Harley Davidson pushes back 2021 model year debut

[fourteenfour]

Going to push from August to February

 

Going to be interesting to see if others follow suit, I think delaying the new line is more trouble than not, I would have thought they would have preferred to just end 2020 MY early

[TEWKS]

That’s a bummer, I look forward to seeing the new color selections every August.  

[WBinDE]

This article from around mid-March says they shut down manufacturing and it sounds like they're hurting. If sales are down I imagine they have an inventory oversupply they (or their dealers) need to burn through before restarting production. Once they do, they can't, or at least shouldn't, force dealers to buy bikes that aren't selling. Dealers can't carry an ever-increasing inventory of stuff they can't sell, or they'll go out of business.

 

I wouldn't count them out, they've been on the ropes before, but the motorcycle industry as a whole was healthier at the time, and its major market wasn't facing indefinite double-digit unemployment.

 

Indian is temporarily shut down too.

[Veefore]

  https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/news-and-views/news/2020/april/harley-davidson-rethinks-its-new-model-plans

Sounds like a bit of a tug of war going on in the board room.....

[roadscholar]

Don't know much about Harley's plans or production but I like this ad : )

 

 

Couple others.

 

 

 

[axabmw]

They could always launch the 2021 models in 2021!!!!!

[Marty Hill]

They might try cutting 100lbs and adding 20 to 40 hp.   

[Hosstage]

2 hours ago, Marty Hill said:

They might try cutting 100lbs and adding 20 to 40 hp.   

Dreaming!

[fourteenfour]

5 hours ago, Marty Hill said:

They might try cutting 100lbs and adding 20 to 40 hp.   

 

Well let us consider a R18 cruiser fueled up and ready to ride is 761 pounds whereas the naked Harley Davidson M8 bikes (107 and 114) are 700 or less ready to ride...   it will be very interesting to see what the full fairing version of the R18 with bags comes in at. My dealer was joking that BMW would show Harley how to do it but it appears BMW has a weight problem too

[Marty Hill]

That's funny, you managed to pick one BMW that weights a ton.  Now try 6-10 of the others.  I've owned a bunch of HD's before a friend let me ride his RT around the block.

[MikeB60]

3 hours ago, Marty Hill said:

That's funny, you managed to pick one BMW that weights a ton.  Now try 6-10 of the others.  I've owned a bunch of HD's before a friend let me ride his RT around the block.

I think fourteenfour made a good comparison. Harley builds cruisers.  Pretty sure that describes R18 which truth be told, I'm sure BMW built to compete against Harley. They don't build sport touring bikes or adventure bikes (not yet anyways).  The only comparison between BMW motorcycles out side of the chromehead, R18, and the K1600B (tips the scale at 741 pounds) is that they have two wheels from my perspective.   

[fourteenfour]

They are doing a serious cutback in production for 2020

 

Where many of their dealers will not receive any new bikes beyond what they have.

[TEWKS]

This plan is going to be a big FAIL for the company! The days of kissing a dealer's ass for the privlage of buying one of their motorcycles has long past. They're trying to manufacture "exclusivity" 

 

"By having fewer motorcycles in the market, Harley said it is trying to appeal to customers of premium-priced brands with limited availability. That approach is common among makers of sports cars and some luxury products that keep manufacturing volumes well below demand for them."

[roadscholar]

10 hours ago, TEWKS said:

This plan is going to be a big FAIL for the company! The days of kissing a dealer's ass for the privlage of buying one of their motorcycles has long past. 

 

"By having fewer motorcycles in the market, Harley said it is trying to appeal to customers of premium-priced brands with limited availability. That approach is common among makers of sports cars and some luxury products that keep manufacturing volumes well below demand for them."

 

I think you’re right Pat, that works with Ferrari’s and some limited models of Porsche’s and Benz’s because they’re higher tech, faster, or better looking than previous models. Harley doesn’t have that luxury or apparently the ability, instead trying to feed off their legacy of tradition and nostalgia. Granted they have a quality product and a diehard following but I’m not sure it’s enough, motorcycle consumers are a unique bunch and these days there are plenty of other good options to choose from.

