posted October 21, 2003 08:15 PM
I'm gonna' puke I was dead tired tonight so I plop my ass down on the couch to take in what is left of Two Wheeled Tuesday. I manage to get past the goofy umbrella girl thing,Gregs dribble,etc.
Next thing I know Corbins Ride On came on so I figured I'd give it a try.
There was a piece on Hardleys 100th in Wisconsin. The dude is asking these guys what it is about the event that makes it so big.
"Harley man.....It's the ONLY bike there is."....They're American made." " You mean there's another bike out there other than Harley?" " Tradition man,...It's all about tradition."....and on and on. I need toilet.
:double flaming fingers: Frikkin' inbred stumpfuck hill scoggins...trend humping fashion lemmings....flag slathered shit tards.....tassle tossing wannabe badasses.
There might be a few decent ones in the bunch though.
posted October 21, 2003 09:56 PM
Edited By: ddpete3 on 21 Oct 2003 22:56
I would think Dino to be a harley rider if I saw him on the street and didn't know him....
I mean, he is from Oregon
posted October 22, 2003 01:43 AM
this is true. and now that we've said it, we'd better write our wills before dino gets here with his chain and bat slingin crew
posted October 22, 2003 02:16 AM
Dino, face facts. You love Harleys. You love chrome. You love 4" primary belts! (cause anything less is for pussys) You love $285 kick stands for your Harley. You love highway/crash bars shaped like the HD logo border.
Most of all, you love showing off your $25,000 penis extension to a buncha overweight 50yr olds.
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posted October 22, 2003 02:38 AM
American made on JAPANESE CNC machining centers. Wonder if most boat anchor riders know that?
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posted October 22, 2003 02:48 AM
lmao@ Dino.....dude...do you really think that highly of them?
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posted October 22, 2003 10:03 AM
...are ya' gonna shoot me if I come up to yer' house on my black V-Rod iffen' I hads one?...hey its black!...should account fer' sumpthin'!....what if its an XLCH ELOMENOP?....
____________ “We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
posted October 22, 2003 10:12 AM
It would blow their minds if they new how many of those parts are actually imported from the far east. "Assembled in America" would be slightly more accurate, though obviously a great deal of the components are made here as well.
posted October 22, 2003 04:36 PM
Most of those "Harley lovers" don't realize that lots of the higher tech parts come from Japan (like forks) etc and God forbid even China!!!!
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posted October 22, 2003 05:18 PM
KB, you hit it on the nail. It's not just the electronics, either. I was under the impression that some of the models' suspension and other components also are NOT "American Made". Least we forget who assisted in the design of the V-Rod motor (hint: it sure as Hell wasn't GM).
What really pisses me off is that it was the same kind of mentality the folks had when the boo'ed and threw things at a group of Gold Wing riders in a Veteran's Day parade. Those idiots (many who were likely Harley riders) felt it was insulting to let someone ride a "Japanese" bike in a parade for war veterans. If they were "real bikers" and had a clue about motorcycle knowledge and history, they would have known that there is really little difference between the Gold Wing and the H-D. After all, the Gold Wing is equally "American Made" as the Harley, seeing as the ONLY location the Gold Wing is assembled is in Marysville, Ohio. Try telling the folks that work at the Marysville plant that they are not "American" or they are "Un-American" for working for the Japanese and you'd likely get a bottle of Bud smashed on your head.
For some stupid reason, I've always looked at someone on two wheels as my "brother" or "sister". It doesn't matter if they were on a Harley, a Gold Wing or even a Yamaha Jog. Okay, that last one was kind of a stretch, but you get my point. What I find so strange is that if I was broke down on the side of the road, a RUB on his mid-life crisis machine would intentionally look the other way as he passed by me. On the other hand, a "true 1%'er" wearing club colors would actually stop and offer assistance. It wouldn't matter if that 1%'er was a vet or not, it doesn't change the fact that like myself, he understands the "brotherhood of the ride" and how one experiences it does not matter.
Another thing that really gets my goat is the attitude of advertising agency, Carmichael Lynch Advertising in Minneapolis. They might have helped quite a bit in increasing H-D brand awareness, but they are hardly the sole reason why the brand has become so popular. Of course, if you ever spoke with anyone from C-L or seen one of their presentations at an advertising convention or show, they would be the first to tell you how it was all due to their cutting edge and creative work. The do deserve a lot of credit, but not all of it. I have seen the agency's Harley Davidson presentation twice. Watching and listening to the arrogance of the agency representatives, combined with the mindless drooling of my fellow, yet motorcycle ignorant, advertising industry associates made me want to puke. Both times.
