Harley Nurses A Flat Tire

My how things change.
A year ago with gas prices jacked to the $4.00 a gallon level scooter sales exploded.  Especially the 51 cc-to-155cc category as it was a break out year.  Dealers over ordered and now inventories are high.  2009 predictions seem to indicated the scooter party is over.
And speaking of party over… That “hissing [...]

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Motorcycle Sales Pessimism

Harley-Davidson is scheduled to report its first-quarter 2009 financial results April 16.
Even if you’ve been leveraging “guru” Cramer (Mad Money) to help make a fortune — who in my view has no more idea of what is going to happen tomorrow than the average chimp. Pessimism runs high especially after the motorcycle manufacture took the [...]

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Beat Down Economy

We don’t need a psychotherapist to confirm what we feel in our gut each morning — it’s unsettling at minimum to outright rage and then add the ‘Bernie’ and AIG hysteria to the mix.
Market volatility, economic instability, double digit unemployment, bailout-i-tis, along with purchasing paralysis — it’s no wonder people are staying home under the [...]

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It’s Only Money

Harley-Davidson Inc. (ticker symbol HOG) is cashless in Milwaukee.
The BizTimes Daily reports Harley-Davidson Warehouse Funding Corp. and Harley-Davidson Credit Corp. subsidiaries’ received $500 million last week in a loan advance from its lenders, which included JPMorgan Chase Bank (recently purchased WAMU) because of their inability to securitize bike loans.
Harley has burned through $221 million for the 9 [...]

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Clothing Stores Disguised As Motorcycle Dealers

Does the economy need yet another motorcycle company?  Or more important will people buy yet another premier motorcycling brand?  First it was Indian and now after 15 years of U.S. ownership, Norton’s back in England. Just in time it would seem because the country is experiencing manufacturing sector shrinkage at the fastest rate since records began.  [...]

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Five Quarter Earning Decline At Harley

It’s not a good day to be a Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) dealer.  The company reported that Q3 profits fell sharply and they tried to reassure investors that company management is taking prudent steps to manage the brand.  They also cut earnings outlook and lowered the estimate for motorcycle shipments for the rest of the year.
Harley [...]

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Harley Rolls Out The 2009 Line

Harley unveiled the changes in their motorcycle line up today in the form of 13 press releases!  Call me crazy, but I find it questionable how a PR department see’s value in doing so many press releases in the same day?
At any rate, many of the changes feel a bit cosmetic or like minor “updates” [...]

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Buy Harley And Get A Diamond Ring

More women than ever are choosing to ride motorcycles as their main leisure activity. This bit of trivia is according to a recent survey by J.D. Power and Associates, where 12 out of every 100 motorcycles are sold to women – a 20 percent increase since 2003.
However, that’s just not enough women buyers for Harley [...]

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