Florida Harley dealers are getting what they deserved

[SteveM]

Used Harley prices right have fallen drastically regardless of what they're trying to get for new product. Used ones have taken a huge hit.

Covid bike buying bonanza - dealers had limited supply and high demand.

Now, like Covid puppies headed back to the shelter, there is a huge supply of used bikes and an even larger hidden supply of folks who would like to get rid of their bikes.

Demand has cratered for discretionary toys in a worrisome economic time.

While this has affected all manufacturers (and Owners), there are some things that make it worse in HD world.


For years HD pushed great resale value. This enabled them to raise prices and sell more bike to many buyers than they could afford with generous loan amounts. Being underwater on a financed motorcycle is not uncommon, but the depth of the water relative to the buyer's ability to swim is worse in HD land. Every one of us knows a HD owner who actually thought they were buying an appreciating asset and they would make money when they sold it.

Compounding this is the number of HD buyer's who absolutely believed everything the salesperson told them about resale value, buying a more expensive bike, and upgrades, all those upgrades. Not only did this further exacerbate the loan to value proposition for buyer's now trying to sell, their belief in the "value" of their bikes is, in economic terms, "sticky."

When sellers stick too long to unrealistic prices and new sellers enter the market, the normal flow of inventory in the used market is upset and a bulge quickly builds, making it even worse for the sellers who hung too long based on "I know what I've got."

Truthfully, watching this brings back that old gem of a term,

Schadenfreude

[Garandman]

Possibly first time “Schadenfreude” has been used in the same paragraph as Harley Davidson.

Those BLS grads, flashin’ the knowledge.

[MysterySquid]

Indian is taking advantage of Harley woes big time. Massive marketing effort here with their huge presence at bike week next week. I see Indians every day, and they're coming out with tons of great stuff. I ALMOST got a nice black and chrome Roadmaster. It just didn't feel right with what I like to call the fucking microwave oven for a center console. At the end of the day, Harley feels like a more solid bike, but wouldn't begrudge anyone for going Indian. Their bikes are getting nicer every year.


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[MysterySquid]

Possibly first time “Schadenfreude” has been used in the same paragraph as Harley Davidson.

Those BLS grads, flashin’ the knowledge.

Lol


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