Contemplating a new ride for 2020. Suggestions? | Page 7 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Contemplating a new ride for 2020. Suggestions?

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MacDoc said:
Ummm think your security guy estimate is a bit optimistic - this was at 2017 and Harley has not had a thrilling sales performance the past 2 years.

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www.barrons.com

Harley-Davidson Just Reported Its Worst Quarterly Sales in Recent History

Stock in the motorcycle company fell 6% in premarket trading. Quarterly revenue from Harley’s motorcycle business was 6% lower than Wall Street expected.
www.barrons.com www.barrons.com

carry on :coffee:
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Is that chart sales or bikes in the wild?

Intel is by a very large margin winning in deployed machines (something like 90% intel) but being absolutely decimated in new sales (something like 25% of desktops are intel). RIM followed a similar pattern where they continued to boast about their installed fleet while knowing that the dream was dead. It can turn around, but it requires a boardroom purge.
 
MacDoc said:
Ummm think your security guy estimate is a bit optimistic - this was at 2017 and Harley has not had a thrilling sales performance the past 2 years.

motorcycles_ydabepa_0.png




www.barrons.com

Harley-Davidson Just Reported Its Worst Quarterly Sales in Recent History

Stock in the motorcycle company fell 6% in premarket trading. Quarterly revenue from Harley’s motorcycle business was 6% lower than Wall Street expected.
www.barrons.com www.barrons.com

carry on :coffee:
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im pretty sure your chart is shipments, not sales. Marketshare is most typically expressed as the share of the total available market in $$$.

Anyhow, that’s really a moot point, HD is still sell more in NA than all others combined. Their overseas sales growth is running 6%, something to keep an eye on.
 
Whatever bike you end up with, I hope (and expect) you will enjoy it.

While I understand your zeal to "research" the reliability of different bikes through the online forums, I personally take EVERYTHING I read in such places with a grain box full of salt.

I bet that virtually every make/model has a forum thread with the words, "catastrophic", "defect", or "manufacturing flaw" in it.

You're a smart guy with enough years and experience under your hat to recognize that the abundance of high mileage bikes for sale indicates a satisfactory level of reliability, though I wouldn't buy a high mileage vehicle either.

I just bought a new (to me) bike myself, and like you I wanted to make the best decision possible regarding reliability etc. I read the threads decrying this and that, claiming defect where owner abuse was the real culprit, and the ones where the farkle (I HATE that word) obsessed enthusiast is convinced that he knows better than a team of engineers.

As I was paying for it I said to the salesman, "I'm only 54, this won't be that last bike I buy." Perhaps you shouldn't approach it as though this will be your last purchase.
 
xrljoel said:
Whatever bike you end up with, I hope (and expect) you will enjoy it.
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Thank you.

xrljoel said:
You're a smart guy with enough years and experience under your hat to recognize that the abundance of high mileage bikes for sale indicates a satisfactory level of reliability
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To play devils advocate on that one, high mileage doesn't always equate to reliable. I just sold my VTX with nearly 100,000KM on the odometer which many would consider high-ish mileage. For all the new owner knows it could be on it's 4th engine, with each one only lasting 25,000KM each.

That wasn't the case of course (original engine, untouched, and still runs like a timex) but again, just saying. ;)


MacDoc said:
If that is a body bag scrunched up there..... :unsure: ?
do we have a resident axe murderer? :coffee:
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I like being a man of mystery. It's better that way anyways for all involved. ;)
 
Hehe ...reminds me of the time going north to fish and of course a fishing pole in a carry case looks awfully like a long weapon.
Was like 5 am and OPP with guns drawn stopped me on the motorcycle near French River. :eek:
Turns out they were looking for that guy from North Bay who killed a couple of people and escaped so they were edgy.
this guy I think
Murderer Donald Kelly overpowered a guard at the North Bay, Ont., jail, seizing a rifle as he fled on Aug. 2, 1975. Kelly gained folk hero status as the massive police manhunt went nowhere. Then the famous police tracking dog, Cloud II, joined the search.
Four weeks after the escape, Cloud II tracked Kelly to a cabin deep in the woods near Skead, Ont. Kelly shot and fatally wounded Cloud II, and the dog's handler shot and wounded Kelly.
Kelly was tried and convicted for two 1969 murders and sentenced to life in prison. He died behind bars.
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Anyhow, the bike is officially mine - 2012 Vulcan 1700. Pickup in a few weeks once (hopefully) weather conditions cooperate and I can just get a temp plate and ride it home.

