This is interesting. It shows HD's action are illegal in one instance. And it is good news for thos buying from overseas!!

I wonder if the same could be true in another instance? Maybe they need to be sued here in Aus?

 

Spanners, you could be right. I checked a background piece I'd noticed earlier and Harley has definately said they don't agree.

What I hadn't noticed in the piece previously is that on Jan 1 Harley plans to ban sales of its new PG&A products through third party web sites like Ebay and Amazon. So, if HD win the suit, then on Jan 1, if you don't buy from HD or an HD Dealer you don't buy.

In the last 100 years HD has gone from having 100% of the motorcycle market to 5%. And are doing everything they can think of to reduce even that number.

The upside of this is that in a few years all us HD owners will have collectable bikes, you know, like an old Buell for example. That will really improve the price, right. Can't wait!

Well if you haven't heard Castaloy in South Australia use to make wheels or Harley. Guess what... They are about to close. The official reason - its unprofitable.

The result AUSSIES LOSE THIER JOBS.

Fantastic result don't you think Greygo???

 

Like I said... You screw HD Aus, you screw Aussie workers. 

Mate, it does not matter what part of HD they are made for. The end result is the same. The guys that work at that plant are now out of a job. Something tells me they won't be sympathetic to the argument.

Profits or no profits. The closure hurts Aussie families. Full stop.

If we all had the mentality of dont buy overseas owned, then we better stop buying Arnotts biscuits, craft cheese, Vegemite and the list goes on.

The fact is that these companies employ Australians. Bashing them to the point where it's no longer profitable to operate, the end result will be that the company will move their operation offshore and still make the same profit, but Aussie workers lose their jobs.

What was achieved????

Yes. And HD's bottom line will not suffer. Only the workers will.

Yeah - Crappy time of year too! The will be opened for a little while yet - so they didn't get marched, but it would still be shit to go through Xmas knowing your days are numbered.

You guys are right on the money.
If you work for shareholders instead of a company, you are going to be screwed. Have a look at Qantas and QR National. Boy are they being screwed over, all for the shareholders.

great thread and read.
HD=a luxury!
if it has titts or wheels it will cost you money..

Hey All,

As promised, I'm still hammering away.

I have not and will not quit. In fact, I am getting more determined every day to see this fucked up situation fixed.

BUT, I have little to say day-to-day and really don't want to start the mongrels barking if I can help it.

The issue is, the fucking Government has no concept of prompt. I waited for a response for 4 months that arrived in early December, to which I replied and have now waited two months for a follow-up response. So, August 2011 to February 2012 (almost) waiting for the Government to recognise they have a problem.

But I thought I'd share their wisdom with you so have pasted some documents and emails in here.

Just so you have the context of these documents/emails, I met with my Member of Parliament in July and she sent off a note to The Department of Infrastructure and Transport shortly thereafter. She got a few details wrong but the Department's response is such a blatant denial and misinterpretation that one has to wonder what they are hiding.

Please remember, the Department of Infrastructure and Transport (DIT), of which Anthony Albanese is Minister, is the department responsible for the Motor Vehicles Standards Act 1989. AND, it is that piece of legislation that is the problem. I am happy to explain why that legislation is the issue but for now just accept it kills the Australian motorcycle market and supports price gouging. Let me know on this thread if you want to know why it does this.

Catherine King is the Parliamentary Secretary for DIT so she handles correspondence. I have spoken with many people in DIT but Chris Carpenter is the main mouthpiece. His response is largely "The Department is not answerable to the Australian people and legislation will not be reviewed no matter how flawed it is".

So with that all in mind, here is Catherine King's response (PG1 and PG2 ;download and then you can zoom in to read more easily) to my MP's letter(I have no copy of this), and my response (select File->Download to view) to Catherine King via my MP for which I am still awaiting a reply.

I am also pursuing this through other channels but will not elaborate on those until they bear fruit, IF they do so.

