From: jeq@i88.isc.com (Jonathan E. Quist)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: Harley Outperforms ZX11, Film at Eleven
Date: 13 Oct 92 19:42:07 GMT
Article-I.D.: i88.1992Oct13.194207.27456
Organization: INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation, Naperville, IL

In article <1992Oct13.175717.20459@ichips.intel.com> mfisch@ichips.intel.com writes:
>In article <1992Oct13.170754.10451@news.yale.edu>, rescorla@rtnmr.chem.yale.edu (Eric Rescorla) writes:
>|> In article <1992Oct13.164044.17963@ichips.intel.com> mfisch@ichips.intel.com writes:
>|> >In article <1992Oct13.152140.8162@news.yale.edu>, rescorla@rtnmr.chem.yale.edu (Eric Rescorla) writes:
>|> >|> "Harley loses a lot of customers by not building sport bikes."
>|> >|> Seeing as Harley basically sells it's entire production NOW, how is
>|> >|> it going to sell more bikes by building sport bikes?
>|> >  Increase capacity ??  Make even more money ???  Nah....too simple.
>|> The fact that they are selling their entire production WITHOUT
>|> making sportbikes suggests that if they wanted to make more money,
>|> the obvious route would be to make more of the bikes that they
>|> are currently making, rather than trying to develop a new machine
>|> in a market with which they have little experience.

>  Yeah...that's the answer I expected.  Your point is well taken, but I'm sick
>and tired of people telling me to "buy American", when so many American companies
>are unwilling to take risks and explore new technological frontiers when it
>comes to new consumer products (contrary to fighter planes, for example).

If, in fact, military spending is going to decrease (something about the
Cold Ware being over), maybe you could persuade Lockheed to channel some
development funds into producing a sportbike.  I imagine they'd be able
to trot out some pretty impressive technology, if they cared to.
(Yeah, and the shop manual would say "we could tell you how to adjust
 the ignition timing, but then we would have to kill you"...)

>  Yeah Yeah, I know...some people don't CARE about whether or not their bike,
>etc... is the fastest, best handling, etc... So please save your flames...

Best handling?  For what purpose?  For my purposes, a high powered,
twitchy sport bike is the _worst_ machine I could possibly get.
Just because HD doesn't sell a product that meets your desires is
no reason to get your panties in a bunch.

>  Sure, I agree that Harley SHOULD increase their capcity for the product that
>they make now.  They could make more money this way, but sooner or later, 
>if they keep incresing, they are going to saturate the market.  But they're
>NEVER going to get the people who buy performance bikes.  The Japs will continue
>to open up a technological gap there.

Why should they want that market?

>  All that I'm saying is that they will never make as much money as they could
>(long term) overall if they don't expand their product line.  This would
>be a very risky proposition for Harley, but then again, American companies are
>too concerned with short term profits and are not willing to take risks.  I
>dont think that Harley could compete with the Japanese in the performance market
>overnight, but over time could break into and overtake the market (they did it
>with cruisers, didn't they) ??

Say WHAT?  Read that again!

>but over time could break into and overtake the market (they did it
>with cruisers, didn't they) ??

Uh, right.  So you're saying that Harley is a recent upstart, and
only captured the heavy cruiser market after a long battle to overtake
the Japanese cruiser market.  Phhhhttt!

The last I heard it, it was an eye on short-term profits that nearly
killed HD, and a conservative view of long-term viability that put them
back where they are today.  That, and a fanatically loyal customer base.


-- 
Jonathan E. Quist                              INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation
jeq@i88.isc.com  '71 CL450-K4 "Gleep", DoD #094        Naperville, IL
        There are many things a person should experience in a lifetime.
       Among them are an infant's first cry, and an infant's first laugh.
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles