H-D has a new boss | Page 8 | GTAMotorcycle.com

H-D has a new boss

The thread really shows the tough spot HD is in.

A couple guys who would buy nothing but HD, a couple more who would like to, a few who might consider it and a couple who would rather take the bus.

Do you go with the sure money or take a chance and try to catch the fringe guys who may turn out to lack the brand-loyalty?

That's why they make the big bucks.

I still think a company that makes an expensive, enthusiast targeted recreational product requires a unique skillset combined with experience and perspective at the very top. I'm not sure a completely brand-focussed guy is it.
 
The thread really shows the tough spot HD is in.

A couple guys who would buy nothing but HD, a couple more who would like to, a few who might consider it and a couple who would rather take the bus.

Do you go with the sure money or take a chance and try to catch the fringe guys who may turn out to lack the brand-loyalty?

That's why they make the big bucks.

I still think a company that makes an expensive, enthusiast targeted recreational product requires a unique skillset combined with experience and perspective at the very top. I'm not sure a completely brand-focussed guy is it.
Interesting, I thought HD made most of their money from the merchandising. I looked at their 2018 financials. Gross 5B, bikes 3.8B, parts 0.75B, merch 0.25B. Well damn was I ever wrong.
 
So if big expensive bikes are on the decline and people want cheap.
Are we seeing the same trend in cars and trucks.
I don’t think so. It seems cars and truck people are gravitating to luxury.
I can’t believe how many loaded up $75,000 pick ups are in my neighborhood being used as family cars. That a simple economy car would do the job.

As much as people say Harley is slipping and the numbers don’t lie.
Next time your out look around. You will se more Street glides than anything else.
Hell you can probably find more gloss black street glides than anything else.
The sales are down but they are still the most popular bikes as far as I can tell.
 
I have no idea what other bike shops are like or other brands. But I was at HD Mackie's in Oshawa the other day to pick up a oil filter, and at the back of the building they had ton's and ton's of bikes coming out of storage or service etc. I didn't know they had a extra building back there.
Whatever happens to HD, hopefully for the best, will probabally help the rest of the motorcycle industry which is a good thing.
 
So if big expensive bikes are on the decline and people want cheap.
Are we seeing the same trend in cars and trucks.
I don’t think so. It seems cars and truck people are gravitating to luxury.
I can’t believe how many loaded up $75,000 pick ups are in my neighborhood being used as family cars. That a simple economy car would do the job.

As much as people say Harley is slipping and the numbers don’t lie.
Next time your out look around. You will se more Street glides than anything else.
Hell you can probably find more gloss black street glides than anything else.
The sales are down but they are still the most popular bikes as far as I can tell.
Industry wide slump for sure. Look at Honda Canada, they've stopped importing a number of models here, basically just sending the core lineup here.
 
I have no idea what other bike shops are like or other brands. But I was at HD Mackie's in Oshawa the other day to pick up a oil filter, and at the back of the building they had ton's and ton's of bikes coming out of storage or service etc. I didn't know they had a extra building back there.
Whatever happens to HD, hopefully for the best, will probabally help the rest of the motorcycle industry which is a good thing.
They not only store bikes at the dealership, they also store them off site. Next to Porsche, the purchasing experience I had at Mackie's was the best I've experienced. The Japanese dealers could learn a lot from HD. Buying my Yamaha was like buying a lawnmower.
 
They not only store bikes at the dealership, they also store them off site. Next to Porsche, the purchasing experience I had at Mackie's was the best I've experienced. The Japanese dealers could learn a lot from HD. Buying my Yamaha was like buying a lawnmower.
Its all about profit margins. The more you make, the more you can put back into the business. Mackie's understands that.
A dealer (who shall remain nameless) once told me "why should I put any effort into selling 300 Ninjas when I make more net profit selling one Bombardier Spyder than on 10 Kawasakis ?"
The small displacement market is still out there with some terrific bikes but don't expect any ticker tape parades.
In 1971, one out of every two motorcycles sold in North America was a Honda, and one out of two of them was a CB350 or variant.
Times have changed, the industry has not. As a result there are fewer dealers, and less product support.
The only guys making it are in the high end - think BMW, Ducati, H-D and all.
 
So if big expensive bikes are on the decline and people want cheap.
Are we seeing the same trend in cars and trucks.
I don’t think so. It seems cars and truck people are gravitating to luxury.
I can’t believe how many loaded up $75,000 pick ups are in my neighborhood being used as family cars. That a simple economy car would do the job.

As much as people say Harley is slipping and the numbers don’t lie.
Next time your out look around. You will se more Street glides than anything else.
Hell you can probably find more gloss black street glides than anything else.
The sales are down but they are still the most popular bikes as far as I can tell.
Harleys do tend to stay on the road longer which is a factor also, people keep them going longer.
 
The guy I purchased my Road Glide from had bought it from Mackie.
He paid $14,000 for the bike $3500 for an extended warranty that covered road side assistance and towing to nearest Harley dealership. Unlimited Km tire to tire for 5 years. At that time the bike was 8 years old with 70,000km.
I bought it 8 months later with 75,000km. knowing it came from Mackie I went in and told them about the bike. They gave me a full history of where the bike had been and all work done since new. They also told me about the warranty that I knew nothing about and gave me paperwork to get signed to transfer it over into my name. Which turn out great because during my ownership I used the warranty for a new clutch & cable and a new complete fuel system fuel pump to injectors.
The friendly helpful service was second to none and I didn’t even buy the bike from them. But I was riding there brand so I was in the clique and treated as such. I rode the bike to 103,000km and sold it with 1.5 years remaining on the warranty.

I do find GP to be similar but not quite the same.
they were very helpful when I wanted to ride the 1090R demo.
They are very helpful when you have your wallet out.
They do not seem to care that you ride a KTM if you didn’t buy from them.
Clarington Honda couldn’t care less about bikes or customer service.
took me 20 min just to find a sale guy.
I went in looking at buying a new Africa twin and the salesman tried to down sell me to a CBX500 Because I didn’t want the DCT model Africa twin and he didn’t have a manual one in stock.
 
Will agree HD dealer customer service is second to none
 
Its all about profit margins. The more you make, the more you can put back into the business. Mackie's understands that.
A dealer (who shall remain nameless) once told me "why should I put any effort into selling 300 Ninjas when I make more net profit selling one Bombardier Spyder than on 10 Kawasakis ?"
The small displacement market is still out there with some terrific bikes but don't expect any ticker tape parades.
In 1971, one out of every two motorcycles sold in North America was a Honda, and one out of two of them was a CB350 or variant.
Times have changed, the industry has not. As a result there are fewer dealers, and less product support.
The only guys making it are in the high end - think BMW, Ducati, H-D and all.
True but I'll add that my Fat Bob was about $19000. So was my FJR.
 
Harleys do tend to stay on the road longer which is a factor also, people keep them going longer.
hmmmmm? are you trying to infer you'll see harleys with more on the clock then other brands?
 
Interesting, I thought HD made most of their money from the merchandising. I looked at their 2018 financials. Gross 5B, bikes 3.8B, parts 0.75B, merch 0.25B. Well damn was I ever wrong.

But what's the profit margins? If they're making 5% margin on a motorcycle but 95% margin on clothing and merchandise that's made in China and just shows up in a box versus all the hassle making a big complicated product yourself (IE, a motrocycle), that merchandise is a pretty attractive profit centre. ;)

So if big expensive bikes are on the decline and people want cheap.
Are we seeing the same trend in cars and trucks.
I don’t think so. It seems cars and truck people are gravitating to luxury.
I can’t believe how many loaded up $75,000 pick ups are in my neighborhood being used as family cars. That a simple economy car would do the job.

I'm fairly confident the luxury market is going to take an absolutely massive hit in the next 5 or more years as we dig ourselves out of this hole. A lot of those $75K pickup trucks are going to be going back to the dealer as repos since people overextended themselves to buy them to begin with, and the market for new ones when people are still trying to get back on their feet in the face of reduced hours, lost jobs, or uncertainty will certainly be lower.
 
But what's the profit margins? If they're making 5% margin on a motorcycle but 95% margin on clothing and merchandise that's made in China and just shows up in a box versus all the hassle making a big complicated product yourself (IE, a motrocycle), that merchandise is a pretty attractive profit centre. ;)



I'm fairly confident the luxury market is going to take an absolutely massive hit in the next 5 or more years as we dig ourselves out of this hole. A lot of those $75K pickup trucks are going to be going back to the dealer as repos since people overextended themselves to buy them to begin with, and the market for new ones when people are still trying to get back on their feet in the face of reduced hours, lost jobs, or uncertainty will certainly be lower.
Overall 35% profit margin. Clothing should have a higher rate than bikes but when they are 1/20th of the gross, even at 95% margin (which they aren't) it still isn't a huge part of the profit. It's an extra nice to have portion.

Not to mention Alberta will need to export thousands of repo'd bro-dozers. The rest of the country is going to feel pain, but I don't see light at the end of the tunnel for AB.
 
Not to mention Alberta will need to export thousands of repo'd bro-dozers. The rest of the country is going to feel pain, but I don't see light at the end of the tunnel for AB.

There's a surprisingly large part of the population out there who are still thinking oil is going to save them again.
 
There's a surprisingly large part of the population out there who are still thinking oil is going to save them again.
What choice do they have other than blind optimism? Oil financial viability or a pivot to something else to generate money will both take years. Every storage facility in the world (including some tankers normally used for transport) is full. Even if OPEC and Russia call off their spat, it will take a while before the stockpile is depleted.
 
What choice do they have other than blind optimism? Oil financial viability or a pivot to something else to generate money will both take years. Every storage facility in the world (including some tankers normally used for transport) is full. Even if OPEC and Russia call off their spat, it will take a while before the stockpile is depleted.
And gas prices are on the rise...
 
What choice do they have other than blind optimism? Oil financial viability or a pivot to something else to generate money will both take years. Every storage facility in the world (including some tankers normally used for transport) is full. Even if OPEC and Russia call off their spat, it will take a while before the stockpile is depleted.

Talk about "Wexit" has completely died for some reason. Hmmm. It's almost like a lot of Albertans suddenly realize they're going to be needing the rest of Canada again or something.

Strange.

/s
 
There's a surprisingly large part of the population out there who are still thinking oil is going to save them again.

Oh dont you worry, apparently leaving canada will fix the economy, save the whales, and cure cancer!
 

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