weswelker#83

Honda motorcycles replacing Harleys at police department because they are cheaper to buy and cheaper to maintain.

http://www.wftv.com/news/15695064/detail.html

sdaniels7114

The vast majority of Honda cars driving around the USA were made in Ohio. I understand that my Ford truck was made in Mexico

I wonder where these Honda motorcycles were made?

Terry Glenn is a cowgirl

Harleys are great.

For leaking oil and constantly needing tuneups.

They are so overrated, that it isn't even funny.

Terry Glenn is a cowgirl

Dodge trucks are made in Mexico and Canada.

BelichickFan

So, Wes, I assume you are bringing this up to remind us of how bad unions have been for the country in making our companies non competitive, right ?

Fogbuster

That's just way over the top, NEMster. Way, way over. BF doesn't deserve that. You should apologize.

As to the issue of the bike replacement: Are you totally unaware that the very high labor costs demanded by certain laborers (the Harley guys, in this case) as well as the management types, price themselves out of the competition. Harleys are well on their way to becoming nothing more than a museum piece or toy for the ultra rich. Sure, Jay Leno can afford a stable full of Harleys, but when the average Joe goes down to the dealer and sees that a decent Harley rig off the floor costs $20,000, and a better out-fitted, better performing, and less troublesome rig (be it Honda or other Japanese makes, or BMW, even), is available for considerably less, then the decision becomes obvious: go with the cheaper, more reliable, better performing bike. As much as I'd like to have a Harley, their attitude is ridiculously arrogant. Talk about "cults".

Forty years ago, I wanted to buy a Harley. So I went to my local dealer in Concord, NH. He gave me such a hassle over having to wait, having to pay up front, having to jump through so many hoops to "join his club", I said, "Thanks, see ya", and bought a Triumph Bonneville instead. (Great bike, btw, a classic even today.) Then, fifteen years ago while living in Manchester, I saw and heard so many Harleys I decided I wanted to get one. So, again I went to the local dealer, much bigger than the one in Concord 25 years earlier. I told the dealer I had the money and was ready to buy. So he starts telling me I will have to wait, I will have to go onto a list, the next shipments won't be until next year, etc., etc., etc. I said, "OK, thanks. See ya" and bought a Kawasaki ZX 11, a far superior ride to anything Harley could ever make. Smooth, tight, absolutely trouble-free, and such a kick-ass motor, it was used in many winning dragsters. The Kawi was, and still is, an EXCELLENT machine. The Harley, well, it's nostalgia, a yearning for Marlon Brando and the "Wild Bunch". Not much more. Which, as an American, makes me sad.

//

__________________
"All that is required for evil to triumph is for good to do nothing."

DarrylS

NOt sure about all this, certainly hear the rumble of Harleys quite often in the summer around here.. Honda has made inroads, but Harley is usually the choice of the hardcore biker.

__________________
"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.

Fogbuster

Yes, they do have the *sound* of the penultimate bike. There are lots around, and apparently no shortage of buyers. But you will see more and more police forces and other U.S. enterprises that use motorcycles choosing Japanese bikes over Harleys simply because H-D doesn't want to change. They are now niche products, not the every day work horses they once were. Not competitive as real working machines; only good for posing. The "bad ass" image.

//

__________________
"All that is required for evil to triumph is for good to do nothing."

DarrylS

Making a lot of assumptions here and generalizations.. there could be a lot of factors here, marketing strategies of Honda and other foreign bike companies making inroads to this market.. without regard you or I cannot say definitively what is going on here and quantifying info on the net either way.. they only thing I can find is Honda USA is stopping building Motorcycles in the USA.. this may have an effect as their is an affinity to buy US built with all their flaws..

http://www.ohio.com/business/16065127.html

Honda Motor Co. plans to stop producing motorcycles in the United States next year and will transfer production to Japan, the automaker announced Wednesday.

Honda currently makes motorcycles at its plant in Marysville, Ohio, employing 450 workers.

Honda said there will be no layoffs when production ends in spring 2009. The workers will remain with the company, helping produce cars, trucks, engines and parts and filling other jobs at Honda's other operations in west-central Ohio.

The motorcycle plant opened in 1979 as Honda's first U.S. plant. Last year, it made 44,000 Gold Wing touring and VTX cruiser bikes.

__________________
"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.

Fogbuster

So, that's the point then: now even Honda is pulling out its operations from the U.S. because the cost of U.S. labor has priced itself out of competition. Look, this is simply a numbers game: if the U.S. laborer is going to demand more for his work than another laborer who makes the same or even better quality product, what do you think will happen?? It's not rocket science. Human nature is to buy the best product at the lowest price. Always will be.


//

__________________
"All that is required for evil to triumph is for good to do nothing."