Harley Davidson closing it's Kansas City Plant

[sarettah]

Sucks I have a few friends that will be looking for work because of this.

Harley-Davidson shuts plant as woes worsen for Trump's model manufacturer - Chicago Tribune

deepening slump in U.S. motorcycle demand is spurring more job cuts and a plant closure at Harley-Davidson Inc., a company President Donald Trump has cast as a model American manufacturer.

The Milwaukee-based motorcycle maker will close its factory in Kansas City, Missouri, and consolidate production in York, Pennsylvania, according to a statement Tuesday. The restructuring will eliminate about 260 U.S. jobs, Chief Executive Officer Matt Levatich said on a conference call. Trump praised the company last year as a "great example" of a business creating jobs and building factories in the country.

In closing the Kansas City plant, Harley will eliminate about 800 jobs; it will add 450 in York, a mix of full-time, part-time and contract positions.

....................................

The plant is just at 20 years old.

.

[baddog]

Exactly, it was "only" 20 years old. TBH, I never knew it existed and I highly doubt anyone I know knew it existed either. Well, other than you; but I don't think we have met.

[Dead]

Makes sense if you think about it. The demographic wanting to own and run a Harley grew up in a different time. They all went out and bought bikes which created a boom in sales. Now that the itch is scratched, the next generation in line were raised to be mostly "pussies" dare i say? Bike sales will see a definite decline in sales as time goes on.

[_Richard_]

pussies, or just broke.

[crockett]

MAGA! I bet Trump doesn't tell everyone about this.. Harley bikes are gay anyway.. At best take the engine and then build a real bike yourself.. HD became a golified baby boomers mid life crisis bike.. Baby boomers are getting too old to ride them with out training wheels and now they are having trouble.

The simple fact is they focused far too much on appealing to a very narrow group of people.. You know week end bikers who wanted a pre bought bike with lots of crome so they could buy all the costume gear and go be biker criminals for the week end..

They over built with show rooms and dealers all over the place while catering to this specific group of people and then failed to look toward to future..

My bet in 10 years they will be owned by the Chinese. If they were smart they'd be actively trying to push their product in China because HD is kinda known as a so called outlaw American product and that would sell extremely well in the Asian market.

[PR_Glen]

Originally Posted by Dead

Makes sense if you think about it. The demographic wanting to own and run a Harley grew up in a different time. They all went out and bought bikes which created a boom in sales. Now that the itch is scratched, the next generation in line were raised to be mostly "pussies" dare i say? Bike sales will see a definite decline in sales as time goes on.

they're up, it's just most people don't want to drop 25 grand on a motorcycle and buy something else instead.

plus the new ones over the last 10 years are dull as shit.

[sarettah]

Originally Posted by baddog

Exactly, it was "only" 20 years old. TBH, I never knew it existed and I highly doubt anyone I know knew it existed either. Well, other than you; but I don't think we have met.

It was a pretty big deal in KC . There were 30 cities competing for the plant back in 1996-1997. Then they hired only the cream of the crop in employees. There were like 2000 people competing for the 300 original positions when they opened.

Anyway, it was here, now it will be gone

Harley-Davdison to close its Kansas City motorcycle plant | The Kansas City Star

It is a stunning end to what was at the time a glorious beginning when Harley announced in 1996 that it was putting down roots here.

Kansas City beat out 30 other cities in 10 states in a months-long competition.

Then-Mayor Emanuel Cleaver called it ?a once-in-a-century catch for Kansas City.?

It came at an opportune moment. The Kansas City area was then in the midst of a several years of disappointments that would see the area lose the headquarters of the NCAA, the Big 12 athletic conference headquarters and the annual FFA convention.

Winning the Harley plant mitigated the blows somewhat.

But that success did not come cheap. Area leaders said the $85 million to $100 million assembly plant was well worth the initial $6.4 million-incentive package that the state, city and Platte County offered. Those tax credits and other subsidies would over time grow by tens of millions of dollars.

