Comments on: Harley-Davidson. Made In America. In Thailand. In Singapore. And Tomorrow In India?

By: Nervous Wreck

Nervous Wreck — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:39:05 +0000

“Please avoid offensive, vulgar. or hateful language.” Kind of hard not too, after reading this article!!!

By: WinnerWinner

WinnerWinner — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:26:46 +0000

Better buy JOHN DEERE. MOST J-D parts are made right here in the good ‘ole U.S.A. Hell we are even building factories in many third world nations, due to THEIR import regulations!

P.S. MOST American Flags are also constructed in CHINA. We have sold out. But cHaNGe is a coming….

By: gene okelley

gene okelley — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:08:47 +0000

I did not know that Harley had plants overseas already. As long has they do not bring that bike over here to sell i will continue to buy harleys. We need to feed our market with jobs not some other country! They better stay union made also or it’s on to a Victory!!!

By: biker

biker — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 09:51:22 +0000

HERS ANOTHER ONE MY BROTHER WAS INJURED AT WORK 4 YEARS AGO AND IS COLLECTING WORKERS COMPENSATION YUP 4 YEARS HE WORKED FOR THE STATE FORE 23 YEARS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT AND IS NO LONGER ABLE TO WORK SO HE IS TRYING TO GET HIS ACCIDENT PENSION OR DISABILITY PENSION. HES BEEN FIGHTING THIS FOR 4 YEARS NOW HES WHET TO ALL THE DOCTORS THE STATE SENT HIM TO THEY ALL SAID HIS BACK IS TO FAR GONE AND IS NOT ABLE TO WORK YET THEY KEEP TURNING HIM DOWN. I WONDER WHAT WHOULD HAPPEN IF HE SAID HIS NAME WAE J GONZALIS

By: biker

biker — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 09:38:13 +0000

IM sick and tired of people blaming unions you want to go back before unions then prepare to work well over 8 hours a day no overtime. no safety there was a place that burned down i forgot the name of it .Any ways the real culprit is WHO IS RUNNING THIS CONTRY OBAMA NOPE YOUR WHONG ILL GIVE YOU ONE MORE GUESS. NO CANCEL THAT CAUSE YOU LL NEVER GUESS ITS THE BIG CORPORATIONS GETTING CORPORATE WELFARE LIKE THE BIG SUBCITYS TO BIG BIG OIL WHO ARE SCREWING US AT THE PUMP EVERY DAY THE ILLEAGLE IMIGRENTS. THE GET RID OF MEDICARE MEDICAID SOCIAL SECURITY SO WE CAN CIVE THAT MONEY TO THE RICH. SUDCITYS TO FARMERS TOMAKE ETHANOL TO ADD TO GASOLINE WHICH TURNS THE GAS INTO CRAP. AND THE LIST CAN GO ON AND ON AND ON WAKE UP ALL YOU DOPES BEFORE ITS TO LATE BUT PROBABLY ALLREADY IS . GOOD BYE AMERICA WE WERE SOLD OUT AND WE ALLOWED IT . OF THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE HA HA HA HA HA ANY BODY REMEMBER WHERE THAT CAME FROM HAS IT BEEN FOLLOWED NO IT HAS NOT AND WE SIT ARROUND AND LET THEM DO IT.WE DESERVE EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO US GOODNIGHT FORMER MEMBERS OF A DEAD AMERICA. IM SORRY IF I HURT ANY BODYS PATRIOTISM BUT THIS IS THE WAY I FEEL AND I JUST NEED TO VENT

By: Daniel Alexander Jones

Daniel Alexander Jones — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:22:39 +0000

I don’t know about the rest of you, but, I don’t want anything on my bike that isn’t AMERICAN! Did everyone forget what they are riding??? A Harley Davidson made in another country isn’t a Harley Davidson…

By: luke

luke — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 09:14:22 +0000

Well I live in Thailand and if you say there is a HD plant here I would like to know where it is because to buy a bike here or get parts it costs more than twice the price than in the USA.
Please give me the address …..)

By: Bluejacket

Bluejacket — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:10:52 +0000

I agree with Jim C and Jack1962.

New CEO = I don’t care as long as I get my big bonus at the end of the year. Cheaper Labor = Bigger Margins = Bigger Bonus.

This only changes if JoeUSA stops buying stuff made from overseas. Our plants and factories are not closing because of taxes or environmental issues, its labor, labor, labor and benies that are motivating CEOs. Small businessman and their companies have been impacted as well as workers. The stuff coming from overseas is not to our standards.

That from an Financial Analyst that works on Corp Cost Management and sees Executive Comp

Of course some of you don’t give a rats posterior about this kind of stuff. But you will eventually as it will come around eventually to impacting you, especially when it becomes more and more difficult to buy the things you have come to expect to own.

