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View Full Version : Late to the Party but Just Heard the XR1200 is Discontinued



Scott
10-22-2012, 10:52 AM
WTF? Granted I'd probably never buy a Harley because of what they did to Buell, but if someone put a gun to my head and told me I had to buy one, I could at least live with the XR1200.

I actually thought if they continued to develop and race it they might actually be able to come up with something that could be . . . comparable to what Buell had 30 years ago . . . which would be light years ahead of anything else they offer.

Is Harley just giving up and deciding they'll sink into complete irrelevancy? Now that Victory owns Indian, will they make a serious run at Harley? I'd think the Victoy can take them on in terms of a quality, well engineerred American cruiser and Indian can take them on in terms of heritage, olde timey styling etc.

I don't want to go on a Harley bashing rant, but I'm honestly baffled regarding what their plan is going forward. Will they try anything innovative?

With Motus, EBR, Fischer, Victory/Indian, Brammo, Zero etc., these are exciting times for American motorcycling, but the brand that used to have a monopoly seems to just want to crawl under a rock rather than face the competition with something special of their own.

. . . is it at all possible Harley has something under wraps that will blow us all away . . . or is that as crazy as it seems to me as I'm typing it?

Any thoughts on where Harley will be 20 years from now at the rate they're going?

Doosh
10-22-2012, 02:07 PM
The leadership of HD today cannot imagine someone wanting a sport bike. They see no purpose in them and think they should not exist.

No love lost to see HD swirl down the drain. They sell mostly T-Shirts, lifestyle accessories and branded merchandise now, anyways. The days of them selling motorcycles as a primary revenue generator have long past.

boohoo
10-22-2012, 03:00 PM
I had a 09 xr1200 rode it once and it broke down(74mi) with fuel issues 2 weeks later got it back rode anouther 79 mi more fuel issues 2 more weeks got it backrode a few days 300 mi the electrical system went. at 700 miles the exaust fell apart at 1500 mi the engine was leaking oil on to my back tire. I lemon lawed it and got my R.
now I understand that any bike from any moco can be a lemon the real issue was the fights to get it fixed and than to get my money back.
Harley and the dealer I got it from (ocean county HD in NJ)did not want to make it right. The dealer got nasty with me slandered me and blamed me for a bike that never ran right from the get go.I was told by the service dept that I owned a Harley and should be happy that I had one. There was a compleate lack of pride in there product and less than 0 customer service. How a company can remain viable with the mind set I saw baffles me

Scott
10-22-2012, 03:25 PM
I had a 09 xr1200 rode it once and it broke down(74mi) with fuel issues 2 weeks later got it back rode anouther 79 mi more fuel issues 2 more weeks got it backrode a few days 300 mi the electrical system went. at 700 miles the exaust fell apart at 1500 mi the engine was leaking oil on to my back tire. I lemon lawed it and got my R.
now I understand that any bike from any moco can be a lemon the real issue was the fights to get it fixed and than to get my money back.
Harley and the dealer I got it from (ocean county HD in NJ)did not want to make it right. The dealer got nasty with me slandered me and blamed me for a bike that never ran right from the get go.I was told by the service dept that I owned a Harley and should be happy that I had one. There was a compleate lack of pride in there product and less than 0 customer service. How a company can remain viable with the mind set I saw baffles me

Sorry to hear about your trouble. That might point to part of the problem. If Harley starts trying to sell 'standards' or at least something close, they are suddenly competing in a whole new world and a world in which customers have come to expect, quality, reliability, good service at a reasonable price, etc. etc. etc.

As long as they are selling something that has a market so narrowly defined that it's their bike and nothing else, people have to put up with the kind of service you saw because they're the only game in town.

Like you, I'm a bit baffled, but I've been baffled since 1975 and they just keep going. It will be interesting to see what happens as we see more American bikes from other makers. I think part of their success has been because their key market won't buy anything that's not American so it was never an option to buy Honda.

I'm sure many loyalists will turn their nose up at Victory as well, and I can imagine them holding a certain level of sales because of the die-hards, but I just can't imagine them growing much beyond where they currently are without something fresh.

Doosh
10-22-2012, 03:30 PM
No one has purchased a Harley for quality or innovation in a very long time, so perhaps they will sustain themselves on image alone. But, that's hard to imagine with a younger, more value-conscious buyer as the principal demographic and a tight market.

boohoo
10-22-2012, 03:42 PM
dont be sorry if they had fixed the problems as they happened I may still have that bike and I wouldnt have my R they did me a big favor and I'm wiser for it. The one good thing they did was lend me a cr the third time the xr broke. I knew nothing about Buell at that time but it was love at first ride and made me a fan for life
But your right all my bikes and atv's have been suzukis or yamahas so thats what I compaired the hardley to and they just dont stack up not even close

Scott
10-22-2012, 06:10 PM
No one has purchased a Harley for quality or innovation in a very long time, so perhaps they will sustain themselves on image alone. But, that's hard to imagine with a younger, more value-conscious buyer as the principal demographic and a tight market.

I almost have to believe they're working on something for this reason. The Harley brand loyalists are rapidly aging and they need some way to bring younger riders in. Buell was one route. When they dumped them, the XR1200 seemed the next best thing.


dont be sorry if they had fixed the problems as they happened I may still have that bike and I wouldnt have my R they did me a big favor and I'm wiser for it. The one good thing they did was lend me a cr the third time the xr broke. I knew nothing about Buell at that time but it was love at first ride and made me a fan for life


:thumb: Good attitude.

boohoo
10-22-2012, 07:11 PM
I just checked out the hd web site thay do have something new right on the front page
Hard candy custom metalflake paint yeh baby yeh:hail:
that seems to be their bussness model image is everything I always believed form follows function hd thinks the other way around
I am wondering do they make more money on their American motorcycles or their swag thats made in china?

boohoo
10-22-2012, 07:14 PM
this says it all

http://youtu.be/izzlN2zC8PU

Scott
10-23-2012, 05:04 AM
:lol:

Why do I have the feeling that there at least a couple people out there who didn't get the joke and thought "Yeah!!" after seeing that? Wouldn't it be funny if it sold them a bike or two?

Jason
10-23-2012, 10:19 AM
That video make me laugh everytime! The segment which XR refers is not part of the typical mentality of HD owner have, and this is a big part to consider when you think about a "new" model to put on the market...

Doosh
10-24-2012, 08:14 AM
God prefers sportbikes.

http://www.ntsba.net/ntsba/Attachments/tornado-HD.jpg

Scott
10-24-2012, 06:41 PM
God prefers sportbikes.

http://www.ntsba.net/ntsba/Attachments/tornado-HD.jpg


:lol:


I'm not sure if I'm reading these right, but I just saw Harley's third quarter numbers on Roadracing World, so I thought I'd look up Victory/Indian numbers.

From what I can tell (and, again, I don't know much about these things) it looks like Victory/Indian is absolutely kicking Harley's ass. If I'm correct in understanding that Polaris' Onroad Vehicles are their motorcycles, sales are through the roof while Harley is pretty much stagnant. And it looks like Victory/Indian has just about caught up with Harley and, if trends continue, could be selling more than Harley next year.

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=50128

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=108235&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1746953&highlight=