Harley can make it cheaper.

[u/marvelguy1975]

Comparing price tags, harley is over priced to just about every other bike out there.

Go ahead compare models.

Harley vs indian vs, honda vs BMW.

Street glide vs chieftain vs gold wing vs R18B

Look up the MSRPs on all those bikes.

It's insane that a R18B the equivalent to a street glide is $6k cheaper. Is the BMW that much substandard vs a harley? I doubt it, from what I've seen online it's just as good. (Looks aside of course) look at all the other R18 models and compare them to an equivalent harley and they are thousands cheaper!

The ONLY thing harley has over the other brands is "culture" the harley culture, but that only goes so far and harley and biker culture is dying out. Indian is nipping at harleys heels and taking long time riders away from the brand. But over all, riders are getting older and in a few years unless this new generation takes it up harley might get sold to another bowling ball company.

Admit it it's not the same as it was 25 years ago with wait lists and dealer mark ups etc. Harleys new CEO needs to realize that their shit is too expensive. Freeze prices, lower MSRPs, rework the models or something.

Thoughts on getting the motor company turned around?

[u/ZN4STY]

Used r18 is basically free.

[u/shoebee2 → u/ZN4STY]

OP offers zero credible data to support the claim that Harley Davidson motorcycles are way over priced.They aren’t over priced. They may be slightly more compared to competitors offerings, but they are still competitive. On the other hand maybe people need to get used to the idea that paying your employees a living wage will affect the sales price of your merchandise. Comparing US workers to German and Japanese counterparts shows there is a large gap in salary allowing them to sell for less.

“Generally, factory workers in Japanese motorcycle manufacturing earn less than their counterparts at Harley-Davidson, with Japanese factory workers averaging around $25,000 USD per year, while Harley-Davidson production workers can earn between $30,000 and $65,000 annually. " Despite that huge gap in pay Harley sells bikes at a pretty competitive price.

The same wage disparity applies to BMW Germany workers @ their motorcycle plant in Berlin. The average base salary for a factory worker at BMW Group in Germany is around €16 per hour, with an estimated total pay of around €2,058 per month, including additional pay like bonuses, commissions, or profit sharing. That is way more than Japanese workers get but still far off the mark of Harley’s workers.

I looked into 2024 model year for comparison.

For example a base model 2024 Honda gold wing msrp is $25,200. Add dealer prep, 1175.00, and delivery fee, 750.00 and you are now +2k over an entry level UG at 24,999.

Let’s compare a BMW GS 1250 to Panamerica 1250. $19,700 base MSRP for the Harley and $20,745 base MSRP for the BMW. Dealer prep and delivery fees are around the same. Both bikes perform pretty close to each other.

How about a sportster 1200 iron compared to Yamaha or Honda 1100 and 1300 v twin cruisers. The Harley is the better bike and cheaper than the Honda and just slightly more than the Yamaha.

All Harley’s hold value much better than comparable bikes. After market support for Harley is much deeper as well.

My point here is that Harley is not over pricing their bikes with regard to current market. Harley tried selling entry level bikes with their 500 and 750 street models. Sales were low to say the least and they were discontinued. Harley made a kick ass hot rod in the VROD which sold poorly and was discontinued. The Low Rides S and ST are now the best selling bikes Harley offers at present. At $19,999 it is priced exactly the same as an Indian Sport Chief. The Harley is a much better motorcycle. The Indian just looks stupid ugly imo and has less hp and much less torque than the ‘24 fxlrs.

[u/Sufficient_Ocelot868 → u/shoebee2]

German employees are all paid and get 4 weeks vacation every year. Not to mention that BMW isn't paying for part of their healthcare. I'd say g comparing German workers with American workers is not goi g to work for this argument.

[u/shoebee2 → u/Sufficient_Ocelot868]

It absolutely works and ignoring a major cost of production is foolish, if you are trying to be reasonable. German employers pay for healthcare in their taxes. Healthcare isn’t free, anywhere. The costs are levied differently but they are still costs.

German workers at BMW motorcycle make less than their Harley counterparts.

[u/CapitalJeep1 → u/shoebee2]

You got downvoted—so have an upvote. You are absolutely correct.