News

From The Associated Press:

Harley-Davidson, the motorcycle maker, reported a fourth-quarter loss Friday, its first quarterly shortfall in 16 years, hurt by restructuring costs and the sluggish economy.

Harley-Davidson has come under pressure over the last year as the tight credit markets and the weak economy led consumers to shun purchases of its high-end, heavyweight motorcycles.

The company has been reorganizing its business through layoffs, factory closures and closing or selling unwanted brands. Harley said shipments of its bikes to dealers in 2009 fell 27 percent, to 223,023.

For 2010, Harley said it expects shipments to fall another 5 to 10 percent to 201,000 to 212,000 motorcycles.

Harley-Davidson said it lost $218.7 million, or 94 cents a share, during the fourth quarter. That marks its first three-month loss since the fourth quarter of 1993 and contrasts with a profit of $77.8 million, or 34 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue tumbled 40 percent, to $764.5 million from $1.28 billion a year ago.

Reports Business Week:

Shares of Harley-Davidson Inc. declined Thursday after an analyst recommended investors sell the motorcycle maker's stock, saying bike sales fell as much as 40 percent in October and November and demand remains uncertain.

 

Shares declined $1.38, or 5.1 percent, to $25.51 in midday trading.

Goldman Sachs analyst Patrick Archambault on Thursday added Harley-Davidson to the bank's "Conviction Sell" list with a six-month price target of $23. That implies the analyst expects shares to drop almost 15 percent from its closing price Wednesday of $26.89.

He previously rated the stock "Neutral."

Archambault said checks with dealerships indicate retail bike sales declined between 35 percent and 40 percent in October and November due to tighter lending standards at the company's lending arm and a recall of 110,000 touring and custom bikes.

The end came suddenly for Buell Motorcycles even though rumors circulated for months that Harley-Davidson would dump its orphan sportbike subsidiary. When the announcement came this week, Erik Buell posted an emotional video on the Buell website. Buell tried and failed to hold back the tears as he talked about his 26 years of trying to build an American sportbike that could compete with the metrics of Japan and Europe.

Passion drove Buell, whose company became part of Harley in 1998 and all the Buell riders I know share that passion.

Production ends this month but Buell said Harley has pledged to stand behind the warranties on the bikes and will continue to stock parts.

Buell's demise makes me wonder what Harley will use to replace the Buell Blasts for the Riders Edge Motorcycle Safety Foundation courses taught at some dealers. Honda Rebels?

In a sad note of irony, six police motorcycle officers crashed while escorting members of motorcycle dealer mogul Bruce Rossmeyer's family to his funeral in Ormond Beach, Florida, Tuesday.

Two received minor injuries.

Reports The Associated Press:

Authorities say six motorcycle officers were involved in a crash while escorting the family of one of the country's largest Harley-Davidson dealers to his funeral.

A Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman says a group of motorcycle officers from various agencies was riding with the funeral party for Bruce Rossmeyer Tuesday morning in Ormond Beach. The spokeswoman says the lead rider slowed down, while the riders near the back of the group didn't, causing a chain-reaction crash.

Authorities say two officers were hurt, but their injuries weren't serious. Damage to the motorcycles was also reported as minor.

Bruce Rossmeyer, the world's largest Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealer, died Thursday in a motorcycle accident in Wyoming while en route to the annual bike rally in Sturgis, SD.

Rossmeyer attempted to pass a pickup truck and camper that was turning left and struck the passenger-side door. He was not wearing a helmet or any protective gear, police said.

Rossmeyer was riding with five other bikers on his way to a meeting with a motorcycle club in Wyoming when the crash occurred.

Although he began his career as an automobile dealer, Rossmeyer had a lifelong passion for Harley-Davidsons and opened his first dealership in 1994, riding the wave of renewed interest in motorcycles.

Reports The Orlando Sentinel:

A longtime motorcycle rider, he opened a Harley-Davidson dealership in Daytona Beach, almost as a hobby.

"I thought this would be neat to mess around on weekends and have some fun," Rossmeyer said in a 2007 interview with the Orlando Sentinel.

But that 1994 opening of the Daytona dealership coincided with the dramatic jump in motorcycle sales. During the next decade, Harley-Davidsons and the whole biker culture roared into the mainstream, becoming a billion-dollar business, and Rossmeyer enjoyed the ride.

He continued to expand his Harley empire, opening dealerships in New Smyrna Beach, in Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach, as well as in Colorado, Massachusetts, Mississippi and the Graceland-themed dealership in Memphis, Tenn.

The crown jewel of his empire was the 109,000-square-foot Destination Daytona in Ormond Beach, a 150-acre resort for bikers with hotels, condominiums, restaurants and stores anchored by his big-box-size dealership, which ranks as the world’s largest Harley dealership. It opened in 2005 as Bike Week hit its peak in Daytona Beach and was attracting a half-million motorcycle riders to town.

Rossmeyer never envisioned he would become such a motorcycle magnate and credited his success to hard work, luck, family support and good timing.

He reveled in building a business that he called "Halloween for adults."

"You can dress up, put on your leathers, go act like you’re a biker and on Monday morning, go back to Wall Street," he said in a Sentinel interview.

The owner of 15 Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealerships around the country, including the mega-showroom at Destination Daytona in Florida, Rossmeyer was 66.

He will be buried in Ormond, Florida on Monday.