How to save Harley Davidison
in [Motorcycles]
|
Prev: Proper oil for cruisers
Next: 9-11 was an inside job.
From: Mark Olson on 14 Jul 2010 12:58 tomorrow(a)erols.com wrote: > On Jul 13, 11:26 pm, High Plains Thumper <h...(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: > >> Actually, I'd like to see Harley put the water cooled V-Rod engine into >> a cruiser. I know it would break the mould of oil cooled offerings at >> the loss of the potato - potato - potato sound. But I feel that it is >> inevitable that such should happen. Besides, the newer generation has a >> slightly different view of what type motorcycle turns them on. It will >> be appeasing that generation that will keep the H-D company in business >> and profitable. > > I think we'll see a liquid-cooled dohc 4v/cyl Harley V-twin touring > bike in the next year or three. Based on, or similar to the V-rod engine?
From: tomorrow on 14 Jul 2010 13:04 On Jul 14, 2:13 am, totallydeadmail...(a)yahoo.co.uk (The Older Gentleman) wrote: > High Plains Thumper <h...(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: > > > Actually, I'd like to see Harley put the water cooled V-Rod engine into > > a cruiser. I know it would break the mould of oil cooled offerings at > > the loss of the potato - potato - potato sound. But I feel that it is > > inevitable that such should happen. > > Agree 100%. > > I'd also like to see it in a more coherent touring bike than what they > make at the moment. Something with a decent chassis, more power > (obviously!), more ground clearance and the sort of sophistication that > would give BMW a few worries. > > They could do it - they just *choose* not to. Which is a bit odd. It only seems odd until you realize that they make far more money (per bike and overall) on their touring bikes sales in the U.S. (and, worldwide, but let's stick to the U.S. market, where Harley *HAS* to succeed before they even think about exports) than BMW does on theirs, and that if they took every single one of BMW's touring bike sales in the U.S. as a "conquest" with a newly developed BMW-like touring bike, they would only increase their own touring bike sales by about 5 percent, and doing so would cost them hundreds of millions of dollars of development costs. They choose not to because doing so makes no financial, marketing, or corporate sense whatsoever. Hell, I wish they would make all kinds if bikes that I would like, just as I wish Ducati would make an updated version of the Super Mono. But fulfilling my wishes and desires doesn't necessarily make financial sense to those companies, even though I'm probably more likely to buy their products than 99.99% of all consumers.
From: S'mee on 14 Jul 2010 13:04 On Jul 14, 10:55 am, "tomor...(a)erols.com" <tomorrowaterolsdot...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > On Jul 13, 11:26 pm, High Plains Thumper <h...(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: > > > Actually, I'd like to see Harley put the water cooled V-Rod engine into > > a cruiser. I know it would break the mould of oil cooled offerings at > > the loss of the potato - potato - potato sound. But I feel that it is > > inevitable that such should happen. Besides, the newer generation has a > > slightly different view of what type motorcycle turns them on. It will > > be appeasing that generation that will keep the H-D company in business > > and profitable. > > I think we'll see a liquid-cooled dohc 4v/cyl Harley V-twin touring > bike in the next year or three. care to put a six pack of beer on that? ;^)
From: tomorrow on 14 Jul 2010 13:18 On Jul 14, 6:25 am, "TOG(a)Toil" <totallydeadmail...(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > On 14 July, 03:49, "don (Calgary)" <hd.f...(a)telus.net> wrote: > > > So what's the solution? Slap import tariffs on everything Chinese? > > Add Mexico, India and several others to the list of areas where labour > > is cheaper than in the US. > > > Another question would be, what are you willing to pay to limit > > Chinese imports? If they are producing goods 30 to 40n points cheaper > > than can be done in the US, are you willing or able to pay the > > upcharge for a made in USA stamp. > > > This is a tough one Bryan. China has a built in advantage over the US > > and right now they are making good use of it. I'm not sure government > > intervention is the answer for this problem. There could be a very > > dark downside to it. > > Now this is right on the money. At last. > > You can deliberately buy home-produced goods wherever you go, but > experience shows people don't do that when an import is (a) cheaper > and (b) works better. > > Government intervention (tariffs, quotas, subsidies, banning imports > altogether) makes matters even worse, because all you're doing there > is propping up an existing uncompetitive industry and you *cannot* do > that indefinitely. Well, OK, they did it that way in Russia and the > Commie eastern European satellites for the thick end of 60 years, but > even they had to call it a day. > > And when your tottering industry finally has to compete properly - as, > one day, it will - it will be in an even worse state relative to the > opposition, which will have grown ever more efficient while your old > clunker didn't care what sort of products it made because, hey, > they've gotta buy them anyway... > > Challenge: name one, just one, old Communist industry that was > absolutely competitive with its equivalents in the West and Far East. > To an extent, I suppose you could name the armaments industry, or some > sectors of it. Damned if I can think of another. > > Protectionism and state interference helped kill off the UK motor > industry (Japanese car imports were limited by quota) and Lord knows > how many other examples you can draw. What state interference did to > our aircraft industry doesn't bear thinking about, either. > > It's a tough old world out there. Companies have to face it. And how do you say all that and yet ignore the Chinese government's intrusion, manipulation, and totalitarian control of their currency's exchange value, the flow of capital, the lack of adherence to international worker safety standards, industrial pollution standards, etc, etc.? There is a lot more than one form of trade interference, as you must be well aware.
From: tomorrow on 14 Jul 2010 13:19
On Jul 14, 7:03 am, "TOG(a)Toil" <totallydeadmail...(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > On 14 July, 11:31, sean_q_ <nos...(a)no.spam> wrote:> TOG(a)Toil wrote: > > > You can deliberately buy home-produced goods wherever you go > > > Not if the Made-in-China products are the only ones on the shelf -- > > or any shelf. > > Well, OK, yes, *obviously*. Makes no difference to the core theme, > though. If Chinese is the only product there is, ask yourself why. H'mmm. Could it be something OTHER than that the Chinese are better businessmen, better workers, and better human beings than western human beings? Nah..... |