From: thomasd@tps.COM (Thomas W. Day)
Subject: Re: DOES AMERICA SAY YES TO JAPAN? - Off track!!
Organization: TPS
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 15:57:51 GMT

In article <C0I2t0.3rp@world.std.com> cmr@world.std.com (Charles M Richmond) writes:
>>That's one of the ways.  The other way "American businesses got into 
>>trouble" was by ignoring all of the markets they didn't have the skills to 
>>participate in, like small cars.  I'm not saying that Harley should ignore 
>>their present business, but they are seriously trapped in a yuppie market 
>>that has limits.                                            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

>I had been staying out of this , but for someone who claims to be a rider to
>make this statement completely astounds me. Yes I am a rider, and yes I have
>owned/ridden some very quick sport bikes. Maybe my next bike will be a Harley.

Good point and good luck with your next bike.  My view opinion comes from 
the fact that the typical Harley costs, I think, about $18-20k.  I don't 
know of any non-yuppies who can afford that kind of machine.  Maybe you do.  
I'm not one of them.  $6k is streaching my limits and that will get me an 
850cc Yamaha TDM which out performs any 2 cylinder Harley makes and I can 
ride it places that you would need a crane to maneuver a Harley around.  

From a sales and marketing standpoint, I don't know how the $20k bike market 
can't be limited.  Not that many riders have $20 invested in a *collection* 
of bikes.  From an observers standpoint, look at the people riding *new* 
Harleys.  Do you see a lot of middle income, dedicated riders?  Do you find 
a lot of people who commute to work every day on their Harley?  I don't 
think so.

Also, all of my friends who ride Harley's (a small sample of 8) barely 
ride the bike.  They bought their Harley because they wanted one when they 
were kids.  Most of them own Japanese bikes too, and the Harley gets about 
1/10th of the miles of their "regular" bike, per year.  Try riding a Harley 
across the country and you will see why.  As an example, one of these 
friends bought his bike in Missouri last year and rode it home to San 
Clemency, CA.  His back is still recovering from the pounding it took on 
that trip.  His wife rode with him on his old Venture and she said he had to 
make recovery stops every 100 miles.  He rode *to* Missouri on the Venture 
with no problems and drove non-stop (except for fuel) to Omaha on that part 
of the trip.  He is still trying to get the bike back in road condition 
after the trip.  Look at the January issue of Motorcycle Consumer News (page 
33) for an example of why is is losing that fight.  Those "high tech drive 
belts" can be a nightmare.  You make the call.  I just can't consider than 
kind of limited vehicle a road bike and what else could a Harley be?  

I really got into this because I didn't think using Harley as a valid 
example of new-style American manufacturing success.  I think they are a 
relic.  In the '60s, I raced small Harleys (which were actually made in 
Italy).  They haven't been competitive on the track since then, except for 
the tracks where their bikes are the only ones allowed.  I've been a 
manufacturing engineer for 15 years and a motorcyclist for almost 30.  I 
have dreamed of a motorcycle being manufactured in America for most of my 
life.  I'd work damn cheap for a real motorcycle company, but I don't/can't 
consider Harley that.  Yes, I have considered Kawasaki in Nebraska, but 
that isn't really an American manufacturer, is it?  

Harley couldn't even manufacture a small, cost efficient bike in the '60s.  
They don't do it today because they can't, not because they don't want to.  
That is the same lame argument Detroit used for staying away from small, 
fuel efficient cars in the '60s and it was BS then and is today.  Harley is *
stuck* in the historic big bike market because they don't have the skills to 
do anything else.
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