Bones
Your Humble Scribe
C'mon, Tom, don't go changing on us.I guess there's a point there somewhere ..........
HD Shutting down Buell
- Thread starter FJRHank
- Start date
TPadden
Tom Padden
...... and one to convince the light-bulb it has to want to changeC'mon, Tom, don't go changing on us.
.
Blrfl
Natural Rider Enhancement
Harley is doing what most companies in its position would do: they're trying to cut costs. Don't buy all of the babble about focusing on their core competencies or hemhorrhaging their synergies or whatever it is they do in their PowerPoint presentations. They're looking to prop up a sagging bottom line by not spending so much.
There's a problem with that strategy.
In a computer industry magazine, in 1999 of all times, columnist Bob Lewis hit the nail on the head when he described business as being like a hot air balloon. You can keep it up by making hot air or throwing out ballast. Cutting costs is like throwing out ballast, and if you keep at it long enough, you're eventually going to run out of it.
Harley needs a way to make hot air, and trying to milk more sales out of an aging customer base who's still shell-shocked from having just seen their retirements shrink considerably isn't going to help.
--Mark
OP
OP
FJRHank
"Scooter Pimp"
After reading that, other comments here, my take on it, decided to buy some puts that expire in about 1.25 years. Yes quite a ways out... about 5 quarters of earnings reports...
The article did miss one point though re India and China. While they may be shorter people, it's Harleys (cruisers) that shorter people prefer to ride re the lower seat height.
But will the Harley mystique live in these countries? or will technology (newer cruisers) win out?
Well one good thing about options is your down side is limited
I had to read all the posts before I put my opinion into this. As I recall, a number of years back when Buell was on its own, H-D bought them out of a financial mess that was going to take the company down anyway. H-D wanted a way to build sportbikes that would appeal to the Harley crowd. It never happened. I doubt Mr. Buell would have been able to get the funds together to create a carve out or buyout of Buell, so the end has come.
I personally thought the technical advances introduced at Buell were pretty neat, but I never had the desire to buy one. I hoped the technological improvements would spur Honda to make new changes to their line of bikes.
I personally thought the technical advances introduced at Buell were pretty neat, but I never had the desire to buy one. I hoped the technological improvements would spur Honda to make new changes to their line of bikes.
TPadden
Tom Padden
Hank,The article did miss one point though re India and China. While they may be shorter people, it's Harleys (cruisers) that shorter people prefer to ride re the lower seat height.
Ever been to India or China? I have and 125 cc's are considered a real Godzilla (I know he and Mothra are Japanese
).Cruisers for the masses in emerging markets ...... not likely in our lifetime.
Bones
Your Humble Scribe
I was thinking about the Buell ad with the crushed Blast. Seems like H-D has done the same thing to Erik & Company. I doubt Gen X and Y and the Millennials will trade their love of technology for the retro-tech of their grandparents' eras. Not much to be happy about in H-D land.
Re: Buell is dead...
"If only gas were $4.00 again huh?" You're kidding, right? Look I feel bad that this is happening-(personally, I could never ever have afforded an MV Augusta and they never should have purchased the company), but the last thing I want is 4 bucks a gallon...!!!
In 70 years they'll have a smokey cruiser day, like tall ships day...
Dad, whats that on the ground?
It's oil.
Why does it leak oil and smoke like that?
Well son... You see... then... ahhhh Its nostalgic!
Clipper ships had their place too.
I think I saw something on the new VFR site about mass-centralization. That's something that Erik has been preaching for a long time (underslung exhaust, fuel-in-frame, ZTL brakes, etc). I think a lot of manufacturers are realizing the benefits of his ideas and implementations. Just take a look at the location of the muffler on the Kawi ER-6n and Versys.
Throttlejockey
Padden is my hero
I was reading in another forum where a guy just bought a new 09 1125 CR for $5400 otd.
That's cheap!
That's cheap!
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Just picked this up from my Chicago friends (one of the guys over there is a moto-journalist):
Yamaha is expressing interest in buying Buell.
October 16, 2009
AP
Iwata, Japan
In a statement released by Yamaha Motor Corporation, Hirofumi Osawa,
President of Yamaha Corporation of America, stated that the company is
looking into acquiring recently defunct Buell Motorcycles. “We are
interested in the spirit of innovation that Buell has used as a
foundation in their business. We feel their values align well with
Yamaha’s culture”, stated Mr. Osawa.
According to Yamaha, discussions of a purchase are in the exploratory
stage. Harley-Davidson Corp, owner of Buell since 2003, could not be
reached for comment.
Yamaha is expressing interest in buying Buell.
October 16, 2009
AP
Iwata, Japan
In a statement released by Yamaha Motor Corporation, Hirofumi Osawa,
President of Yamaha Corporation of America, stated that the company is
looking into acquiring recently defunct Buell Motorcycles. “We are
interested in the spirit of innovation that Buell has used as a
foundation in their business. We feel their values align well with
Yamaha’s culture”, stated Mr. Osawa.
According to Yamaha, discussions of a purchase are in the exploratory
stage. Harley-Davidson Corp, owner of Buell since 2003, could not be
reached for comment.
Blrfl
Natural Rider Enhancement
I agree, support network and focused on the right demographics.
TPadden
Tom Padden
and could be wishful thinking. A search finds no reference
.
STDaveNW
Dave
<~~~ Likes, appreciates, and needs the input of both Kempo, and Cabin Pete!!!
Bones
Your Humble Scribe
...and HD said that Buell was being shut down and not sold because its operations are too closely intertwined with HD.and could be wishful thinking. A search finds no reference
Well....if Yamaha sticks Buell with Star Motorcycles, you might see the same we-only-sell-the-cruisers-here attitude that prevailed at the H-D dealers. Plus I just don't see H-D selling Buell to a competitor unless the offer is too good to pass up. It might make more sense for Yamaha to simply offer Erik a job..
Rob Hephner
Mobile Pest Control
Re: Buell is dead...
The overall amount of time and money simply makes no sense and by this point in evolution Buell should represent more on its own than T-Shirt sales.
You need to look at the loss for the last quarter and the fact that Buell and MV combined were less than 1/3 of general merchandise sales (That would be T-shirts and other wearables.)
The overall amount of time and money simply makes no sense and by this point in evolution Buell should represent more on its own than T-Shirt sales.
BTW, I call BS on this one. Google searching keeps coming back to to a guy by the name Boo (from New Hampshire) on the FZ10A website. I don't think Yamaha would announce something like this (for business reasons) and if it were AP, it would be all over the web.