In the meantime, if anyone truly wants to know why we pay so much for motorcycles, and not just Harleys, and not because they are shiney and stroke your ego, and not because we need to or the Australian economy will collapse, I am happy to answer your questions. In large it is because the Motor Vehicles Standards Act 1989 supports foreign corporation's price gouging.

BTW, Happy New Year to all. I hope you're riding everyday.

 

 

Wow what a read. More waffle in all these letters than a bakery.

Sadly, if I am critical of content much of what you accuse the ministers and govt departments of in their letters could be accused as existing in yours and thus challenged too but with respect that is what happens when you challenge these complex issues as the readers sentiment and out-take often differs fom the author at the time of writing - No disrespect just my observation that just as likely will be taken differently by many who read what I have written.

Theres a couple of things in all this that inspired me to read through some of the legislation and investigate the to and fro in all the letters. I am not an expert but much of  thelegislation is impossibly difficult  and what I took out of it is:

I noticed that the Australian Act differs seriously from Cars to motorcycles in that used motorcycles can be imported with different restrictions pre and post 1989 BUT motor cars CANNOT be imported post 1989 models if someone hold the full import approval (i.e. the Manufacturer) until a defined period after the last vehicle has been importedly - I read it as 366 days????? In the case of cars derivatives of a model are considred to be that same model and therfore also restricted i.e. a Toyota Surf is condsiederd a derivative of Hilux and thus restricted.

That made me question why the legislation differed cars to bikes so I too called the Infrastructure in Canberra to ask and after many transfers found there is no known answer just that when it was changed to restrict grey Imports of cars motorcycles seem to have slipped the noose and it could have been from the input of the local car manufacturering industry.

So I'd say making all this noise seesm to identify the imbalance betwen the laws cars vs biikes and if the governmenet is hanging their hat on ADR's, safety, compliance, integrity of imported vehicles (the RAWS system and responsibility) then identifying that imbalance will probably put it on the radar to be resolved one way or the other. I wonder wht the RAWS suppliers guys perspective is on this potential exposure and risk to the door being closed - Maybe soemone like Choppaweeza with first hand experience could answer that. If the door closes would that not remove all retail pricing pressure.

As for the comments about NZ  - well there are some holes in that depending on your view as the market there, having been there, is a dumping ground for low mileage imports and some of the crap you see is amazing but it has cost local jobs and that is unquestionable and you only have  to look at the closure of the asembly plants there over the last deacde or so Honda for exmple. I didnt see too many shops importing and selling New Harley just used [private imports and in one case a shop that sold you 2 togeher so you could use parts off one to fix the damage on the other - Thats not a good look. Cost of licving I would think would have a huge bearing on pricing of any retail products and would take a very experienced person, better than mine, to talk through those economics but I knw that when you balance exchange rates, average wage, cost of living etc etc the situation in NZ is very different from Australia and we are both worl aparts from USA avrerage wages and lving costs. hell last btime I was in the USA I didnt pay half of what it costs here in a bar to buy a beer and a meal.

With respect Greygo I AM NOT having a dig at you but trying to put forward my perspective and to be honest it may be a little biased as I own and buy locally, I use an independant shop where I dont have to tools to do any jobs,  and have been happy with my "retained values" when selling my Harley after I have owned them and have considered buying an import but never saw a good enough one that stood up to my expectations. Some of the imports wer impossible to determine there history and I sysupected may have been crashed and/or the mileage didnt add up with teh condition. BUT to be honest there wasnt many to choose from and like anything there are good and bad and rip off mercahnts and then I had to factor in insurance costs for imported vs local supplied baikes, parts availability etc. It was just easier to buy local and the resale has always been good to me  and in fact of the last 4 Harleys I have sold I havent lost any considerable amount of money not counting any of my time I have invested into them and in the case of a Shovel I owned for about 14 years actually made a profit.

 

As I said mate I AM NOT not sending a shot across your bow but my perspective on the issue and I would sort of sit on the fence at the moment as I am not sold on the benefit one way or gouging on the other. I would like one day to have the opportunity to import a special bike or car if I had the ca$h and time so closig the door is a worry but to be true I'd have to ask myself if I would ever have the time to invest to do it.

