| Author | Message | ||
     Mountainstorm |
Here's what I did when I ran across some T-shirts on eBay with the new Shield Pegasus Buell logo. I contacted the vendor and asked if the shirts were licensed merchandise. They replied "Read the Ad. They are Custom T Shirts." So I replied that I would link their eBay auction to HD/Buell and see what they thought about their Custom T Shirts. And I did. My email to HD: Nothing pisses me off more than these damn Asian manufacturers making money off Harley and Buell with their rip off merchandise. Please light them up for me. http://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/e11051.m43.l1123/7?e uid=6982126982211168575&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay. com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D23049 6868479%26ssPageName%3DADME%3AX%3ARTQ%3AUS%3A1123 These guys just started on eBay so contact eBay and get them banned please. RWK, Buell Owner. I just got a response from HD's Manager of Global Brand Protection: Dear Mr. K: Your recent message regarding the sale of counterfeit Buell T-shirts on eBay has been forwarded to me for action. Consider them lit  It feels good man | ||
| Froggy |
I gave up on reporting it, they come back just as fast as they are taken down. | ||
| Mountainstorm |
First taste of action for me Sarge. All I can say is I was feeling a little pissed off and now I'm not. Maybe I'll get pissed off again later...I'll report back  | ||
| No_rice |
i just wish there WAS a legit shirt like that... i spend alot of time hunting buell clothes anymore. once im out of them i have no idea what id wear anymore! lol. thats been my main grouping of shirts that mostly all else i have is dress stuff. | ||
| Rockstarblast1 |
Honestly if harley is losing money I could care less they sell enough shirts to other people they will be just fine. And there not making any new buell ones! As for ebr I don't know if they have any or not, if they do ok then id be a little mad. If not its w/e | ||
| Jdugger |
Some of it is cultural. I'll never forget something I saw at a professional audio show a few years back. In a booth on microphone row, there was what was *clearly* a Chinese knock-off of a very expensive, and very prized American made microphone with a stellar reputation. Externally, literally every detail was identical, down to the badging and shape of the windscreen. Of course, inside the mic it was a total POS, but it LOOKED like the real thing. The owner of the American mic firm walked down to the Chinese guys and demanded they quit infringing on his trademarks. To that, the Chinese designer with much excitement meeting his American idol replies "Ah, Yes, I copy you! I copy you!" Stealing intellectual property in China is a complement, not a crime. They put no value in it culturally, and that's going to take a few generations to remedy. | ||
| Mountainstorm |
It was petty...but satisfying. I'm not a Harley owner or anything. I do have some chaps...long story. And it's not so much about saving HD a buck. If you'd read the text of the auction ad you'd want to bitch slap the lil pricks yourself. The tone of the whole ad was slightly condescending and defensive like they'd had plenty of unhappy customers but knew it wasn't anything they were doing wrong...make sense? | ||
| Hogzilla |
These sellers are like "Whack-a-mole." You're sure to see more after they are gone. | ||
| Cocobueller |
The Destination Daytona outlet store behind the dealership has a few Buell shirts cheap. Just bought the Mechanic logo shirt for $49.00 down from $79.00, about 3 weeks ago and they had quite a few in different colors and styles. | ||
| Court |
The Trademark Enforcement guy is a fellow Elf and a great guy . . keep sending the stuff. We can't stop them from making it . . was can make it a pain to sell. | ||
| Wbrisett |
Stealing intellectual property in China is a complement, not a crime. They put no value in it culturally, and that's going to take a few generations to remedy. One of our biggest customers in the far east (China), is also the company we worry about because they steal a lot of IP from us as well. We've black boxed a lot of IP because it and simply won't let them in on how we do certain things. Instead we give them hard set rules on how they have to get our chip working. As you say, it's cultural. | ||
| 2008xb12scg |
I've seen a few things, got excited, then found out it was knowck off crap..sucks. Good job getting it pulled, yeah they go back up but if we make it harder for them at least that's something | ||
| Stirz007 |
