Harley demand/price curve?

[boraticus]

We paid $18K for the '92, drove it for fifteen years got three grand back so, the purchase of the car was equivalent to a $1000./yr. We had less than $600.00 maintenance into it (not counting tires and batteries). That works out to $40.00/yr. for maintenance. So, $1040.00/12 months is approx. $86.66 per month. Pretty cheap ownership for a decent car.

With that kind of costs/reliability, the car didn't owe us anything. We took the $3k without hesitation. I knew we could have gotten more for it in a private sale. However, the new car was at a dealership almost 500 miles away and we drove the '92 Camry there to get the new one. So the trade in made a bit of sense.

Regarding the recall, if anything at all, Toyota will come back stronger and better as a result of the embarrassing bad publicity. I doubt that they'd put their excellent reputation at risk by repeating huge mistakes. You can bet that there will be some a$$ kicking and rightly so. However, I'm sure they'll be cranking up their quality to even better standards as a result of this failure.

 

[ZGRider]

Well, this ain't Toyota first dance with recalls, their CEO had to personally apologize to the Japanese govt. 3 years ago for the same problems they are having today.

They will come back as long as they learn from the mistakes. They had it good for a long time, selling cars for more than MSRP and all. No love loss here.

 

[daves66nova]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
Harley riders they will get rid of their dog before they will let their Harley be repossessed.
Don't you mean their wives? LOL

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Pt1
Plus, when I go to a bike night someone usually asks me if I want to sell it. I have 4 names & phone numbers of people who want my bike if I decide to sell.


I found a note tucked into the torn vinyl seat of my Virago offering to buy it. (snicker)

Maybe bikes look better in the wild than they do in someone's garage. At least you know they're getting ridden.

 

[CourierDriver]

Originally Posted By: PT1
Originally Posted By: Johnny
They are like gold. Plus if you know most Harley riders (and I mean this is a good way) they will get rid of their dog before they will let their Harley be repossessed.


The order of selling things:
1. Furniture
2. car
3. House
4. Kids
5. wife
6. boat motor
7. boat
8. truck
9. Dog
10. Harley

Note: As long as you have your Harley...you can always find a nice girl who has a house, car and some kids. Losing the dog is tough though.

Never had a problem finding a woman to ride with, omy,,,,,,,they loved those Harleys,those other brands just werent a motorcycle, amen

 

[OtisBlkR1]

Originally Posted By: CourierDriver
Originally Posted By: PT1
Originally Posted By: Johnny
They are like gold. Plus if you know most Harley riders (and I mean this is a good way) they will get rid of their dog before they will let their Harley be repossessed.


The order of selling things:
1. Furniture
2. car
3. House
4. Kids
5. wife
6. boat motor
7. boat
8. truck
9. Dog
10. Harley

Note: As long as you have your Harley...you can always find a nice girl who has a house, car and some kids. Losing the dog is tough though.

Never had a problem finding a woman to ride with, omy,,,,,,,they loved those Harleys,those other brands just werent a motorcycle, amen


thats funny, my wife said the same thing about my rocket, 4 rockets later and 7 years together she told me if i ever got a harley i would be rideing alone ! different strokes for different folks. Guess im just gonna have to keep burning the rice

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: Pt1
Plus, when I go to a bike night someone usually asks me if I want to sell it. I have 4 names & phone numbers of people who want my bike if I decide to sell.


I found a note tucked into the torn vinyl seat of my Virago offering to buy it. (snicker)

Maybe bikes look better in the wild than they do in someone's garage. At least you know they're getting ridden.


Yeah...LOL but I always have low mileage bikes, low hour boats so when they hit the 5-10 year range I get lots of people who want a good used bike or boat ask. Just once I would like to wear out a motorcycle but I just don't have the time. This bike is a keeper because I hate breaking in a new one.

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: daves66nova
Originally Posted By: Johnny
Harley riders they will get rid of their dog before they will let their Harley be repossessed.
Don't you mean their wives? LOL


No the wives usually go long before the dogs.

 

[bonnie john]

my wife went to the dogs ...

 

[SWSportsman]

I've found it quite amazing that a Harley always seems to have SOME decent resale value. Visiting two large motorcycle boneyards I found that there were ZERO HD bikes there with the exception of wrecked ones. There were hundreds of asian and european makes that appeared intact but apparently no one saw fit to save them. Upon speaking with the owner at one yard, he said that there was no unwrecked Harley that was beyond putting back on the road....something he couldn't say for other brands.

