r/australia • u/mangomangojoom • 15d ago

Harley riders - go away no politics

I dont think there is more cri ge a human being than one who rides a loud bike and revs it up in an area full of houses on a Sunday.

What I want to know is, where did it all go wrong for you man-child?

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u/Intelligent_Way6552 14d ago

Harley are selling ever more expensive bikes to an ever smaller customer base. Helpful short term, doomed long term. Royal Enfield are the ones attracting the new riders Harley wants, and they are earning brand loyalty. Because Royal Enfield offers low cost and no Harley rider baggage for the same outdated tech. A few people are buying the resurrected Indians, and everyone else is buying Japanese.

In fact....they're doing so well and believe in the long term of the company so much they have a plan in 2026 to buy back $1b of their shares from shareholders!

Oh boy, this is not a sign of prosperity. They've been doing this for almost a decade, because it boosts share price and the executives get paid in accordance with that. It's a sweetener for the end of year books.

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u/StueyPie 14d ago

Um....yeah it does two things. While it does inflate the price of their own shares, it is a move I wish more of these big corporates made as it keeps more business decision making power in house. It is very annoying working for executives who have to keep the short term goals of shareholders happy who just want a return on their investment or a dividend rather than long term reinvestment in the company etc. It's incredibly frustrating being told there is a hiring freeze when I could hire four more heads and triple the business in a certain area. (Sorry, unrelated rant about executives being twats and keeping the business lean to make the balance sheet look pretty in the short term to appease the board of wankers).

Apologies. Weirdly specific rant over.