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[Hoist!]

Slow bike sales have caused HD to also go into the Moving business? Hmmm......!

Hoist!

[Gone Fishin']

Absolutely!
I am not in the market for 2010 and 2011. But who knows? If they get really innovative ... ahh, nahh, forget it.

Cheers,
Louis

Louis:

It will surely be interesting to see how all of this evolves over time.  But we're safe since we have our new rides..

Regards

Jerry

[NVTHIS]

Here's the latest that was printed in our local Newspaper (COURIER-JOURNAL)

Shelby County still in running for Harley plant
BY JERE DOWNS • JDOWNS@COURIER-JOURNAL.COM • SEPTEMBER 8, 2009
Read Comments(17) Recommend(2)Print this pageE-mail this articleShare
 
Shelby County survived the cut as Harley-Davidson recently narrowed its list of potential sites for relocating a 2,500-worker motorcycle plant now located near York, Pa.



“Kansas City is no longer under consideration,” company spokesman Bob Klein said, adding the hallowed hog manufacturer will decide the fate of its historic Pennsylvania operation by the end of the year.

Besides rural Shelbyville, Harley-Davidson is also looking at sites near Indianapolis, Ind. and Murfreesboro, Tenn., Klein said.

Relocation incentives were named by Klein as one of three factors the company is considering as it looks outside Pennsylvania. Others include, Klein said, availability of a skilled work force, building sites, and “geographic proximity to our markets.”

York is about 100 west of Philadelphia and a move to Shelbyville would move Harley-Davidson production about 600 miles further inland.

Undergoing consolidation in the wake of declining sales, Harley-Davidson is exploring how it can cut costs with its largest union. The current union contract, with an average wage scale of $23 per hour, expires in February.

Tom Santone, business representative of Local Lodge 175 of the Machinists union in York did not return phone calls seeking comment.

So far, Pennsylvania has assembled $15 million in taxpayer-funded incentives for capital repairs and remediation of Harley-Davidson’s York County 232-acre site, a spokesman for Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said. Klein declined to comment on Pennsylvania incentives.

Kentucky’s skilled work force is an asset as the state pursues Harley-Davidson, said Jay Blanton, a spokesman for Gov. Steve Beshear.

“The Governor believes Harley-Davidson is an iconic brand that any community would be proud to have as a member.” Blanton said.

“We are aggressively courting a number of projects, designed to bring good-paying jobs to our state in areas that reflect our strengths,” he added. “Advanced manufacturing in this industry is an inarguable strength of our state and our labor force.”

[LarryB]

Rutherford County and Tennessee need to respond with a counter-attack of their own to bring the motorcycle maker to Murfreesboro.

Murfreesboro is a finalist for a Harley plant relocation as the company considers whether to upgrade its facility at York, Pa., in Springettsbury Township or build a modern plant elsewhere and hire a more efficient workforce.

Pennsylvania is serious about keeping the plant, offering Harley-Davidson an incentive package that includes $15 million in capital to upgrade the facility as well as job training programs for employees to streamline operations, according to the governor's office.

We need a campaign of our own to bring Harley-Davidson to Murfreesboro, from state and local leaders to the general public. The Daily News Journal is willing to help lead the effort with an invitation to Harley riders to meet at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 12 at Bumpus Harley-Davidson on Northwest Broad Street for photos and videos showing why Murfreesboro is Hog Heaven.

The Milwaukee-based company whose heavy-duty bikes are an icon of American motorcycling would be one of the best things to hit Rutherford County and Murfreesboro in years. Although officials have not determined how many jobs Harley could bring here, it could easily be more than 1,000, since some 2,300 workers are employed at the York plant, which makes Touring and Softail models, as well as custom-made motorcycles.

Rutherford County needs new jobs to offset losses at Bridgestone and numerous other employers. The facility could also bring thousands of tourists to Rutherford County for trips through the manufacturing plant.

Our community has a lot to offer Harley-Davidson USA.

