I promised that I would let you know if Ms Jamie Katz from Morningstar responded to my e-mail to her. Jaime responded and the e-mail thread is below.
Clyde,
Thank you for your feedback. While I'm sorry to hear that the experience you had with Harley was not top notch, I think what Harley has done with its manufacturing process is impressive relative to the past. I understand that not as many bikes are being replaced, and have heard that before, but the growth opportunities still exist for the company abroad, even if they might be slowing here. If you have any other questions, please let me know.
Regards,
Jaime M. Katz, CFA
Equity Analyst
Morningstar, Inc.
Hi Jaime,
I read your report on Harley Davidson with interest. But I fear that you are very out of touch with Harley customers and therefore do not have a realistic view of what is happening with the company. If you take time to monitor the posts at
http://www.cvoharley.com you will quickly see that a lot of Harley customers are disgruntled at way the company is being run and with the products being produced. Harley CVO (stands for Custom Vehicle Operations) bikes are the most expensive products Harley makes - often with price tags in the mid 30 thousand dollar range. You will find many customers who would love to purchase another Harley but won’t because they feel that they have been mistreated.
My own experience with a 2007 Harley CVO bike was troublesome. I am the perfect example of a guy that should be purchasing new Harleys every several years but won’t because Harley is still building high-end bikes with quality issues. The fact that Harley refuses to participate in owner forums like cvoharley.com speaks to their head-in-the-sand mentality with customer feedback. I sold my Harley this past Summer and moved on.
What bike do I ride now that I sold my Harley? I ride a BMW. Is it perfect? Almost, and in the situations where I have needed support, BMW has been there for me.
Be well,
Clyde Wildes