Harley-Davidson reported a net income of $190.6 million over the second quarter of 2011, thanks to the first year-on-year quarterly improvement in the U.S. market in nearly five years.

For the three months ended June 26, 2011, Harley-Davidson’s operating income totaled $301.9 million, a 38.0% increase from the $218.8 million reported in the same period of 2010. The increase can be attributed to an 18.0% increase in motorcycle sales revenue and a decrease in expenses from Harley-Davidson Financial Services.

Worldwide retail sales of Harley-Davidson motorcycles totaled 83,396 units, a 5.6% increase from the second quarter of 2010. U.S. sales totaled 53,599 units, a 7.5% increase from the 49,841 units sold in 2010. This represents Harley-Davidson’s first year-over-year quarterly increase in the U.S. since the fourth quarter of 2006.

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Honda Motor Co. announced its forecasts for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012.

Left out of Honda’s previous fiscal report because of the uncertainty created by the March 11 earthquake, the 2011-2012 forecast predicts a 63% decrease in net income compared to the 2010-2011 results.

Honda forecasts a net income of 195.0 billion yen (US$2.4 billion) for the year ending March 31, 2012, compared to a net income of 534.0 billion yen (US$6.6 billion). Honda attributes the decline to an expected 6.0% drop in automobile sales as well as the cost of restoration and removal of damaged property and equipment.

Motorcycle sales however are expected to increase 10.5% to 12.6 million units compared to 11.4 million units from the previous fiscal year. Asia is again expected to contribute a large portion of the increase in sales but Honda is forecasting increased sales in all other regions including a 5% increase in unit sales for North America. Honda predicts sales to reach 195,000 in North America, compared to 185,000 in the year ended March 31, 2011 and 189,000 units the year before that.

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Honda Reports Q4 2010-2011 Results

[Source: Honda]

Takeo Fukui’s speech this week was a bit on the gloomy side as the company adjusted its profit forecast by 67% in the wrong direction. Slumping auto sales and a sagging U.S. dollar were the main factors for Honda’s third profit forecast cut this year.

But Honda’s take on the motorcycle industry was much more positive (at least, if you overlook the status of its American road racing team). Two-wheeled Hondas are picking up the slack from their four-wheeled cousins.

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