Harley Davidson moving to Thailand....thanks trump MAGA

Unclebaldrick

Unclebaldrick

Well-Known Member
gonnagro said:
Harley Davidson deserted its fan base years ago by changing engines more frequently and flooding the market with motorcycles. I have owned at least 5 in my lifetime and have one in the garage right now that needs a carb rebuild. Once upon a time it would have had value and I got resell it at a reasonable price, those days are long gone and owners are rapidly losing their loyalty.

Add to that, the days are the cool biker gangs are pretty much over too. If you haven't tried to buy one lately, upon negotiating you will find most of their dealerships are kinda deceitful. I have not yet been to a dealership that will honor the negotiated price, once I get into the finance/pay for it room. There's always some discrepancy to raise it just a little higher.

Really sad, as once upon a time I sold them for a living (late 70's). Always considered that the best job I ever had.

BTW: Harley's have not been all American since the AMF years. Several parts back then were Japanese, (front forks, rear shocks, chains, lighting and cabling). Even back then they were "American assembled," not "American made."
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So no domestic jobs are being lost - is that what you are saying?

Sorry "the cool biker gangs" are gone now. You will have to get by on your fantasies of being a hard-ass.
 
Fogdog

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
Go go n chill said:
Harley Davidson has been losing ground for years. The tariffs really had nothing to do with it
Just Google it. WTF
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HDMC did say that production of bikes destined for EU will be shifted to non-US sites "to avoid the tariff burden". They literally said "to avoid the tariff burden. The tariffs created by Trump's policies had everything to do with the recent filing in Wisconsin.
 
Go go n chill

Go go n chill

Well-Known Member
Unclebaldrick said:
So are you saying that they are lying?

Or are you saying that the market for motorcycles is shrinking or that Harley Davidson has not done well in the face of foreign or domestic competition? In either case, are you saying that Harley is doing the wrong thing by making these moves to avoid tariffs that would push them further under?

What exactly are you saying? "Harley is losing ground" - so if you were running Harley Davidson right now, what would you do? Would you just fold up the tent?

Every damn industry in America that Trump is trying to "save" has been losing ground for years. Every single one. So what?
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I’m saying it’s not all because of the tax.
And yes they have lost a large part of the US market. But go on and blame Trump .
 
Fogdog

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
gonnagro said:
Harley Davidson deserted its fan base years ago by changing engines more frequently and flooding the market with motorcycles. I have owned at least 5 in my lifetime and have one in the garage right now that needs a carb rebuild. Once upon a time it would have had value and I could resell it at a reasonable price, those days are long gone and owners are rapidly losing their loyalty.Add to that, the days are the cool biker gangs are pretty much over too.

If you haven't tried to buy one lately, upon negotiating you will find most of their dealerships are kinda deceitful. I have not yet been to a dealership that will honor the negotiated price, once I get into the finance/pay for it room. There's always some discrepancy to raise it just a little higher.

Really sad, as once upon a time I sold them for a living (late 70's). Always considered that the best job I ever had.

BTW: Harley's have not been all American since the AMF years. Several parts back then were Japanese, (front forks, rear shocks, chains, lighting and cabling). Even back then they were "American assembled," not "American made."
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Thank you for the anti-insomnia posting. I'll save reading it for later when I want to take a nap.

There are some people in Wisconsin who will lose jobs. They don't care about your carburetor. Mostly what they care about is how they will feed and house their kids after Trump's policy runs them out of a job.
 
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Go go n chill

Go go n chill

Well-Known Member
Fogdog said:
HDMC did say that production of bikes destined for EU will be shifted to non-US sites "to avoid the tariff burden". They literally said "to avoid the tariff burden. The tariffs created by Trump's policies had everything to do with the recent filing in Wisconsin.
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They may have said it but it was already in the works
 
Fogdog

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
Go go n chill said:
They may have said it but it was already in the works
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"was already in the works"

You are just making shit up. HDMC does not say anywhere that the recent announcement to shift production of EU bikes to "non-US production sites" was "already in the works".

In FACT, what they said was "to avoid the tariff burden". Trumpers are very much self delusional and do this all the time. They just make up shit if the facts clearly state otherwise. Some of our site's Bernie supporters do the same thing so don't feel alone in this.
 
Unclebaldrick

Unclebaldrick

Well-Known Member
Go go n chill said:
I’m saying it’s not all because of the tax.
And yes they have lost a large part of the US market. But go on and blame Trump .
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Uhhh, the "tax" (tariff) is new. The fact that Harley has made mistakes in the past is obvious and irrelevant. The fact remains that Harley is taking more jobs overseas - because of the tariff. The tariffs are Trump's fault and any idiot could see where it would lead.
 
Unclebaldrick

Unclebaldrick

Well-Known Member
Fogdog said:
"was already in the works"

You are just making shit up. HDMC does not say anywhere that the recent announcement to shift production of EU bikes "non-US production sites" was "already in the works".

In FACT, what they said was "to avoid the tariff burden". Trumpers are very much self delusional and do this all the time. They just make up shit if the facts clearly state otherwise. Some of our site's Bernie supporters do the same thing so don't feel alone in this.
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They are not smart.
 
Fogdog

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
Go go n chill said:
Anyway, friendly conversation and arguments but looks like once again people start slinging insults.
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It's difficult to avoid being blunt and insulting when a person defends Trump by stating a belief that stands in opposition to facts. You essentially said that Harley Davidson was using Trump's tariffs as an excuse to move jobs overseas. You said this even though HDMC said exactly the opposite. As if somehow this excuses Trump for his blunder on trade policy.

Face up to the facts. Trump's tariffs are doubly damaging to the US because they are both recessionary and inflationary in their effects. Virtually every economist and even most conservatives predicted that companies are going to do exactly what Harley Davidson is saying they are going to do. That is, they will move jobs away from the US to avoid retaliatory tariffs.
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Rob Roy said:
Harley Davidson whined in the '70s (early '80s? ) for tariffs to stop imported Japanese motor cycles from cleaning their clock and exposing their shitty bikes.

If there were real free trade and government extortion was removed from the equation consumer choices would increase. Then the free market would serve in a kind of regulatory function without all the forcible extortion etc.
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They also asked for an early end to those tariffs a couple of years later.
 
Lord Kanti

Lord Kanti

Well-Known Member
schuylaar said:
But he said he was going to create jobs..he just didn’t specify where.
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Clever girl.
http://archive.is/qWG1R
http://archive.is/y2n7h

Or not:

"On Tuesday, Mr. Trump accused Harley of using the trade dispute as an excuse to send offshore more jobs following the recent construction of a plant in Thailand. The suggestion echoed the sentiment expressed by one of the unions that represents Harley workers."

unlike in video games, construction takes time and is not completed at the click of a button. Try harder.
 
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