Are harley Davidson's overpriced or are they really really expensive to produce?

Harley makes its money from branded sales or merchandise and parts, not motorcycle sales. It is evident when you apply to be a dealer, they expect to see 10 years of garment type sales management experience, not powersports industry experience. It works like this. They make motorcycles, not terribly good ones (I have owned 4 HD;s), that are exactly what their customer base wants, ancient technology, mediocre build quality, and lots of shiny crap to bolt on. The MO CO makes a very slim profit margin here. Their merchandise makes the bulk of the corporate money, which the why the bar and shield are put on every single merchandiseable product, motorcycle related or not. Finally the service department. This is where the dealers make their money, selling overpriced "factory" parts and having techs constantly repairing the old and faulty engineered twin cam motor.

Yes they are expensive to produce, and bike for bike, it costs more to build a harley than most other brands.

HD has one of the highest profit margins of any major company at about 17%. There's a lot that goes into that number, but it shows you that there's a healthy mark-up on their products. What it also tells you that the company knows what it's doing, and makes a product people want, and are willing to pay for. Harleys are expensive motorcycles, and they typically sell at MSRP, or a minor discount. Japanese bikes are often thousands off MSRP to move them out the door. To me it seems Harley prices their stuff just about perfectly for the market. I also think they've become much more competitive when it comes to price and features when compared to other bikes in the segment. I've had many motorcycles over the years that were both American and Japanese. Both do some things better than the other, but when it comes to making money, HD comes out on top.

HD are completely overpriced rattle boxes that offer lousy performance. Somehow, the ONLY defense that HD owners seem to come up with against other brands that offer better performance is by saying that HD's are meant for cruising. If thats the case, why do I continually get raced by idiots on HDs when Im on my M109R? HD own website states that the engine is the heart of every motorcycle, yet the put out the lowest amount of power amongst almost all motorcycles. How can anyone with half a brain spend a premium on a motorcycle with lousy performance?

They are priced at a level which their clientele is predicted to pay. The cost is not based on building the best bike ever, it is based on making the bike their customers can afford while still making sufficient profit to keep shareholders happy.

This is basic business. If they price them too high then their customers (although they have a hard core of loyal customers) will go elsewhere, but if they price them too low then the perceived value/worth of the bike goes down – if it does not carry some degree of exclusivity, consumers will be less likely to buy in. This has been proved in any number of consumer sectors and is viable for automotive products too.

They really do cost a lot to produce. They pay good wages, and they have a quality product, requiring good materials, and a clean assembly line. You have to figure in engineering, design, labor costs, tooling, sales, distribution, dealer profits... it adds up fast.

In the Philippines, I bought a decent bike new, from the dealer for about $1,000. It was made in China, and it was an OK bike for the money, but it certainly wasn't a good quality bike. It got me around.

priced about the same as their import counter parts though. So the imports are overpriced?

They are overpriced. You are paying a lot of money for that name on the gas tank.