BTW, no brand-bashing here....I own HD, BMW and Honda.

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: SWSportsman
I've found it quite amazing that a Harley always seems to have SOME decent resale value. Visiting two large motorcycle boneyards I found that there were ZERO HD bikes there with the exception of wrecked ones. There were hundreds of asian and european makes that appeared intact but apparently no one saw fit to save them. Upon speaking with the owner at one yard, he said that there was no unwrecked Harley that was beyond putting back on the road....something he couldn't say for other brands.

BTW, no brand-bashing here....I own HD, BMW and Honda.


The demand for Harley parts keeps it that way. You can make a lot of money on ebay parting a wrecked Harley out. Plus there are so many people doing customizations on them there is always a steady demand. All of my custom wheels & other chrome parts on my bike that I added came from closeouts or used part sales or off wrecked bikes.

 

[kballowe]

I put together a 1951 Panhead last year. You can get the parts everywhere, including brand new cases (which are MUCH nicer than the originals)

Sooo - parts availability certainly helps.

 

[ZGRider]

Just wanted you folks to think about the days when almost nobody wanted a Harley and if those days could return? Remember who their customer base is: the average age of a Harley buyer is 49?

What happens when they are too old to ride? Boomers are HD buyers primarily. Especially now that Buell is gone, HD has no bikes for the young guys.

 

[kballowe]

Yeah - no bikes for young guys - and even when the did have those bikes, they didn't sell very well - hence the demise of the Buell line.

But what I'm wondering is (if) Harley is forced to add a radiator..... what effect will THAT have on sales?

 

[SWSportsman]

Originally Posted By: ZGRider
Just wanted you folks to think about the days when almost nobody wanted a Harley and if those days could return? Remember who their customer base is: the average age of a Harley buyer is 49?

What happens when they are too old to ride? Boomers are HD buyers primarily. Especially now that Buell is gone, HD has no bikes for the young guys.


I'm only 69, but I don't remember a day when nobody wanted a Harley. As far as age goes,there's an inescapable fact....today's 29 year old will in 20 years be a 49 year old.

 

[ZGRider]

Originally Posted By: SWSportsman
Originally Posted By: ZGRider
Just wanted you folks to think about the days when almost nobody wanted a Harley and if those days could return? Remember who their customer base is: the average age of a Harley buyer is 49?

What happens when they are too old to ride? Boomers are HD buyers primarily. Especially now that Buell is gone, HD has no bikes for the young guys.


I'm only 69, but I don't remember a day when nobody wanted a Harley. As far as age goes,there's an inescapable fact....today's 29 year old will in 20 years be a 49 year old.


You're kidding me - right? You must have partied too much in the early 70's when AMF as making the Shovelheads. Those things were so bad that they were used as examples of the worst of engineering and manufacturing. Just because you always wanted one doesn't mean everyone else did.

How do you think the Asians got so big? Because the British and American motorcycle producers made such bad products compared to the Japanese. It's not that way anymore, but it was then.

Just look at the sales numbers for HD in the 70's and compare that to now.

"In 1969, American Machinery and Foundry (AMF) bought the company, streamlined production, and slashed the workforce. This tactic resulted in a labor strike and a lower quality of bikes. The bikes were expensive and inferior in performance, handling, and quality to Japanese motorcycles. Sales declined, quality plummeted, and the company almost went bankrupt."
- History of an American Icon. -

 

[kballowe]

Yeah, I don't know - I bought Harleys in the 70's and so did a lot of other folks. To say that nobody wanted a Harley in those days ..... is a gross overstatement.

 

[SWSportsman]

Originally Posted By: kballowe
Yeah, I don't know - I bought Harleys in the 70's and so did a lot of other folks. To say that nobody wanted a Harley in those days ..... is a gross overstatement.


Thank you! Some folks close their eyes...then fail to understand why they cannot see.

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: kballowe
I put together a 1951 Panhead last year. You can get the parts everywhere, including brand new cases (which are MUCH nicer than the originals)

Sooo - parts availability certainly helps.


Exactly....I want to build a road king street bob from a wrecked one. Got to find some garage queen owned by a dentist or lawyer who rode it 1000 miles and let it sit for 7 years. Or rode it 500 miles and fell off and quit riding.

 

[kballowe]

hahahahaha.... the possibilities are endless...
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Here's a minimalist approach. Belt drive primary (dry clutch)
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The "donor" bike was an '03 Soft Tail. TC88B motor with the counter-balancer. Nice, smooth ride.
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