Crappy pictures, but it is what it is - best I could get in the cramped quarters - It's stored in the guys Quonset style garage right now but it's out of the weather, that's all that really matters.

And yes, the skull on the fairing will be coming off in short order. ;)

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One more photo from the original ad, clearly taken during one of his rides last summer, but a better photo at a better angle.IMG_2620.jpg
 
J_F said:
LC?
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Yes. With the 6 speed and the cruise control I've been wanting for years. And luggage storage space. Glorious storage space. ;)
 
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Congratulations, nice looking ride.
 
I don't know where you dug up that site, but it might have been worth holding off for another minute to at least read a bit of their stuff. I read it for about 2 seconds -- when I got to the part about Royal Enfield setting up shop in Milwaukee asto begin an assault on Harley Davidson... I nearly ****** myself!

I don't think there is a debate about who has the big swinging Johnson in the north American bike market. Sales are down for everyone except KTM, and the only reason KTM is up is because they lion's share of their US sales are dirtbikes -- and that segment as a whole if surging. Likewise the heavy market is hurting, which means a player like HD that's concentrated there is gonna hurt a bit more.

Don't count HD out, they have been on their backs plenty of times, they always get back on their feet. They are already showing improved profits and growth in new markets, they'll find a way.
 
Well that was a close one.
Now you can carry on your way pounding out metric miles and bashing Harley’s with no regret.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Lots of great HD owners. I call quite a few close friends and riding buddies. Rode to Sturgis with one of them last summer for that matter.

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Lots of snobs as well. The ones probably like you who sit in the parking lot at the local Tim Hortons and sneer at the guys pulling in on metrics. Because they "Can't afford" a Harley. Come to think of it, there was lots of them at Sturgis too, sneering at me on my Metric dare having ventured into HarleyLandia on my "jap bike". Rode past a few thousand of them with their bikes on trailers on the way there.

I rode my bike to trailer week and gave zero fucks about what anyone else thinks about what I ride.

But as others have said and I'd agree with, there's snobs in lots of segments of riding, so sure, it's not exclusively a HD thing, but you guys sure seem to get your panties in a twist if a "jap bike owner" points out the any weaknesses in your brand of choice.

I'll post what I bought tomorrow and you can have a field day tearing my new jap bike to shreds.

In the meantime can we all fight about Android versus iPhone or something instead now?
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Dude, you're the only bike in that pic. Even your wife didn't want her pic taken with you. There's not a bike on the street. Maybe they heard you were coming and took off. It could have been the bike, or the faux leather jacket from Wal-Mart, more than likely it was the sour grapes personality on the bike. You need to stop being bitter about not being able to afford a Harley. I've never seen anyone "sneering" or laughing at a good Jap bike. This is all something you've cooked up in your imagination. Get help.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Anyhow, the bike is officially mine - 2012 Vulcan 1700. Pickup in a few weeks once (hopefully) weather conditions cooperate and I can just get a temp plate and ride it home.

Crappy pictures, but it is what it is - best I could get in the cramped quarters - It's stored in the guys Quonset style garage right now but it's out of the weather, that's all that really matters.

And yes, the skull on the fairing will be coming off in short order. ;)

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I have to say that is a very nice bike, and the right choice for you. Looks like a cheap Road Glide. Hard-bags look kind of small, but bearable. The Kawasaki Vulgar gets about 32 MPG vs 40mpg for the Harley. But at least you get more passing power, that is if it doesn't short out on the highway. Make sure the owner did the recall.

www.motorcyclistonline.com

RECALL NEWS: Kawasaki Recalls 2009-2015 Vulcan 1700 Vaqueros and Voyagers

Kawasaki is recalling 11,836 cruisers and touring models for a faulty ignition wire.
www.motorcyclistonline.com www.motorcyclistonline.com
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