 

edit, I remembered there is one scathing exception to my theory.  Mercedes builds a hotrod SUV built on a 40 year old platform and sells every one they can make for around $200k, the G63. But it’s got close to 600hp so it at least has that going for it : )

 

It would be like Harley putting twin turbos on a Road King and getting 250hp out of it, can you imagine?.  

[TEWKS]

Ha a G63, or G Wagon? I don't know how she became a car enthusiast at 10 years old (ya I do, YouTube) but that's what Kiley wants for a vehicle. I told her, study hard, become an actress or marry rich! 

[Rougarou]

1 hour ago, TEWKS said:

This plan is going to be a big FAIL for the company! The days of kissing a dealer's ass for the privlage of buying one of their motorcycles has long past. They're trying to manufacture "exclusivity" 

 

"By having fewer motorcycles in the market, Harley said it is trying to appeal to customers of premium-priced brands with limited availability. That approach is common among makers of sports cars and some luxury products that keep manufacturing volumes well below demand for them."

 

 

Waaaay back when (about 1994), my brain was not functioning properly and I actually wanted a Harley.  I went to a local dealer and asked if I could get one and he said it was a bout a year wait,......  What!!, Dude, it's a motorcycle, nothing more, so, I went to the local Honda shop and picked up a Nighthawk 750, problem solved.

[TEWKS]

Yeah I got that similar bug in 86 and then again in 92 just before the Hog Pandemic hit. I sat back and watched that madness for years.

[Carlisja]

14 hours ago, TEWKS said:

Ha a G63, or G Wagon? I don't know how she became a car enthusiast at 10 years old (ya I do, YouTube) but that's what Kiley wants for a vehicle. I told her, study hard, become an actress or marry rich! 

Tell her to become a scientist,  robot engineer, or anything with brains.  Www.youngscientistsofsc.org

[MikeB60]

I bought a 1990 Fat Boy through military sales for $9100 and scheduled delivery in the states once we departed Germany. Almost lost my license after my first tour in Germany and decided to sell my ZX1000 Ninja and get a Harley.  When I picked up the Fat Boy the dealer offered me $3000 over what I paid for the bike.  Turned down the offer but sold it in 1995 for 15000.  Should have bought 2!

[TEWKS]

A guy I worked with at the time bought one, I think he sold It just before hog fever hit. That bike with the solid wheels, silver paint and yellow L rocker box covers? was polarizing IIRC.

 

My first Harley was a 1986 Low Rider. At 22 years old and coming off a Suzuki GS 1150 ES, I remember a comment I made to somebody who asked how I liked it?

 

” It seems like it takes a long time to get anywhere” was my reply.  
 

You got use to it though and learned how to enjoy the slower pace. 

[MikeB60]

Here is crappy picture of a picture from the ride from the dealer in Medford to the inlaws place.  Good looking motorcycle but horrible to ride, no brakes, about a degree or so of lean angle, maybe 60 HP, and vibration was to the point of annoying. 

[KDeline]

You could hand me the keys to a brand new, top of the line HD. I would hand them right back. Less then zero desire to own one.

[TEWKS]

Ken just a guess but I'd bet, if Mrs. D. got a taste of an Ultra Limited passenger accommodations, there'd be some conversation bout it at the dinner table. 

[Hosstage]

If I have to explain...

[Ponch]

On 5/8/2020 at 1:48 PM, roadscholar said:

Don't know much about Harley's plans or production but I like this ad : )

 

 

Couple others.

 

 

 

 

 

I live in AZ, maybe 10 miles from that dealer and I hadn't seen the ads, but then I don't watch TV.  

[Veefore]

To quote a friend of mine who got one after years on a Wing........

Me - "How's the Harley?"

Him - "You don't charge corners........they charge you" 

[TEWKS]

On 5/8/2020 at 4:48 PM, roadscholar said:

Don't know much about Harley's plans or production but I like this ad : )

 

 

Couple others.

 

 

 

Another pretty good one.