The plant went onto produce the Softail, Sportster and Street motorcycles.

The first motorcycle, a 95th anniversary edition of the XL 1200 Custom, rolled out of the nearly 400,000-square-foot plant on Dec. 22, 1997, followed by a grand opening two weeks later attended by more than 200 employees and their families.

The first Harley Sportster was given to Harley?s top officials to take to the company?s Milwaukee headquarters. The second one, signed by all the employees, was presented to Cleaver and put on display at the visitors area of the plant.

Cleaver, now a congressman representing the Kansas City area, issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying he was sad to hear the factory was closing.

?I remember aggressively seeking and fighting for the motorcycle assembly plant to set up in Kansas City when I was mayor.? he said. ?Now, to see it close and the reported 800 people out of work or making the difficult decision to relocate, is disappointing. Kansas City is still a vital economic hub and sought out by many for its technology sector. I have no doubt it will continue to attract lucrative businesses to replace those lost jobs.?

In November, the company announced the plant was producing the company?s newest motorcycle to hit the market ? its Sport Glide model.

At the time of that announcement, the company said the addition of the Sport Glide in Kansas City would not change the size of the workforce, then at 748.

The decision to close the plant comes at a time when Harley is at odds with its unions.

.

[GAMEFINEST]

sad but times are changing.

[DBS.US]

They need to start making their new "LiveWire" bike there.
(To bad it's just a concept, not a prototype)

[OneHungLo]

Originally Posted by crockett

MAGA! I bet Trump doesn't tell everyone about this.. Harley bikes are gay anyway.. At best take the engine and then build a real bike yourself.. HD became a golified baby boomers mid life crisis bike.. Baby boomers are getting too old to ride them with out training wheels and now they are having trouble.

The simple fact is they focused far too much on appealing to a very narrow group of people.. You know week end bikers who wanted a pre bought bike with lots of crome so they could buy all the costume gear and go be biker criminals for the week end..

They over built with show rooms and dealers all over the place while catering to this specific group of people and then failed to look toward to future..

My bet in 10 years they will be owned by the Chinese. If they were smart they'd be actively trying to push their product in China because HD is kinda known as a so called outlaw American product and that would sell extremely well in the Asian market.

U.S. hiring picked up in January and wages rose at the fastest annual pace since the recession ended, as the economy?s steady move toward full employment extended into 2018.

Nonfarm payrolls rose 200,000 -- compared with the median estimate of economists for a 180,000 increase -- after an upwardly revised 160,000 advance, Labor Department figures showed Friday. The jobless rate held at 4.1 percent, matching the lowest since 2000, while average hourly earnings rose a more-than-expected 2.9 percent from a year earlier, the most since June 2009.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ost-since-2009

[baddog]

Originally Posted by DBS.US

They need to start making their new "LiveWire" bike there.
(To bad it's just a concept, not a prototype)

Actually, they will be releasing it soon; unfortunately, you can't really go anywhere with it.

[Rochard]

Originally Posted by Dead

Makes sense if you think about it. The demographic wanting to own and run a Harley grew up in a different time. They all went out and bought bikes which created a boom in sales. Now that the itch is scratched, the next generation in line were raised to be mostly "pussies" dare i say? Bike sales will see a definite decline in sales as time goes on.

I think I disagree with you.

While I am not a fan of Harley Davidson I always found their sales history interesting. They have always had a huge following, and their fan base increased as younger generations were able to afford the luxury of living out their bad boy fantasies on the weekends while working a stock brokers or accountants or what not. However, their sales peaked in 2006 and went into decline along with everyone else in the recession. They haven't recovered although they seem to be reaching out to younger people with newer bikes.

Baddog feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

[INever]

Originally Posted by OneHungLo

U.S. hiring picked up in January and wages rose at the fastest annual pace since the recession ended, as the economy’s steady move toward full employment extended into 2018.

