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Bandm
| | Posted on Saturday, March 03, 2012 - 11:23 am: | 
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Prepare for bar hopping, learn how to ride drunk? I received this in an email last week.
Now Recruiting Future Riders
Motorcycle Boot Camp is basic training for anyone
ready to learn to ride. Bring a buddy, grab a cold one
and kick start some good times.
http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US/Content/Pages /learn-to-ride/boot-camp.html?locale=en_US&bmLocal e=en_US&version=desktop&source_cd=Email_022112_Feb NL_mn&camp_id=16 |
Court
| | Posted on Saturday, March 03, 2012 - 11:50 am: |
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>>>I ride a Harley, I'm 50+, overweight, wear a leather jacket, and............I don't have any tattoos (or metallic red hair)!
My point precisely.
You . . . buried in the rural hills of the Eastern U.S. . . likely know and understand the demographic better than the yuppie burdened marketing group who, these days, operate . . not in pursuit of excellence, but fear of keeping their jobs as HD points to eliminating 25% of the current management as a way to improvement.
This is good . . . I know someone who'd like to hire about 600 top engineers.
Creating jobs . . not this silly "preserving or protecting" is what drives a viable economy. |
Daves
| | Posted on Saturday, March 03, 2012 - 06:25 pm: |
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There are plenty of poser sportbike riders too. |
Britchri10
| | Posted on Saturday, March 03, 2012 - 07:26 pm: |
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Yuppies are so 1980"s.
(FWIW: I've never owned a Harley but I would ride one if I had one.)
These days, Harley riders are more likely to be, "LOMBARDS".
(LOL) (JKG)
Chris C |
Blake
| | Posted on Saturday, March 03, 2012 - 07:29 pm: |
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>>> I ride a Harley, I'm 50+, overweight, wear a leather jacket, and............I don't have any tattoos (or metallic red hair)!
>>> NOW what do I win??
A set of stick-on tattoos and a bottle of metallic red hair dye? |
Steeleagle
| | Posted on Saturday, March 03, 2012 - 07:46 pm: |
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quote:I ride a Harley, I'm 50+, overweight, wear a leather jacket, and............I don't have any tattoos (or metallic red hair)!
NOW what do I win??
Since I'm lacking hair in general, are there substitute prizes? ...and if I'm TRYING not to be overweight, would that make me ineligible?
"...grab a cold one"?? Hmmm! That does seem a like an odd prerequisite, eh? |
Fast1075
| | Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2012 - 07:02 am: |
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Daves said "There are plenty of poser sport bike riders too".
Amen. |
Court
| | Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2012 - 08:08 am: |
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. . . and in the Porsche Club as well.
Never get too hung up on the vehicle, hobby or undertaking. . . . it's the people.
Harley-Davidson has, for years, aspired to draw us into the fantasy that if we ride one we, de facto, assume certain traits.
I've owned many HDs, bought 9 in 1988 alone, and enjoyed each and every one of them as well as damn near every one of the folks I met during the time I spent doing some celebrity liaison gigs for Harley-Davidson.
They, by the way, did that very well and, as a result, we one of the most successful American companies in history.
At present their demographic has changed. Some of us, who at least had an inkling of who Marlon Brando was, who had heard of Hell's Angels and so forth were fertile ground for that "own one and you're a little edgy too".
Today . . . if you took 100 folks in the market for a motorcycle and asked them who Marlon Brando was or what a Hell's Angel is . . . they'd look at you like a puppy looking at an oscillating fan for the first time . . .clueless.
Essentially . . .the "marketing cheese" has moved. The keep trying to sell with a dated strategy. See how many soccer mom's you can find me with tats riding Harleys. . . .don't get me wrong, there are some. . . but it's not a marketing demographic.
DaveS excelled at this and has proven that once one understands the concept, it's mobile between products.
Marketing is a process of discovering, defining and fulfilling a perceived need. It's important that one know and understand the customer and what they want.
Some of you are new here and missed the days when I wrote long winded diatribes on Customer Service (I still have a library of hundreds of articles and probably about 100 books on various customer service systems).
One thing that a company must strive to do is to understand the difference, and often the major disconnect, between what the COMPANY perceives the customers needs and what the CUSTOMER perceives their needs to be.
DaveS, using an example, never sold Buells based on performance and, as a result, never lost a sale because someone could "prove" a Yamaha R1 was faster. Instead, DaveS sold convenience (fly n buy), attention to detail, camaraderie and off the charts follow up. He had (see has, I'd wager) the ability to see what appeals to the customer, to package it and to offer it.
I feel sorry for Harley-Davidson. Their current financial performance is good and improving but their corporate offices are full of folks who fail to "get it", 25 year old MBA's, commingled with the 40 somethings wrangling to keep their jobs as the company announces another 25% of management will be "phased out".
The instant challenge is going to be creating a customer service function for Erik Buell Racing. EBR has the same luxury they had with all the IP Harley retained the ownership of and rights to. I'm convinced that not being able to use the fabulous Barracuda wheel that was developed, yet not yet deployed, forced the folks at EBR to do even better when they developed the 1190RS wheels.
Similarly, times have changed and I'm betting EBR will reply a customer service function that will be unlike (not lust "better", but groundbreaking) anything the vehicle business has ever seen or experienced. With virtually every excuse (we tried to call and the number was busy) for not having great communication with customers, the stage is set for a system as innovative and performance oriented as the products themselves.
Court . . . . sometimes one who is kicked to the curb finds they've landed in the middle of the fast lane. |
Steeleagle
| | Posted on Sunday, March 04, 2012 - 11:54 am: |
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quote:One thing that a company must strive to do is to understand the difference, and often the major disconnect, between what the COMPANY perceives the customers needs and what the CUSTOMER perceives their needs to be.
I'm not sure if anybody has referred to it, but "Car Guys VS Beancounters" by Bob Lutz is a good read from a cager manufacturer point of view. Lutz brings up this precise issue throughout the book. Build what the customer wants and you sell product. Pat yourself on the back for engineering a great product using efficient manufacturing processes to minimize costs, but if the dog won't eat the dog food... |
Xb1125r
| | Posted on Monday, March 05, 2012 - 12:05 pm: |
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lets just say i would not touch a girl that has dated a HD guy, who knows what she got.
no if she rode a Buell, I know she likes a guy who does not like to be second to none.
most of those HD guys look like they just got out of jail! |
Mr_grumpy
| | Posted on Monday, March 05, 2012 - 12:36 pm: |
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most of those HD guys look like they just got out of jail!
Well, yes, that's the whole point!
You have a HARLEY so you MUST be hard, a real tough mofo.
It's the image, most of them wouldn't say boo to a goose.
I'd certainly date a girl that's been with a HD guy (discreetly & with boots on of course  ) just to "spoil" her for any more HD guys.  |
Xb1125r
| | Posted on Monday, March 05, 2012 - 02:00 pm: |
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I would not want to get crabs from a HD girl,lol
most of them are so fat the only bike they could fit their saggy fat ass in on a double wide HD.
now sportnike girls have to be lean or they get to walk their ass until they won't embarrase the bike.
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