And I found this over the Aussie Day break which made me wonder how many people have been cauhgt out by rip off sellers overseas only to get a bike here to find out it has been repaired or needs repair and then have to export or detroy it - I would presume the RAW has to report it to Infrastruture if it happens having gotten the apporvals to get it through customs so they would potentailly have to know and if it has never happened would have to raise some serious questions.

QUOTE From http://raws.infrastructure.gov.au/
Damaged Vehicles - A vehicle that has been structurally damaged cannot be fitted with a Used Import Plate. The RAW must assess each vehicle for damage against guidelines prescribed in legislation - if the vehicle does not meet these requirements it must be exported or destroyed - irrespective of whether the damage has been repaired or is repairable.

Hmm,
Last year a Sportster cost $11500 , a look at a few HD websites yesterday - Sportsters are $14500 this year. As the Aussie dollar has gone up compared to the US dollar, and transport costs have gone down slightly I dont understand why the price of the bikes has gone up by near 25%!

I think you meant Isaac, but thats OK.

Sporty's arent as popular in the US of A as they are here - mostly tourers over there AND HD have just announced they cease supply of one model Sporty in the US of A as od 2013 Model which is later this year.

Ya reckn HD is gouging - Dont ever buy a Jeep FAAAAARRRRRK mine is putting a huge dent in the bank account - must out of warranty and falling apart - It was enough drama when in waranty but now..........................????????

Air con compressor shit itself (2 months after wty ) and I have just ordereda new remote entry fo the key $300 with loose chnage from that - I can buy and LCD TV WITH A REMOTE for near that........

Whats their advertising line "JEEP DONT HOLD BACK" - certainly dont hold back on charging.

Unfortunately it  seams all the Australian Dealerships in Car's and Bikes are doing the same with parts.  I have Sangyong Actyon 4X4 ute, $970 for the radiator through Australian Dealer, $427 delivered to my door ex USA. 

I'm sure lots of guy's out there have the same stories, whilst I like to support Australian companies and in many cases will spend extra to do so, when they increace prices, double, triple or more, then stuff em.

its only money dont worry be happy

This thread dropped a link. In any case, I've updated the page one entry, so look there.

This thread has dropped a link and has a dud page here. In any case I've updated the initial entry on page 1 so look there.

O.K... TALK ABOUT OUT OF HAND.

Personally I am still trying to understand the comments about Holdens paying the average wage. I live in Adelaide and even though I personally have not worked at Holdens, I do know many that have. Not only do they recieve VERY HIGH wages for the most part, being unskilled factory workers that were inhouse trained,... but they get awsome kick backs on car prices not only for themselves but for their family aswell not to mention the lease options. Obviously this goes for tradesmen and tech staff aswell. Mitsubishi until its demise was the same.

The stuff you are mentioning about Harley's is honestly chicken feed. It is in every hobby, interest and professional produst/textile, especially when exclusive distributer rites are apparent. Although not totally perfect for the consumer Harley marketing is not that bad. They depreciate a hell of a lot less than a Jappa. This is only because of held prices throughout Australia or resale would turn to shit. Every business is in it for the money, which idiot thinks otherwise. Quite frankly it would piss me off if Harley's were cheap as shit because every Tom, Dick and Harry would own one. I enjoy the mild exclusivness about them..

Try buying a new FordGT in the U.S $80 to $100,000. in Aust. $500,000 WTF... thats life ,.. thats economics,... deal with it, THATS A GREEDY GOVERNMENT.

So c'mon... dry your eye's everyone... move forward... and enjoy your Harley's,... pretty sure this site was'nt made for ""Harley Haters"" Lets not throw the expression """EXPOS'E"" around like a tabloid... this is NOT ROSWELL AREA 51 is it ??? How about you focus your exposing skills on the Ginge Minge FREEK running this fair country of ours Julia fucking Gillard.

Vented...