| Author |
Message |
    
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 - 12:00 pm: | 
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HD's steadfast refusal to embrace the idea that not everybody WANTS an 800 lb tractor is ensuring their own demise. While they may have set the "gold standard" back in 1948, that was then, this is now. If your core business is, say...beer bottle openers, when technology invents twist-off caps, you have to understand that while you may still produce "legacy products" (for those high-end craft beers that don't use twisties) you also need to change with the times. Buell could have helped save them had the development moved forward. It still could, if they choose, since they still own the rights to the Buell brand and equipment. They remind me of an old man shoveling 3 feet of snow in his driveway while steadfastly refusing to give in to the newfangled technology of snowblowers...as his neighbors quickly blast out and go about their business he shovels and shovels right up to the fatal heart attack that kills him.
HD needs to get their head out of their collective hiney or it's all over. |
Mnscrounger
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 - 06:47 pm: |
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"Its all over".
I agree, I think for the current entity they are riding toward a dead end. They are definitely trying to introduce new younger products that don't weigh 800 lbs, as you put it. Taking on production of new products might buy them time, but the cost to produce them will also add to the debt load they're carrying when the wheels do fall off.
I'm referring to the "after the bankruptcy sale", when the production tooling and facilities have been sold off, the creditors get pennies on the dollar, (and unfortunately thousands of honest hardworking employees are given layoff notices). What is the brand image, IP, trademark and patents still retained worth. If new owners followed LAP's model (and Triumph in the 80s and 90s) and built to order bespoke 800 lb road sofas out of the bins,updating as you need to to stay current, there is probably enough demand remaining to float tooling and production for a small volume of something else. If the new owners weren't servicing 20 years of bad management debt, they might be able to regrow in new rider markets with the products they will need to be competitive.
to CVCs comment: Buell products are amazing, (the best kept secret in motorcycles), and if updated to current standards, and sold as HD designs, they might find new enthusiasts. But as a revived Buell product, I don't think it would be as successful. I think if the brand had the recognition and value we think it should, we wouldn't be lamenting the low resale values today. It sad, but on the bright side it's also why we can buy such great bikes for such great prices. |
Blake
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 - 12:27 am: |
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Nothing short of a limited edition classic is going to have resale value once the brand has gone away.
Another twenty years, maybe a pristine S1 will fetch $10-$20K, but not now. |
Captainkirk
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 - 11:58 am: |
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"Might not be a rider,but he's at least got some financial skin in the game...
https://www.barrons.com/articles/harley-davidson-s tock-has-plunged-ceo-jochen-zeitz-made-a-huge-buy- 51589454056"
The Achille's Heel of most dictators and CEOs is the innate ability to be blinded to the truth of reality based their own perceived invincibility. Buying stock at an industry low because you have faith in your own abilities doesn't guarantee anything. We've seen this played out over and over at HD over the years, dating back to the AMF buyout. |
Shoggin
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 - 01:42 pm: |
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Heres another take on it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOwxxsPaogY |
Crusty
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 10, 2020 - 09:06 am: |
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I watched a few minutes of this and I lived through the 50s, 60s and 70s. This guy is full of shit. |
Zane
| | Posted on Thursday, September 24, 2020 - 09:02 pm: |
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I think that guy is like a teenage girl. He talks a lot but doesn't actually say much.
I do want to know where he is through. The landscapes behind him are amazing... |
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