Trouble at Mill

If he truely hated Harley, he would buy them!

I assume you are referring to the Harley management. Buying MV Agusta for $109 million and selling it back to the original owner a year later for $1. Closing down Buell. Brilliant moves! Few more moves like that and Harley will be defunct. Then they will blame labor for their woes. Sound familiar?
 
This is from GTA Motorcycle.com explaining why Harley sold MV shortly after acquiring it and closed down Buell: "Harley sold Buell and MV for a single simple reason. Fast motorcycles scare HD".
 
JimC said:
This is from GTA Motorcycle.com explaining why Harley sold MV shortly after acquiring it and closed down Buell: "Harley sold Buell and MV for a single simple reason. Fast motorcycles scare HD".
Jim are V Rod's 125 bhp slow? 135 in unfaired ,stock engine form ... some tuned bikes are 150mph!
 
That is cruel.
What really scared management was unsold bikes sitting around in showrooms.
And no money available to offer finance on them (a core part of their business strategy)....
 
Hardly-Ferguson = "yesterday's technology at tomorrow's price's and you get to pretend they are American-made".
And yes they are so slow that they make me mad, simply by the nature of the design they should be quick. My hat is off to the guy that Engineered the torque out of a 1340 cc V-twin, that was a good trick!

Vince
 
Jim are V Rod's 125 bhp slow? 135 in unfaired ,stock engine form ... some tuned bikes are 150mph

Considering that Harley lost money on every V-Rod sold, they probably were scared of the V-Rods too.
 
Hardly-Ferguson = "yesterday's technology at tomorrow's price's and you get to pretend they are American-made".

As opposed to our British made Norton pre-WWII technology? Just a wee bit of irony here.
 
If the Commando was $30,000.00 and was touted as the end all/be all of motorcycles THAT woud be ironic, but that is not the case!

Vince
 
Speaking of irony:

"Please buy American-made X-mas gifts this year!, EMPLOY AMERICANS!!

1973-1/2 BMW R75/5 (LWB)
1971 Norton Commando
1952 Triumph TRW
1936 BMW R2"
 
JimC said:
This is from GTA Motorcycle.com explaining why Harley sold MV shortly after acquiring it and closed down Buell: "Harley sold Buell and MV for a single simple reason. Fast motorcycles scare HD".

I believe that harley financed individuals knowing that they couldn't meet the repayments and when they defaulted Harley would then sell the repo'd bikes and still make money. However, nobody had the money to buy them and so they lost a heap of money in a very short time. Buell were running in profit with Erik selling truly unique motorcycles. The pulling of the carpet from beneath him was a simple "f@ck you" to Erik with love from harley davidson (lower case intentional). Buell was an extremely good buy for harley as Erik and his team did all the development work on the Sportster motors for free to the point where harley now have a Sportster which is not far from where Buell were 25 years ago. That's progress for you.
 
BrianK said:
Speaking of irony:

"Please buy American-made X-mas gifts this year!, EMPLOY AMERICANS!!

1973-1/2 BMW R75/5 (LWB)
1971 Norton Commando
1952 Triumph TRW
1936 BMW R2"

Apparently I am "irony-challenged", is your problem that I do not ride American-made motorcycles?, the only one I see is Motus and I don't think they are selling yet, Hardly-Fergusons are ASSEMBLED in PA. but they are NOT American-made! (and have not been for years now).

Vince
 
If the Commando was $30,000.00 and was touted as the end all/be all of motorcycles THAT woud be ironic, but that is not the case!

What's the price of a CNW Norton?
 
Fullauto said:
Buell were running in profit with Erik selling truly unique motorcycles. The pulling of the carpet from beneath him was a simple "f@ck you" to Erik with love from harley davidson (lower case intentional). Buell was an extremely good buy for harley as Erik and his team did all the development work on the Sportster motors for free to the point where harley now have a Sportster which is not far from where Buell were 25 years ago. That's progress for you.

I think you will find that Erik Buell had eventually sold his entire share in the business to HD, in several stages, and was only a consultant/figurehead at the end. The problem was that the bikes suddenly started sitting in showrooms, and HD saw the writing on the wall (ie big losses) and pulled the plug - no point making things that aren't selling.

Not the problem that Mr Garner is having though...
 
Rohan said:
The problem was that the bikes suddenly started sitting in showrooms, and HD saw the writing on the wall (ie big losses) and pulled the plug - no point making things that aren't selling.

Not the problem that Mr Garner is having though...

Nope, but selling things they aren't making is a big one.
 
Maybe we need to go and look in the carpark / bikepark out at Donington Park then - if its full of Ferraris and Lambos then you know where the story is at.

If its not, and they are struggling to keep going and supply bikes to customers, what does that say..

Very big difference...
 
Rohan said:
Fullauto said:
Buell were running in profit with Erik selling truly unique motorcycles. The pulling of the carpet from beneath him was a simple "f@ck you" to Erik with love from harley davidson (lower case intentional). Buell was an extremely good buy for harley as Erik and his team did all the development work on the Sportster motors for free to the point where harley now have a Sportster which is not far from where Buell were 25 years ago. That's progress for you.

I think you will find that Erik Buell had eventually sold his entire share in the business to HD, in several stages, and was only a consultant/figurehead at the end. The problem was that the bikes suddenly started sitting in showrooms, and HD saw the writing on the wall (ie big losses) and pulled the plug - no point making things that aren't selling.

I think you will find that you are wrong. Erik still owned 2 percent and ran the company. He was never a "figurehead". He was and still is a tireless worker and as for bikes sitting unsold in the showroom, I don't know where your local showroom is but Buells were still selling well and the company was still making a profit.
If what you say is true, why did harley not sell Buell instead of pulling the plug?
 
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