By: Jack1962

Jack1962 — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 09:41:04 +0000

you people crack me up , Japan planted a seed in the heads of the weak minded years ago , saying american’s are fat, lazy and stupid , and it spead like a virus thru the population. They pushed sub-standard products , saying how much better they are than american products and guess what all of you believed them. Now guess what , we are fat , lazy and stupid . We are fat because we sit on our behinds to much , we are lazy because we can be , we are stupid because , we have done all this to ourselfs. The United States of America is the greatest country that has ever been , if all of you want it to be great again stop buying yamaha , toyota, honda , and start buy Harley Davidson , Chevy and Ford

By: Bigfoot390

Bigfoot390 — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 02:53:36 +0000

The American way is Competition. If it makes Harley better then that’s great . If they go under its because they don’t keep up with the competition, kind of like what they did when they stopped winning race’s. Then they deserve to go the way of all things.
Give me a good product at a fair price above a fair product at a good price any day.. This is the reason that Harley is having such a hard time getting more market share.
Its time to stop crying foul this and not fair that and man up to the fact that its not a fair world , not an easy world and only the strong will survive.
Move the factory to bumf@#k Alabama. Rename the town Milwaukee if you have to as I am sure they would go for it and stop whining about how metric bikes and foreign products are ruining this country.
nuff said

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:31:50 +0000

Blame the unions? Sorry wrong answer, If you want to go back to serfdom than go ahead blame the unions, right to work states have more people in poverty, more people with no med ins, higher unemployment, and some of the lowest wages in the U.S.. Having spent 37 years in the construction industry,I have worked in both union states and right to work states, and the difference is pathetic, In 2002 I hired a 50 some year old male in Tennesee just to clean up after my crews, at 10 dollars an hour, This man had worked construction all his life, and told me that was the Most money he had ever been paid,, So Tell me how did a Union company from out of state get the job?
It’s because our bid was cheaper, our workers better skilled, We did the job under budget and finished our part 2 months early, Had it not been for a non union contractor doing the foundation, we could have finished 4 months early, But we spent days and weeks waiting for them, They produced half of what my men could with 2 times the people, Do I blame the workers? Nah If I paid my men 6-8 dollars an hour with NO benefits They would be slow too, and the amazing part is this contractors bid was no lower than ours, If you want to go back to the 20′s with 2/3rds of the country in poverty and the other 1/3 having 80% of the money than go ahead blame the unions,
Just my 2 cents worth, and I ride a Victory!

By: jim noll

jim noll — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 05:09:34 +0000

willie g need to get rid of the geedy suits

By: jim noll

jim noll — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 04:51:07 +0000

get rid of the suits in the office lets biuld bikes . dont need the suits. yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
that will save millions

By: jim noll

jim noll — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 04:36:32 +0000

hareley davidson has been an icon of mine since the 60s and im real disapoint to see you have to biuld bikes overseas when i cane biuld one in my garage. harley davidson needs totrim the fat in the office get all those wana bees out of there and lets biuld bikes the money will come .the best way to do biss is cut the middle man the shop makes the money i dont car what they SAY the suits can go .any ways who needs suits when you got an american icon bike willie g and family needs to get into the shop and run it fuck the motherfucken suits please lets keep it an american icon

30yrs as a G.M. mechanic
also biuld bikes in my shop NO SUITS

By: onespeed

onespeed — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 13:05:10 +0000

it has been this way for years and years,, all you had to do is look at the parts hangin on the wall all over the HD shop turn the box around and it says made in china,tawain,or whereever but noe in the UNITED STATES.

By: Harlonda

Harlonda — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 18:03:19 +0000

Have not read all the blogs; I want to know why I keep hearing about tax breaks for moving companies overseas. As a taxpayer I find it treasonous for our reprsentatives to allow this but with lobbyist running the show I feel powerless and am powerless as it seems you can change the players but not the game. (Congress)
I have owned a real Harley Davidson (1969 XLH) as well as an 85 Goldwing , 96 Royal Star; all fine rides; mostly rent Harleys now and find them a blast, especially since I can ride and return and rent another day.
As far as union / management both have their place; a fair wage for the worker who produces as well as those who keep things moving, however I agree that a CEO making 400 times the average worker or receiving huge bonuses after driving a company into the ground needs to be looked at.
IMHO. (Excuse the grammatics)

By: Anthony

Anthony — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 08:24:23 +0000

Well said that man.
I agree with David’s comments completely. I have had three Harley Davidson motorcycles, and thought they were great until I rode a BMW K1000RS which I hired to tour Europe on nine years ago. Eleven countries in six weeks and over three thousand miles convinced me how underpowered, overweight, and downright uncomfortable my Harley was. Especially on European roads which are narrower, and they actually have bends in them. I now ride a BMW ( Surprise surprise ) and love every mile I’m in the saddle. It handles beautifully, and has almost twice the power of my old Harley. The finish, suspension, and brakes are also far superior. At a similar price to a Harley, I’m getting European engineering ( Not third world ) and finish which Harley Davidson or as I call them – “Hardly Movingson” just cannot deliver.
No more false ticky tacky bling, all show and no go for me. I’m now riding a real motorcycle. To all you Harley riders out there – My advice to you is to at least ride a foreign bike and see what you have been missing.

