| Author | Message | ||
     Mog |
I have a dream of about 500 XB type Buells (& others) parked 6 feet apart on the front lawn of H-D for a week with bikes arriving and departing during the XBnice Rally. Politely admonishing H-D for not adding its type back into the stable. Nix the Bronx & add the XBs again. Anyone share the dream? Thumbs up? Date & time? No guts no Buells?  | ||
| Blake |
That would be epic. | ||
| Ceejay |
Think that management beat you to it, well at least the “nix the Bronx,” part... https://www.rideapart.com/articles/439666/harley-d avidson-bronx-possible-cancellation/ | ||
| Mog |
Blake & Ceejay Ceejay, I really want to see a picture(s) of the 1125r front fairing on your bike, please. Blake, I placed the same comment of XBnice Rally on MO magazine and some other site with a few complimentary replies. To me, the idea would make a great type of homecoming. I have doubts as to whether Erik would get anywhere near HD but that does not prevent a ground swell of folks that would suggest MOCO consider a true street bike to be produced the equivalent of an XB9 or 12, definitely not the Bronx. If this group could think about it as a positive demonstration of what young American & European riders (& old riders such as I) want built, maybe HD admin might see the profit. If it turns out big enough, some investor firms may take another look at EBR if HD waves the XB crowd away. Throw down the gauntlet. The idea is to end run the cloistered in house yes man marketing group. Unavoidably on their front lawn in plain view of the CEO and media! Maybe a visit to EBR also? Thoughts?  | ||
| Mnscrounger |
Even if they wanted to do that, I doubt they have the money to invest in another direction. They are bleeding out. The street bike you're talking about needs to sell for under 10K to get any serious market share. By HD standards, that's a pretty low margin if they could do it at all. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I wonder how expensive it would be to put a new XB into production? The chassis and running gear are 100% designed. The engine is designed, but might require updates to meet current emission regs. Hopefully the tooling still exists. I’d guess they’d also want to do a cosmetic refresh and they’d rebrand it as a “new” Harley model. The Elves could have probably had it ready for production in a month for a Tiny fraction of what HD spent on the Bronx. I doubt HD would be so efficient. | ||
| Mnscrounger |
We kind of did a personal appearance at last year, with a sizable group of Buells at the HD museum to commemorate the tenth anniversary of a stupid decision. It's not like we carried banners or threatened to burn anything, but we did make our presence known. We stayed polite because ultimately HD doesn't have to make any parts to support us if they don't want to. They haven't completely cut off support (yet). That said, My local dealer St Paul HD still sells parts, but no longer services the brand. | ||
| Ceejay |
I no longer have that bike, was set up for track days but life, as it tends to do, got in the way... | ||
| Thunderlust |
For so many years HD has sat on it's laurels for having survived so many financial crisis. They feel they know what is best for the brand. Sometimes I wonder if HD ever did want Buell to succeed. They paid pennies for Buell and always had Erik on a short rope. It's a travesty we lost a great American sport bike. Too bad HD viewed it as a bastard child. I hope Buell/EBR finds it's way back into production. Indian did it why not Buell. Owning a Buell is not like any other brand ownership. It feels as though the bike fuses with our DNA. I can't bring myself to sell any of my bikes. It would be like cutting off an arm or leg. | ||
| Needs_o2 |
Thunder, This may not be what you're hoping for but at least Erik sees the writing on the wall and can adapt and evolve.  With 553 lb ft of torque, it's probably a Blast to ride! I know there are a couple of guys on BadWeb that were able to give it a whirl in East Troy.  H-D was on the path to produce some varieties of e-bikes, but once again they decide to stay in the stone ages. Why is that they don't think they can make a variety of products, they used to be innovators, a long, long, long time ago. | ||
| Mnscrounger |
"Why is that they don't think they can make a variety of products, they used to be innovators, a long, long, long time ago." Are you referring to the AMF years? If so they bought a lot of companies, and tried to incorporate them all into the HD brand, but I have been told they supported all of them poorly. You can only disappoint even the most loyal customer so many times before they buy something else. when that happened AMF bankrupted and sold it, fortunately a group of investors and employees who put their heart and soul into rebuilding a brand. And with a little tariff restriction on foreign competition was able to rebuild Harley into what it was at the turn of the millennium. HD has done some really impressive engineering and design, not just the bikes but the rider interface, engine management, and safety features, but the desire to focus on the core product, means new and improved is still sold in the same box and wrapper. the motorcycle market ha moved on, while HD in its current form does have the technical expertise and manufacturing capacity to innovate and diversify. Unfortunately any new products brought to market costs money, and requires risk on the part of the investors. HD management is terrified of risk, their big paychecks are tied more to the stock price than annual profits, (trending sales performance figures for motorcycle sales explain why they might prefer that). I suspect the company will need to be bankrupted, restructured, or sold to new owners before risk taking is part of doing business for them again. | ||
| Shoggin |
"HD has done some really impressive engineering and design, not just the bikes but the rider interface, engine management, and safety features," Compared to their own products a decade ago, yes. Compared to any other late model motorcycle, no. I'm not knocking them for their impressive advances (finally) because HD is honestly building the best bikes they ever have but it's not even close when looking at other brands. HD will never need slide control nonsense, but their ABS gets cornering "C-ABS" in 2020?! Thats half a decade or more later than almost every other motorcycle. and this: https://www.classaction.org/blog/class-action-harl ey-davidson-sold-motorcycles-with-defective-anti-l ock-braking-systems-riders-have-no-warning-of-fail ure |