Nonfarm payrolls rose 200,000 -- compared with the median estimate of economists for a 180,000 increase -- after an upwardly revised 160,000 advance, Labor Department figures showed Friday. The jobless rate held at 4.1 percent, matching the lowest since 2000, while average hourly earnings rose a more-than-expected 2.9 percent from a year earlier, the most since June 2009.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ost-since-2009

Do you actually believe this shit?

[PornDiscounts-V]

I'd have to say, adapt or die.

All of my neighbors ride other bikes that are basically crotch rockets.

A friend of mine in a one percent club, all of the members ride crotch rockets.

Times are changing.

[directfiesta]

Originally Posted by OneHungLo

U.S. hiring picked up in January and wages rose at the fastest annual pace since the recession ended, as the economy’s steady move toward full employment extended into 2018.

Nonfarm payrolls rose 200,000 -- compared with the median estimate of economists for a 180,000 increase -- after an upwardly revised 160,000 advance, Labor Department figures showed Friday. The jobless rate held at 4.1 percent, matching the lowest since 2000, while average hourly earnings rose a more-than-expected 2.9 percent from a year earlier, the most since June 2009.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ost-since-2009

All FAKE news .... not true at all ... made up numbers... even Trump agreed :

Sep. 7, 2012

“Unemployment rate only dropped because more people are out of labor force & have stopped looking for work. Not a real recovery, phony numbers”

Oct. 19, 2012
"7.8% unemployment number is a complete fraud as evidenced by the jobless claims number released yesterday. Real unemployment is at least 15%”

Aug. 11, 2013
“We can rev up this economy like it should be, not with false numbers like 7.4 percent unemployment. But with real numbers.”

May 31, 2014
“Unemployment is a totally phony number.”

June 16, 2015
“Our real unemployment is anywhere from 18 to 20 percent. Don't believe the 5.6. Don't believe it.”

Aug. 11, 2015
“Then you hear there's a 5.4 percent unemployment. It's really — if you add it up, it's probably 40 percent if you think about it.”

Aug. 30, 2015
“They show those phony statistics where we are 5.4 percent unemployment. The real number, I saw a number that could be 42 percent, believe it or not.”

Sept. 28, 2015
“I hear 5.3 percent unemployment, that is the biggest joke there is in this country. That number is so false.”

[MaDalton]

I imagine Clinton being president and our resident GFY bikers going up in flames over how she would destroy an american institution with her policies.

now one is totally silent and the other is like "meh, ..."

[Rochard]

Originally Posted by StefanG

I imagine Clinton being president and our resident GFY bikers going up in flames over how she would destroy an american institution with her policies.

now one is totally silent and the other is like "meh, ..."

A single company going out of business has little to do with the President.

I like to sit here and bitch about Carrier sending 800 jobs to Mexico, but the only reason I do so is because Trump made a promise to ensure that doesn't happen. Trump had no power over that decision - it's just a matter of economics.

However, one thing I wouldn't mind seeing is having a company be designated as an "American icon" and allowing to get special government aid. Harley Davidson would be a perfect candidate for something like this. The US government did in fact help the auto industry during the recession and it saved a lot of jobs.

[baddog]

Originally Posted by Rochard

A single company going out of business has little to do with the President.

They ARE NOT going out of business; just an FYI.

[Vendzilla]

Harley is not going anywhere, they are a survivor all you have to do it learn about its history. For Christmas i rented a 2017 electroglide ultra and it was a big jump in refinement. The new Milwaukee 8 motor was very smooth and being a 900 plus lb bike, the jump from 70 to 120 was pretty quick. Thinking Harleys are going away? Only misinformed people would think that. I have 3 in my garage. My daughter just got her license and im looking for a sportster for her. The problem with the Harley market is you can keep a bike for decades that still looks cool and is fun to ride, my 99 road king isnt going anywhere, but its getting a major upgrade in a couple months, its going from 88 ci to 110 and a 5 speed to a 6 speed.