Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Motorcycle karma

So it seems that good ole Harley stocks have taken quite a plunge lately due to the collapse of the sub prime lending market.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/HowHarleyStockCouldRoarBack.aspx?page=1

If you look at the want-ads, ebay and craigs list you can basically have any Harley you want for a fraction of the price they used to bring. The Harley Market is pretyy well saturated.

What? You mean they're not holding their resale value anymore? Oh shuckydarns.

Actually I have seen the same bikes for sale that have been for sale for more than a year. The owners are not coming to grips with the idea that the market is saturated.

Kinda like the housing market down here. People are pissed they aren't getting the offers their neighbor got a year or two ago, so they refuse to compromise and the house stays on the market.

I am lucky in that reguard. I live in one of the very very few places the housing market is still good and even on the rise a little. I live close to Mt Airy where the gambling is going in. Also a very popular place for NYers to move and still work in NY.(main reason I am moving they still act like they are in the city)I am in a prime spot 400' of road frontage on a main road , 3 acres of commercial property, and I don't have to sell for any reason so I can just sit on it until I get what I want.
Before anyone takes that wrong. Nyers tend to lumped into 1 catagory here and hated. It is a minority but they stand out. People move here to get the kids away from the gangs but it brings the gangs with them.Litter, vandalisim , driving habbits , no respect for anyone or anything , rude , move to a rural setting and first thing they do is cut all the trees down , then they don't conform to the way of life they expect everyone around them to change.I could continue to rant but I'll leave it there. Too bad I used to love it here. I started to say I know some very nice people from NY too.

Looks like it might be a good time to by some HOG stock. I think that would be quite a shot at my Harley buddies:"I won't buy Harley, but there are so many sub-prime buyers that want one that I could not pass up buying some shares."
Irony: Making enough $ in Harley stock to by a new Triumph.

I have been seeing the decline in Hardley prices for a few yrs now. A friend of mine and I used to buy them do a little work (sometimes alot) to them and sell them. It has been getting more and more difficult to make it profitable. He was the Hardley mechanic I just know bikes and did cosmetics while he did engine, trans, and electrical work. the reverse was true for Brits. If I didn't keep it! LOL

The problem I see with it Dog is everyone just started buying new. If you can tap your house for "free" money and buy new why fix one. Some friends and I used to flip sleds and tractors but the used market just doesn't make it worth the time. The good news is people have no idea how to fix stuff so the "broken" ones you buy don't need much.

I always used to go to guitar shows or on ebay and buy every nonfunctional seemingingly piece of crap vintage guitar I could afford for $50-100 apiece, then spend a few hours and sell 'em back for 5x's what I put into them.

I never counted labor as an expense as it was merely a profitable hobby and had nothing better to do. Even if it was a functional piece of crap after I'd rewire it and set it up, people still would shell out the cash...suckers all seem to love any old stick as long as it's 30-50 years old

True. I had my uncles old Les Paul Gibson he bought new as a young man. Had the origonal amp that came with it.(old tube type) Thing was shot dead frets pickups didn't work right. When it sold it sold big. I don't remember any more what it brought but it was in the hundreds. Some one bought it just to have it. I was never very good at it so I figured I would rather have the money. Sold my grandfathers solid silver alto sax too. Didn't bring much and I'm sorry I sold it now.I was a kid never thought what it might mean to me later.

Pssst Ian. What cha tryin' to do here? Get Friar John fired up about them darn Californians all over again?

(sorry FJ...I couldn't resist)

Now, regarding the Harley market...I think dill pretty much nailed it. With most areas of the housing market going flat, and the equity of people's homes in many cases taking a down-turn, the idea that you're going to go out and purchase a 20-thousand dollar "toy" is on the wane due to financial concerns.(and I say toy because in most cases, motorcycles are toys, as most americans don't tend to use them as basic transportation)

And with Harley production at an all-time high, this glut of their inventory will naturally be compounded.

I didn't know about the CA thing. LOL I have done enough stirring for awhile!

As a happy capitalist here in Canada, given the recent downturn in Harley stock, one might be inclined if one so believed the stock would continue to drop.. short sell..

Nothing would tickle me more than making a few bucks off of Harley D's softening.

A guy/gal would have to do some serious research and try to determine how low it would go.

Just my 2 cents

Trev