The Future of Harley-Davidson

[Icy Mountain]

It makes me wonder how long they could go on making a good profit selling merchandise and licensing without actually selling motorcycles. I know that there are other companies that have done such a thing but I can't recall any at the moment. Anyone?

 

[Stijloor]

Friends,

For our H-D fans... There's always hope...

https://www.bikenet.nl/upload/Image/rouw-harley.jpg

(broken link removed)

Funeral homes in The Netherlands provide you with various options....

Stijloor.

 

[Jim Wynne]

It makes me wonder how long they could go on making a good profit selling merchandise and licensing without actually selling motorcycles. I know that there are other companies that have done such a thing but I can't recall any at the moment. Anyone?

There are lots of former American manufacturers--especially in the home entertainment field--that have become strictly licensing entities. Zenith comes immediately to mind, but there are lots of others. Even non-American companies such as Philips of the Netherlands have given up manufacturing of consumer electronics and turned to licensing only (although Philips still does manufacturing of other products).

 

[Joe Cruse]

The AMF reference reminded me; the guy that rebuilt my truck transmission last year had a Harley Davidson golf cart from the late 1960's. All original and working well, with the original battery charger (HD logo on it too). Been a long time since I've seen a cart with one of the old triangle-shaped steering mechanisms.

 

[smryan]

I'm no expert (but I am an engineer) - but the idea of 'loud pipes save lives' seems a little like (simply) a justification for riding bikes with unmuffled exhausts, which the 'Joe in the street' can't (apparently) refute.

Dynamically speaking, the sound is behind (follows) the rider and bike - not in front (precedes) to act as a 'warning' and it's in the approach to other road users that most bikers meet their fate.....

Sorry, loud Harleys goes with the 'image' that HD want to promulgate - it's just marketing, that's all..........

Sound typically travels over 760 mph... so much to my painful annoyance I hear the guy up the hill's Harley several blocks before the sound wave percussions make my ears bleed if I'm out on the front porch and he - all too slowly - fades into the distance.

My dad own a Harley - being on it with a helmet covering one's ears is considerably less painful than having one drive by... but I do miss the quieter, smoother Virago he used to have.