After the Harley report a few days ago, Yamaha is saying it produced about a third less motorcycles over the last 11 months and exported 30% less. As I suspected, the motorcycle market is getting soft. … [Read more...]
Sunday Sales in Michigan
This came across the wire and I went, Huh? It seems the folks up in Michigan have a newly changed law that went into effect that limits Sunday vehicle sales. Motorcycle dealers got clarification and it seems Sunday sales of motorcycles are OK, but cars are not. What the heck is going on over there? A law that dates back to 1953 was just changed to crack down on unlicensed car … [Read more...]
Suzuki B King production?
Is Suzuki going to produce the B King? Originally making the show rounds back in 2001 and getting on all of the magazine covers, the Boost King was a 250hp turbocharged concept that looked liked it could kick some serious butt. Now, according to Australian Motorcycle News, it will be coming out late this year after being introduced at the Paris Motorcycle Show. Of course, … [Read more...]
Harley Davidson slowing down
Is this related to my prior post in any way? U.S. retail sales of Harley-Davidson motorcycles during the first quarter of 2005 have been relatively flat with the same period last year-falling short of our expectations. Despite our continued optimism for the year, we feel it is prudent to limit short-term production growth, maintaining demand in excess of … [Read more...]
Choppers peaking?
Everything runs in cycles, fads come and go, what remains is the long term base. The Kneeslider is making a prediction here, I'm going on the record to say the huge fascination with choppers has peaked. Choppers will continue to be built and sold, money will still be made but the growth period is over. Choppers are not functional in the way most motorcycles are, choppers … [Read more...]