A big dilemma we face here in Australia is price gouging, with my last bike ('08 Heritage) I purchased a pair of V&H straight shot muffs, I got two quotes from HD stealer's here, and the cheapest was AU$820.00, plus $72 each for the quiet baffles....Frustratedly, I then contacted mandmcycles.com in the US and purchased the lot, the lot, for AU$420.00 incl delivery to me here, of only 5 days...
The crazy situation here, is that HD have instructed their dealers that no products are to be exported to Australia...therefore (I assume) protecting the stealer's profits here, and therefore forcing us enthusiasts to purchase aftermarket products...I am only one person, but I know of two friends that have sold their Harley's and totally switched brands...wake up Harley Davidson, we are no less enthusiastic here, but we can also count our dollars and cents and know when we are being ripped off 
No different here in the UK, Jacks. Having bought three new CVO Ultra Classics in 4 years, I tell the dealer loud and often, no more because of the prices here, not just of bikes, but accessories. HD have lost the plot - I can buy a new car, a BMW 320D Sport Saloon, for around US$1500 LESS than a CVO Ultra. It comes with a three year warranty, paint without flaws, chrome that doesn't fall off, engines that don't rattle like stones in a bean can and will run for several hundred thousand miles without major work, not several thousand before it needs a new compensator, or whatever; and while parts may be dear for BMW cars, they aren't at the $10 for a simple bolt level like HD are. Oh, and BMW will fix problems quickly, with a recall at no cost to the owner, not give them the usual "they all do that, sir" while making the change to an improved component next year, leaving all the owners who complained to buy the upgraded compensator or whatever. And can you imagine new BMW audio systems with iPod interface firmware as poor as HD are foisting on to us? There would be a big outcry and it would be fixed quickly. HD's firmware is ridiculously poor for the iPod - it plain just does not work properly - and there has not been a new release of it for well over a year.
Like you, I'll pay a premium over other bikes to have the HD, but there comes a point where paying a premium changes to being ripped off, and HD have long since reached that point. Quality is krapp, price is ridiculous. No more for me.
I used to get the accessories from the US, and still do, what few I buy, but US postage charges have gone through the roof this last while, and it's frequently the case that because of that there's no longer much of a saving. HD's forbidding the US dealers to even sell to anyone from abroad, even if they are shipping in the US, is a sharp practice and is, I suspect, on dodgy legal ground - it is a restrictive trading practice.
I for one am sick of being treated like a stupid cash cow, fed on chit in return for my milk.
Jim
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Topic: Surely buisness cannot be that good!!! (Read 1327 times)