By: David Barry

David Barry — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 06:00:11 +0000

Wow – Very interesting reading all the comments. At the end of the day, how I see is if you buy a Harley, you are buying a product which is at least half manufactured in a third world country, yet paying a first world price. What an absolute rip off for the so called “American Dream” ! Harley riders are so gullible.
All Japanese performance bikes are made in Japan, and are now much better quality than Harleys. They are faster, more reliable,handle better, stop better and horror of horrors cost less.
Buy a Ducati. At least you are getting a quality / premium product for your significant investment. My bike proudly has a “Made in Italy” logo on the tank and I ride it with pride. No crap made in china, Indonesia, mexico etc etc etc.
Ride on….

By: Boyke Soerianata

Boyke Soerianata — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:16:06 +0000

Oh………Pleaseeeeeeeeeeee,
Such a Nightmare for American Automotive of Motorcycles

By: Dylan Ratigan: Judd Gregg and Ben Nelson: More Socialism Please | Ameri-Site

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 17:00:45 +0000

[...] Gregg points out that good, honest American companies like Harley-Davidson and Caterpillar use these derivatives to hedge against things like currency changes and costs of [...]

By: Biker Bob

Biker Bob — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 20:35:05 +0000

Hate to break it to you folks, but Harley is NOT as USA made as they would have you believe.

Parts from all over the world are in them, and it is debated that Honda may be more American made than Harley. For the most part, all motorcycles are assembled in the USA, but not necessarily made in the USA. Honda has a “manufacturing” plant in Ohio, not an assembly plant like others would say. Harley is an assembly plant, not necessarily a manufacturer of bikes.

I have been shopping for a newer bike for a year now. This information is from countless hours of research, trying to find the perfect last bike for me.

I found it. A motorcycle kit that will be assembled by me, made in the midwest US, yes some overseas parts like Harley, but exactly what I was looking for and more.

AND I don’t have to pay an extra 5 or 6 grand to upgrade to a motor that I want. I also won;t be paying for the HD logo on my bike, which will save me a lot of money now and in the future. And still give me the riding experience I have wanted for a lifetime. Value is perceived and realized only at the end of the day. Trade value down the road means nothing to me, I want present day value.

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:17:06 +0000

Soon another American company will be forced abroad by labor unions,as they have done with Detroit. Sad to think an American Icon killed by overpaid union labor.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:50:08 +0000

check out Victory. Except for the brakes and one other item, which I dont recall at the moment, Made in the USA. The hd fanatics wont ever admit it though.

By: Brian H

Brian H — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:22:46 +0000

I find the argument of union workers being overpaid one that lacks substance. Do we all really believe union workers don’t deserve to live a decent life, and don’t deserve to live in a modest home? Do we think that only someone who sits behind a desk deserves this type of life? Many of the comments I read here lead me to believe that. Check out Harley Davidson’s financial statements before you jump to conclusions about Harley ripping off their customers, they make no more of a Net margin than any other business, including the ones all of you work for. I agree that perhaps there is room for improvement and efficiency at the Harley manufacturing facilities, but it certainly cannot come at the cost of displacing American manufactured products for imported ones. The implications of what we are doing by moving manufacturing to China is have a devastating ecological and economic impact that we may never recover from. It’s our choice as consumers to buy products that have the majority of their value added here in the US, and let the businesses know that is what we want. Tell Sears, Ariens, Irwin Tools, Whirlpool, GE, and many other companies, that is what you want. Stop the unnecessary shift overseas, and support American workers, ourselves, ans stop being greedy for our own irrational self interest. Buy New Balance sneakers, at least the ones assembled in the USA.

By: Teddyinthailand

Teddyinthailand — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:11:17 +0000

You may say you do not mind where Harley makes there bikes – well you will if they end up making them here in Thailand – where copy parts are available for the tenth of the price of original parts they are also crap complete garbage – why Harley chose here in Thailand I do not know – surely they realise that no motorbikes of any size are legally allowed on the motorway here and if you get caught they will confiscate the bike and that’s the law, the catch 22 is foreigners are not allowed to sue the police for wrongful arrest, repossession, well just about anything. You are going to need at least US$ 40,000 to get in the door of the place and the minute the American lads over here from Harley depart back to the USA this will happen, you bring the Bike in for a service, parts are stripped off and replaced by copy parts, the parts they remove go back on the shelf to be sold as original spares and they pocket the money they do it with everything here. I sold my FAT BOY here because of all the hassle. There is not a foreigner in his right mind would buy any Harley here that says made in Thailand as the chances of it having both wheels are 50-50 – America what are you doing to the most famous and reliable motorbike brand in the world. Changing times.