Harley is on the upswing (though supply chain issues may loom)

[GS1150Pilot]

Looks like you can in fact teach an old dog new tricks. The Hardwire strategic plan is, at least for now, working.

https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/11/01/harley-davidson-defies-expectations-and-supply-cha/?source=eptyholnk0000202&utm_source=yahoo-host&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=article

[bwringer]

The Pan America is, by all accounts, a home run. They're sold out and will remain sold out for a long time to come.

It's a pretty amazing feat of management that they were actually able to commit and follow through on the Pan America project at the level required to pull that off. There's no question that Harley had, and was able to hire, the engineering talent. But the company's chronically short-sighted management had never let the engineers and designers off the leash like that both in terms of dollars and the freedom to ignore "tradition". In the sumo-class ADV bike market, price hardly matters; riders want "the best", and then happily spend many thousands making their bikes better and more tuned to their preferences.

BMW is the primary competitor, and riders in this market are sick to death of BMW's reliability issues, sky-high maintenance and repair expenses, and the thin network of dealers offering a terrible and expensive experience. If the PA proves tough and reliable (as it seems to be) and the massive network of dealers actually get on board (as many seem to be) then it will remain a home run.


HD's electric motorcycles have similarly impressive engineering, but the product design is awful. They're badly hampered by a brainless adherence to "tradition". The bikes end up neither fish nor fowl, and thus not appealing to their "traditional" buyers or to new buyers and hated and neglected by dealers. I hope they figure this out. Or maybe they'll let Indian eat their lunch here as well.

[trevor]

The Pan America is, by all accounts, a home run. They're sold out and will remain sold out for a long time to come.

It's a pretty amazing feat of management that they were actually able to commit and follow through on the Pan America project at the level required to pull that off. There's no question that Harley had, and was able to hire, the engineering talent. But the company's chronically short-sighted management had never let the engineers and designers off the leash like that both in terms of dollars and the freedom to ignore "tradition". In the sumo-class ADV bike market, price hardly matters; riders want "the best", and then happily spend many thousands making their bikes better and more tuned to their preferences.

BMW is the primary competitor, and riders in this market are sick to death of BMW's reliability issues, sky-high maintenance and repair expenses, and the thin network of dealers offering a terrible and expensive experience. If the PA proves tough and reliable (as it seems to be) and the massive network of dealers actually get on board (as many seem to be) then it will remain a home run.


HD's electric motorcycles have similarly impressive engineering, but the product design is awful. They're badly hampered by a brainless adherence to "tradition". The bikes end up neither fish nor fowl, and thus not appealing to their "traditional" buyers or to new buyers and hated and neglected by dealers. I hope they figure this out. Or maybe they'll let Indian eat their lunch here as well.

"sold out"....lol...not here...I see tons of ads on craigslist everyday from dealers here....everyday! And cheaper than list.

[Vmass]

I don't do much on FaceBook, but when I do, I see Harleys! Their marketing department came up with a simple and probably quite effective campaign.

The dealers create a FaceBook page and announce their buyers on FaceBook with a picture of them with their new bike, frequently along side family members or their salesperson.

I get all the HD Dealer pages show up in my feed without ever visiting the pages. These are not sidebar ads, they are right in the main feed, oviously finds me based on MC activity.

It's kind of cool to see all the happy people buying bikes.....it's gotta promote sales!

Good for them, I am happy to see an American company prosper, even if most of the parts where sitting on a barge from China.

[trevor]

I don't do much on FaceBook, but when I do, I see Harleys! Their marketing department came up with a simple and probably quite effective campaign.

The dealers create a FaceBook page and announce their buyers on FaceBook with a picture of them with their new bike, frequently along side family members or their salesperson.

I get all the HD Dealer pages show up in my feed without ever visiting the pages. These are not sidebar ads, they are right in the main feed, oviously finds me based on MC activity.

It's kind of cool to see all the happy people buying bikes.....it's gotta promote sales!

Good for them, I am happy to see an American company prosper, even if most of the parts where sitting on a barge from China.

All the dealers do that here....Harley certainly didn't invent it. It's everywhere.

[trevor]

"sold out"....lol...not here...I see tons of ads on craigslist everyday from dealers here....everyday! And cheaper than list.

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/search/mcd?query=Pan+America&purveyor-input=dealer

[bccap]

I've followed Harley for years . Mostly because I see their merchandise and bikes everywhere . Glad they are having a good quarter but I've seen it before ....Buying Harley stock is like buying an airline stock ... Both keep a bankruptcy lawyer on speed dial .....

[eil]

It's nice to see Harley (the only major US motorcycle manufacturer) finally doing something different than trying to cater exclusively to the midlife-crisis wannabe-counterculture "biker dudes" market and their false nostalgia.

[Rob S.]

...announce their buyers on FaceBook with a picture of them with their new bike, frequently along side family members or their salesperson.

My Harley dealer had a bell hanging in the showroom. Whenever a sale was made, the salesperson (or customer) would loudly clang the bell as "Born To Be Wild" started blaring from everywhere.

"Don't go near it," I told the salesman when it was my day. "No bell, no Steppenwolf."

I'd feel like a "South Park" character being 'put in the back seat.' If you don't face the news camera as you're getting in the car and say, "I'm white trash and I'm in trouble," they increase the charges.

[1978GS750E]

My Harley dealer had a bell hanging in the showroom. Whenever a sale was made, the salesperson (or customer) would loudly clang the bell as "Born To Be Wild" started blaring from everywhere.

"Don't go near it," I told the salesman when it was my day. "No bell, no Steppenwolf."

I'd feel like a "South Park" character being 'put in the back seat.' If you don't face the news camera as you're getting in the car and say, "I'm white trash and I'm in trouble," they increase the charges.

I believe that is a fairly common theme with Harley dealers, although each is specific to that dealership. The dealer in Lexington has a bell and plays the "call to the post" (to start a horse race) since they are Man-O-War Harley Davidson!

[bwringer]

I, for one, want to see Indian do some more interesting things with that brilliant Scout engine.

The FTR flat tracker whatchamacallit was pretty neat, but how about an ADV, or a sporty-tourer, or even an ADV bike.

Also, yeah, I'm fully aware that there's a very large slice of lifestyle posing involved with the whole "Adventure" bike thing. Not one in ten of these bikes ever gets its tires dirty. It's a little less ridiculous than the whole "bad boy" posing thing because at least the bikes are functional and often get used for major mileage.

[GS1150Pilot]

The Sportster S would get my vote over the Indian Scout, but on a Harley note, this may be interesting:

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/harley-davidson-flat-track-cafe-leaked-documents/

[Rob S.]

The Sportster S would get my vote over the Indian Scout, but on a Harley note, this may be interesting:
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/h...ked-documents/

What is Sportster S? A Superlow? My last catalog is 2016.

[RustyTank]

What is Sportster S? A Superlow? My last catalog is 2016.

Here ya go Rob. I didn't know what it was either.

https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/motorcycles/sportster-s.html

[GS1150Pilot]

Here ya go Rob. I didn't know what it was either.
https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/e...ortster-s.html

Yep. 20 more horses, 7 lb feet more torque, 60 pounds lighter than the Indian Scout.