One of the sites being considered here is on Joe B. Jackson Parkway, which has easy access off I-24 and is suitable for the infrastructure needed for a large manufacturing plant.

Murfreesboro city government is capable of handling a large manufacturing construction project, having played a role in the development of The Avenue Murfreesboro and the $270 million MTMC on Medical Center Parkway
Rutherford County has educational facilities, ranging from MTSU to Motlow State Community College to Tennessee Technology Center, that create a good workforce.



The people here have a strong work ethic, too. They're willing to put in a hard day for good pay and benefits. Tennessee is also a right-to-work state, which could be a factor if Harley is considering leaving a union stronghold.

Harley-Davidson shuttered the Pennsylvania plant for three weeks in February 2007 before reaching a settlement with union workers.

Harley officials have already said the company's first choice is to remain in York. But that doesn't mean Rutherford County and Tennessee should give up.

Regardless of whether we're a bargaining chip, Rutherford County and Tennessee need to go all out for this operation. Murfreesboro already has Bumpus Harley-Davidson, and we see more Harleys on the road every day. This could be huge.

Maybe we could have a BBQ

[NVTHIS]

Come on Larry, you and I know that Tennessee is a very very nice place but it's no Kentucky. LOL We have it all here with KY Bluegrass for our Race Horses and the right kind of work force to build Iron Horses. So come Harley-Davidson we want you in Kentucky. Go Harley, Go Harley

                        And here are the Harley  Davidson Cheerleaders.

[iski]

Appears the MoCo is about to get some financial mileage out of that strike back in Feb. 07 in York.  Whether they stay or go, they get to cash in.

[Wanna ride]

The Capitoal drive plant is also closing. In fact, we rode up there on Sept. 5th and took the LAST plant tour. The only engines they wers still making were the Sportsters mills. All the merch with the Capitol Drive logo on it was reduced to 50% off. They were also selling the tour guide shirts. Our tour guide said they were moving about 6 miles up Capitol Drive to the new plant that the bigger motors are built at, and they didn't think the new plant would have tours. Kinda sad, really. I've visited that plant about 5 or 6 times, and have several different coffee mugs from there over the years.

[NVTHIS]

Well I'm not sure what the status of the York plant moving here in Louisville, but I have a friend that works in the Governors office nd he told me two weeks ago that the State is still talking to Harley but not as much and everything is major hush hush. Who knows what's going to happen.

[OhioDave]

This appears to be nothing more than a public charade to break the local union in York, whether you like unions or not moving this operation would be devastating to the employees and their family's in York, i wouldn't wish that on anyone.

[iski]

To a certain degree, if Harley does move, the union in York accelerated the decision for HD by their actions in 07.  HD may stay if the pot is sweetened enough, but a more central US location alone would save lots of $$ long term in shipping costs alone. 

[Eqcons]

Actually the York facility has three production areas

- the Touring factory, quite old, no a/c
- the little CVO facility, which is being phased out, as we learned
- the quite modern Softail factory, which is actually Harley's newest plant (2003, I believe)

Hmmm.. I may be wrong (not unusual with advancing years, Louis!) but when I toured the York facility in 2004, the CVO facility was just a small separate area of the Touring factory - not what I'd describe as a production area on its own.

Harley are becoming blinder to the real problem - people have become, and are becoming even more so, resistant to The MoCo's ever increasing, completely nuts, prices.  That's why the average age of the Harley owner is rising, because younger folks can't buy them.

