Harley-Davidson continued its ride of restructuring and cost-savings on several fronts over the past week.

With the plant in York Pennsylvania already under scrutiny in a study commissioned by the Milwaukee motorcycle manufacturer earlier this year, employees were told of outsourcing plans on Wednesday.

Harley-Davidson told employees it plans to outsource "noncore" job functions to suppliers, including some subassembly, chrome-plating and stamping of parts, keeping vehicle assembly, metal fabrication and painting at the plant.

The news left union workers and local politicians upset.
 
A 'frustrated and upset' Senator Paul Casey told local television stations, "I would hope that in the continual efforts by Harley-Davidson, working with the union and working with others as well, I would hope they would keep their core operations in York County."

Local Union leader Tom Santone, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 98 estimated 400 jobs would be lost from the outsourcing. Harley-Davidson spokesperson Pat Sweeney disagreed saying there were "too many variables" to determine how many jobs would no longer be needed in York. 
 
At the southern end of the country, Harley-Davidson announced it would close its test facility at the Talladega Airport in Naples Florida, eliminating about 100 jobs there. The testing facilities in Florida as well as those in Mesa Arizona will be consolidated to its to the Arizona Proving Grounds in Yucca, Arizona.

Harley-Davidson bought the 531-acre test track, formerly a Ford Motor Co. testing facility, for $6.5 million in 2002, according to Florida county land records. The facility performs several kinds of vehicle testing, including emissions, brake, sound, durability and automated vehicle tests.

Harley-Davidson is expected to decide in December whether to keep the York plant open or move it to Shelbyville, Indiana, Shelbyville, Kentucky, or Murfreesboro, Tennessee.