RWK: Ad has been removed, so you have made some impact - but like Hogzilla sez, they will just pop up somewhere else - too bad that there truly is no justice for some leeches... | ||
| Nightripper |
The actual truth is that most of the parts offered in the 2 biggest dealer aftermarket catalogs are all come from either tawain or china. Very few items are made in the USA or Europe anymore. So when you say buy american its almost impossible. What alot of USA companies do is to have their products sourced thru tawain or chinese manufacturers and then claim there items are top quality and made in the USA. Often the chinese or tawain made items you see sold online are often made by the same manufactures in china or tawain that produce them for the big name USA suppliers. USA suppliers simply buy in tawain or china, and have the items packaged with there name on them and then act like are the actual manufactures of them, when they really arn't Also I really wonder where actual harley or buell T shirts are made. Anyone know ? | ||
| Stirz007 |
I took a look - I've got a couple of H-D tees I bought from dealer in Saudi Arabia - they are Hanes Beefy Tees (US made). The Buell shop shirts bought here in the US of A are all Chinese (4 different shirts). Ouch!! | ||
| Court |
>>>>they are Hanes Beefy Tees (US made) What makes you think Hanes is Made in the USA? That would be news to Hanes. You'll note on their consumer website not one word about the source. On their wholesale website all they say is:
The Hanes Beefy-TŪ is made by Hanes Printables, a separate division of Hanes Knitwear which is a division of Sara Lee. Nice history HERE | ||
| Stirz007 |
Cuz it sez "made in the USA" right there on the label, just like those fresh biscuits. | ||
| Court |
Hehehehe . . yes, Hanes discusses the "Relabelers" on their website. I agree they may SAY "Made in USA". I'd wager they are not. The cotton is likely grown in Texas. | ||
| Stirz007 |
I do have a skippy H-D leather jacket (that has saved my hide a couple of times) made in Pakistan. Is that good? | ||
| Court |
Hey . . . if it saved your ass . . .who cares where it's from? I have an old, circa 1987, HD leather jacket . . I'm gonna have to look to see where it was made. | ||
| Stirz007 |
They've been outsourcing "American Iron", (leathers anyway) for at least 20 years because my jacket is a tad older than that. | ||
| Thefleshrocket |
I don't know if I really have a problem with the knockoffs. My CBR has Chinese Repsol replica plastics on it. They're definitely not oem quality but at $500 shipped, they're a lot less expensive too. My wife has several $50 purses that are knockoffs of designer purses which cost 10x as much if not more. In her case, I'm all for the knockoffs because I think charging $500 or more for a purse is just plain offensive. Regarding the Buell apparel, is Buell still selling the stuff? If so and the prices are reasonable, then the Chinese ought to take a hike. But if Buell doesn't have genuine apparel available or is charging "too much" for it (I consider $20 to be reasonable for a basic logoed t shirt and $30 to be tolerable but a bit pricy, and much more than that I would consider overpriced), then the Chinese would be filling an available market niche, despite their counterfeiting. Does that make the counterfeiting okay? I suppose not but if the market wasnt there in the first place, for whatever reason, then there would be little incentive to do it in the first place. | ||
| Stirz007 |
O Fleshy one "Buell" as owned by H-D may still be selling leftover shirts and whatnot, but I don't think they have continued that clothing line. I'm sure to be corrected if this isn't true. The Buell shirts I mention above are shop shirts through various H-D dealers. EB Racing is selling their own shirts - new stock. Don't know where they are made. For a long time, H-D tee shirts went for about $35 (profit leader) at any H-D shop worldwide. I was able to pick up shirts at overseas dealers at exactly the same price as here in the U.S. Matter of fact, the cost of a XB12S in Dammam Saudi Arabia was exactly the same as it was here in UT. I thought it was both kinda cool and kinda weird at the same time that I could buy a bike anywhere in the world for the same price***. I would have thought that the differences in shipping, tariffs, etc., would make the price vary. *** before you flame me, NO, I did NOT check every dealership in the world, but over the years, work has taken me to many places and I don't remember seeing price variations. I'm not much on souvenirs, but I try to get "local" motorcycle or 'speed shop' shirts if I can. |
