According to a press release dated May 18, 2005, the complaint charges Harley-Davidson, Inc. and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Harley-Davidson designs, manufactures, markets and finances the purchase of heavyweight motorcycles, as well as sales of motorcycle parts, accessories, apparel and general merchandise and is the parent company for the group of companies doing business as Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Buell Motorcycle Company and Harley-Davidson Financial Services.

The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants used false and misleading accounting measures designed to conceal its practice of stuffing of the distribution channels for the Company's motorcycle products. Defendants' scheme caused the price of Harley-Davidson stock to become and remain inflated, allowing defendants to sell nearly 740,000 shares of the stock at inflated prices for proceeds of approximately $45.9 million. On April 13, 2005, following the Company's shocking announcement of plans to reduce motorcycle production and product inventory levels, the Company's share price plummeted from its previous close of $58.77, for a two-day loss of $11.57, losing 19.6% of its value to close on April 14, 2005, at $47.20 on volume of over 51 million shares.

The complaint further alleges that during the Class Period, defendants knew and concealed that: (a) quarterly and annual motorcycle shipment numbers to dealerships stated by the Company were "padded," in that the quantity of motorcycles shipped often exceeded retail demand; (b) quarterly and annual product shipment numbers stated by the Company represented a false and misleading measure of accounting for motorcycle sales and the Company's future prospects; (c) annual shipment numbers significantly overstated the Company's progress and prospects when compared against the Company's 2007 retail sales goal; (d) motorcycle shipments to the Company's dealerships had actually exceeded retail demand by tens of thousands of units in 2003 and 2004; (e) Company claims of 16,000 retail sales in excess of wholesale shipments during the first half of 2004 would not correct the Company's inventory problems; and (f) the planned 20% increase in wholesale shipments for 2004 could only worsen the Company's inventory problems; (g) despite claims of a "gap" between supply and demand, requiring a further increase in 2005 inventory levels, continued stuffing of the Company's distribution channels had already caused them to become saturated; and (h) the profitability of Company's finance division could no longer be counted on to offset the financial impact of continued growth of excess retail inventories, owing to the steep rise in the Company's 1Q 2005 credit losses.

If you bought Harley-Davidson, Inc. securities between January 21, 2004 and April 14, 2005, inclusive, and would like to obtain information about the lawsuit, then you are invited to call (866) 467-1400 to speak with an attorney.