I can say this for sure - I won't be buying another CVO Ultra (and I've bought three of the overpriced things in three years) because The price in the UK is now just plain silly.  I can buy a pretty expensive car for that sort of money, but I refuse to spend that on a car.  By the end of the year, when our VAT goes back to 17½%, a CUSE5 will cost around £28000 = €30000 = $44500 (with thousands of $$ less accessories than they come standard with in the US!) ANYBODY who pays that for one is just plain stupid.  More money than sense. If I were Bill Gates, with all his money, I STILL wouldn't pay that for one, because they are just not worth the money.  And yes, I know that they are much dearer than that in some parts of Europe, but my opinion stays the same. As long as there are enough people silly enough to pay it, they'll keep upping the price - why rich Europeans pay that sort of money for a bike leaves me speechless.  And of course, it's not just the bikes, but the parts.  They have lost their grip on reality, thinking that people will just pay, regardless of the price.  Well, that's not the case any more, and they are going to get deeper into trouble if they don't wake up and smell the coffee (which they don't appear to be doing), instead of behaving like headless chickens moving plants around. Whatever they do to cut costs will not help until they realise that the product still won't sell in the quantities they want if the price is too high (and it is).  Straws and camels' backs come to mind...

Jim

[FLSTFI Dave]

I am with Larry B on this, move them to TN.  No state income tax, Right to Work state, Murfeesbourgh area has a whole lot of manufacturing experiance.  TN is a nice low cost state to live in.

[RedDevil]

Hmmm.. I may be wrong (not unusual with advancing years, Louis!) but when I toured the York facility in 2004, the CVO facility was just a small separate area of the Touring factory - not what I'd describe as a production area on its own.

Harley are becoming blinder to the real problem - people have become, and are becoming even more so, resistant to The MoCo's ever increasing, completely nuts, prices.  That's why the average age of the Harley owner is rising, because younger folks can't buy them.

I can say this for sure - I won't be buying another CVO Ultra (and I've bought three of the overpriced things in three years) because The price in the UK is now just plain silly.  I can buy a pretty expensive car for that sort of money, but I refuse to spend that on a car.  By the end of the year, when our VAT goes back to 17½%, a CUSE5 will cost around £28000 = €30000 = $44500 (with thousands of $$ less accessories than they come standard with in the US!) ANYBODY who pays that for one is just plain stupid.  More money than sense. If I were Bill Gates, with all his money, I STILL wouldn't pay that for one, because they are just not worth the money.  And yes, I know that they are much dearer than that in some parts of Europe, but my opinion stays the same. As long as there are enough people silly enough to pay it, they'll keep upping the price - why rich Europeans pay that sort of money for a bike leaves me speechless.  And of course, it's not just the bikes, but the parts.  They have lost their grip on reality, thinking that people will just pay, regardless of the price.  Well, that's not the case any more, and they are going to get deeper into trouble if they don't wake up and smell the coffee (which they don't appear to be doing), instead of behaving like headless chickens moving plants around. Whatever they do to cut costs will not help until they realise that the product still won't sell in the quantities they want if the price is too high (and it is).  Straws and camels' backs come to mind...

Jim

Jim,
I hear ya brother...but there are idiots here that will pay $44000 for an SEUC at Rossmeyer's dealership in Daytona, that's $9K over MSRP here!!  But you're right...Harley needs to lower their prices and become competitive in today's economy.  Either that, or they're going to have to go back to limited production where you had to put your name on a waiting list at a dealer and maybe wait a full model year to get a new bike.  It was those days that caused the dealers and the MoCo to get greedy and they haven't learned that the economy today won't support that mentality.

[Eqcons]

Jim,
I hear ya brother...but there are idiots here that will pay $44000 for an SEUC at Rossmeyer's dealership in Daytona, that's $9K over MSRP here!!  But you're right...Harley needs to lower their prices and become competitive in today's economy.  Either that, or they're going to have to go back to limited production where you had to put your name on a waiting list at a dealer and maybe wait a full model year to get a new bike.  It was those days that caused the dealers and the MoCo to get greedy and they haven't learned that the economy today won't support that mentality.

Good summary! 

[NVTHIS]

If I'm reading between the lines that are coming out of our KY Capital I no way think that Harley is leaving York. I think this is just there way of busting the unions balls and getting all the tax breaks they want. Kentucky has a history for giving the farm away to get companies to come here and when they do that we all loose. Did Harley up the prices on CVO's from last year? I was told by one of the local dealerships here that no price increase over last year. Is that true.