation of course

[hacksaw]

I guess Fat2 is too young to remember when Harley fucked the faithful before.
I won’t go over the flipped patch stuff here.
But when the eagle soared alone that put enthusiasts back in control of the company.
When that company went public , it led to this.
Harley faithful , the old skool faithful ,
Don’t care about aeromachi
They don’t buy  spAM AMs , Dead Wires , and tge new shitty “sportster “
Youngsters can’t afford new Harley’s
The world is saturated with used Harley’s
40$ tshirts suck

I will say my Thailand made T100
Is the same good quality build as my English built T 100

The nightster S has tgst ugly cannistrr hanging of the front end. Otherwise it could be in my list . But ugliness sux!

[Fatfatboy]

I was only 2 years old when Harley flipped the bird to its faithful so I can’t say I remember it but I knew about.
I do remember when the employees took it back.

Unfortunately, most large companies are owned by bean counters and not enthusiasts.
Indian’s parent company CEO came from a company that produces waste water equipment and Triumph’s CEO is a large home builder so what’s a guy to do?

If you want to buy from an enthusiast you have to buy from a small business with no dealer network at a high price.

[hacksaw]

so Bloor is no longer with Triumph?
well idk that!

so you never went into an HD dealer and were told "we don't sell tools!"
or " we don't fix, we replace"??
"we don't work on shovelheads!" lol.
not knocking you,however you can read about the civil war but the guy in
 the trench lived it.
 
u are a lifelong HD fan. many are. I used to be. I still love shovelheads
 and even 90's sportsters. I have had 4 newer big twin Harleys.
but just so ya know my generation of harley riders kept hd in biz  and then got pushed aside.
tru dat many of us are no longer with us. so our buying power has dwindled.
but we remember. and even if we might still buy a new Harley, its not out of passion for The Motor Company.
and no matter how other companies COE don't or do care , that does not cut Harley any slack .
BMW seems to care. oh, they take your money just as fast as any company. but the dealers  at least here, are big on vintage as well as the latest thing. they respect their heritage. not just market it.

[Fatfatboy]

Blood is still in charge. Triumph is owned by Bloor Holdings.
Bloor started out has a plasterer. He became the largest home builder with hi company Bloor Homes.

Unfortunately I have been told by my local HD dealer (now closed) “We won’t get parts for bikes that old” and been given the run around when needing a HD only tool.
It’s one of the reasons I started using eBay.

Harley is not the company it was when I started riding and many of its riders are not the riders that were but I have noticed that now more than in the 2000’s more riders will stop if I’m stopped on the side of the road checking a map or taking a break.
I’m not sure why but my guess is the folks still riding are real motorcyclists and not fad bikers.
And I’m good with that. I’m glad HD was a fad. It caused them to make better bikes.
I’d like to see HD not be just another notch on a CEO’s Maxwell Scott leather briefcase.

I don’t like seeing they big layoffs, especially when the CEO is still bringing in $12 million a year, but I would like to see a HD ran by people who actually ride to more than bike nights at the museum or model launches.
People who actually care about the brand and its customers for more than just people to make loans to.

I’ve bought a new bike in 01, 03, 08, 10, 14, 16, 20 & 23.
I’ve owned also owned a 04, 15 and 17. Slowly through the years I’ve seen more and more imported parts and can tell a difference between the build quality between my 03 and my 23. Sadly the 03 is better.
The 23 is stronger and runs cooler than the 2014 I owned but there are some places HD cheapened up on that were better on the older bikes.

The kickstand is a big one. Harley has always had the best kickstand but these new ones on all the Softails except the Fatboy and Breakout suck.
They have also dropped the heel shifter. I don’t always keep them on but some bikes it fits right and I keep them.
They are also making passenger pegs an add on and you have to buy another seat if you want a passenger on many of the Softails.
All little tricks to get you into the P&A catalog but gosh dern it, they are still my favorite bikes.

[hacksaw]

Truth is sportsters came sans rear pegs and pillions since about 1985. Not everyone . But the  cheaper ones .

Has I said earlier , having been disappointed in Harley Davison in older times , recent BS just doesn’t make it for me. The whole boutique thing sucks. And every dealer left in Ct have all changed hands.
You got the money to spend on 25,000$ motorcycles, god bless you for that, but I don’t .
I think I bought 4 new Harley’s since 1979.
The only way I will ever buy one again is if I win lotto. Which I rarely play . lol.
And even then it would have to be something I liked.
Which I am not sure about .
I just don’t want to give them my money .
I don’t really have any negatives about build quality for any of my old bikes. For the times . The evo sportsters are the best hd ever made imho. They are stone reliable . I would have me another.
Bcz I love them . Not out of some HOG type loyalty to a corporation that couldn’t give , and never did give a shit in 3O years about its customers .

As to Bloor. So what if he was a plasterer?
He has to be some kind of enthusiast to have bought triumph in the first place .
Perhaps I am wrong . Idk
But even a company run by an enthusiast doesn’t mean much . I can’t stand Eric Buell .

I was always more an Indian guy anyway .
lol!
At tge moment I lean BMW. At least until we ever see the new BSA over here in the states.