Back in '99, an advertising industry magazine, American Advertising, did an article on this ad agency and their "success" with H-D. It was quite obvious that the author did not have a clue about motorcycles or the industry and she was just repeating data from this agency's spokesperson and their press releases. I couldn't sit back and not respond to a blatant distortion of the facts when it came to H-D claimed market share at that time, so I fired off a letter to the magazine's editor. Here's part of that letter...
I have been riding motorcycles for over 25 years. I have had the pleasure to have owned numerous brands and participated various forms of motorcycle competitions, from road racing to enduros. I am also a member of the American Motorcyclist Association and several regional motorcycle organizations. Needless to say, I have a passion for motorcycling.
Having said this, it was with great interest, I read the article on the success of Harley Davidson's advertising campaigns. I'll be the first to agree that H-D's salvation is due, mostly, to the excellent marketing program. It is clearly an example of "how it should be done". For the majority of the article, Ms. Croot does a good job in recounting H-D's history. Several parts of it did have a tendency to sound more like a H-D press release than the results of a journalist's research.
Where the article takes a "nose dive" is in it vague statistics. On page 16, the article reads, "The company's market share had risen to 47 percent...". In her conclusion, she states that, "Harley, now owns 49% of the cycle market...". I'm sure that these "might" be applicable to the "cruiser" segment of the market, but not the TOTAL market. This "slight" omission of qualifying which part of the motorcycle market sales the percentage applied to, leads the reader to believe that one out of every two motorcycles sold, are Harleys.
I'm sure H-D wishes this was the case, but just a little research would indicate a different story. According to the Motorcycle Industry Council's 1998 Owners Survey, 19% were Harley's (Honda 37%, Yamaha 16%, Kawasaki 13%, Suzuki 10%, BMW 2% and other 3%). In the same survey, only 67% of the total number are actually "street bikes". The rest are dual-purpose or dirt bikes. Admittedly, these statistics are of current motorcycle ownership and not of current sales figures. Still, if half of all the motorcycles sold were Harleys, wouldn't their ownership numbers be higher that 19 percent? Especially considering the large number of "classic" H-D still out there?
The omission of what class of motorcycle H-D has a 49% share of, thus implying that it is in ALL motorcycles sold, is deceptively reckless with the facts. With categories such as cruiser (I believe to be the largest selling class), touring, sportbike, dirt bike, dual-purpose and the various sub-classes, for someone to say, "...49% of the cycle market...", is a simply misleading. Some would even go as far as to say it was a "down right lie". I feel that a little clarity in the facts would have made the article more informative or at least believable. Instead, I feel like I just read a H-D sales brochure.
I do not believe that explaining H-D's growth in a "truthful" manner would in any way, diminish the success of the agency or H-D has experienced over the last few years. It's just that any motorcycle knowledgeable reader of Ms. Croot's article, realizing the falseness of her data, would have no choice but to not only question the credibility of the whole article, but that of the agency as well. I can't help but to believe that I should be able to expect more out of the AAF and their publication. Shouldn't I?
Forgive me if this comes off as a "rant". That's not my intent. I just feel I needed to dispute some of the implications, Ms. Croot's statistics give. If the American Advertising Federation claims to be an advertising organization that encourages truthful advertising and not the distorting of facts or creating false impressions through the omission of details, one would tend to think that the content of our organization's magazine would be one of the best examples of such goals.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my opinion with you and I enjoy reading the American Adverting magazine.
I did receive a reply from the editor and she did publish a "very condensed" version of my letter in the next issue's Letters to the Editor. It was nice that it was also the only letter in the section. Needless to say, it wasn't much and of course, it did not draw in other response or reply (can't dispute "facts"), but I felt that I had at least stuck a small spear in the side of this "Gulliver of motorcycles" and their like thinking ad agency.
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posted October 22, 2003 05:33 PM
dam Pastor.....got tired just reading that.....however, you bring up excelent facts.....and I would be very interested on reading the original article, adn the response that you wrote, adn her counter point to that......keep me posted....you have my interest piqued now.....
____________
When in doubt, lean farther and go faster....
Needs a life
Miles to go before I sleep....
Posts: 10623
posted October 22, 2003 06:00 PM
I was made in America...but all my internal parts are Asian...and I utilize external parts from all over the world...man, this global economy puts a twist in everything nowadays...
____________ “We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
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posted October 21, 2003 08:15 PM
posted October 21, 2003 08:20 PM
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