| Author | Message | ||
     Buelliedan |
I am witholding judgement until this is all over. That article seems to be a lot of guessing and info they got from anonymous sources which I just do not trust. I have some of my "sources" that have said exactly the opposite of that article so I have no idea who to believe. | ||
| Milar |
If Erik can figure a way to hang on to his hybrid motorcycle patent I could see him raising capital to develop a line of hybrid bikes. The money could come from a venture capital firm (like Brammo) or from HD. (A real Electra Glide) Mike | ||
| Henshao |
Dan, By your sources, what is the opposite of Villain Motocorp not supplying the funds that were promised? EBR spending said funds on cocaine and hookers? | ||
| Slaughter |
Let's NOT talk about crowdfunding. Even with NO salary costs and NO moto part cost, everything else to run ONE WSBK race would be $200K for even a free labor and "sleep in a tent" effort. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Hoot, Not disagreeing but amplifying. I would say that if Erik felt that there was a high probability of failure, near certain, he would be unlikely to invest everything he had in a doomed endeavor. We're on the same page. | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
It's very interesting that people are already calling Hero products junk, when they were praised so heavily on here SO recently. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Steve- I'll definitely defer to you on the cost for a WSBK race. Like I said, it was a wild ass thought. My SWAG Was only off by a factor of 10. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Not bagging Hero products. Just the unscrupulous behavior of third world savages. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Just 1 wildcard WSBK race weekend in Laguna for EBR ...... That is on the 19th of July , plenty of time for Pegram to make it happen ... | ||
| Budgolf |
Who praised their products? Who has even seen one let alone put enough miles on one to form an opinion? All I ever heard was praise for their investment in EBR. And as someone who has spent some time in SE Asia, if what they were going to import here was anything like what they sell there...well I'd compare it to the little 500 dollar scooters you see all the guys in the states with dui's driving. Complete crap | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
Ok, let me rephrase - people were all about getting one and now its 'junk' http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/253 912/731234.html?1391981880 http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/406 2/731296.html two quick threads were many were wanting the Hastur to arrive, how great it looked, how they wanted it etc | ||
| Sifo |
My SWAG Was only off by a factor of 10. Close enough for government work!  No, really... It is! | ||
| Budgolf |
I hadn't seen them and well...I guess people like what they like. And when I look at those bikes, all I see is a product that was developed for them by someone else. Someone who had no idea he was being screwed. Their support of EBR was all that mattered to me, and now that the support is gone, Hero sucks. But hell, what else were they going to do? Not like they could build it themselves. | ||
| Midknyte |
>...Hastur... Yup. I wanted to have a chance at one of those. Got Buell stink all over it. If it comes out Hero badged, no more... | ||
| Froggy |
Personally I was really looking forward to the Leap hybrid scooter, figured it would be a sweet cheap to run commuter, but that is not likely to happen anymore. | ||
| Steveford |
I called the Indian tiddlers junk and I never talked about getting one simply because I never would. Even if the EBR/Hero thing worked out as originally planned a Hero would never wind up in my garage. I could see another Triumph or two... | ||
| Hughlysses |
The flip side of this is that I'd guess EBR has the complete designs for everything they've done for Hero, and if they haven't been paid, they have absolutely no obligation not to use those files to build motorcycles. | ||
| Reepicheep |
If by "rephrase" you mean "completely change the meaning", then OK, rephrase. The Hastur and the RNT are both bikes I would take a hard look at if I could get one in the states. Part of that "hard look" would be build quality, perforance of the overall package, company support, and if there was one available reasonably locally. Of those things, "company support" appears to have gone from an unknown, to such a liability that the other factors could be perfect and it still wouldn't be good enough. As facts come out my opinion could change, but for the moment, thats where I am at. I don't see any hypocrisy or inconsistency in any of that. Perhaps there was a bit of naivete regarding Hero, but we didn't have an hate to start by assuming the worst. Unless you are a bigoted and bitter little person. Then by all means assume anyone that isn't white and isn't you is terrible. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Interesting, the German bicycle company that accused Hero of screwing them over was rescued by a local businessman: http://newsblog.ispo.com/2014/12/15/local-business man-is-mifas-new-owner/ | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
You think Im white? Interesting... | ||
| Pwnzor |
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| Strokizator |
Don't know about Hero but I'm considering a KTM 390 Duke. 100% made in India, comes with ABS and lists for $4999.00. | ||
| Buelliedan |
Like I said I have heard plenty of blame on both sides to go around as to what caused this downfall. It is never as black and white as that article is claiming IMO. (Message edited by buelliedan on May 01, 2015) | ||
| Henshao |
The actual company that owes Erik Buell Racing 20 million is a 1 man corporation living in a mansion in Maryland, the PERFECT vehicle for a foreign investor to renege on a contract. Erik Buell says, "we thought we had the funding in place," implying that this is not a funding issue concerning the number of sold motorcycles. Villain, er, Hero Motocorp's stock prices are in freefall. There are other corporations claiming to have been ripped off by this company, and this particular Indian firm wouldn't be the first that was a less-than-stellar international business partner. So, I don't doubt things are not black and white, but an extremely dark gray on one side and perhaps a sort of off-eggshell on the other. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Villain, er, Hero Motocorp's stock prices are in freefall. It's interesting to me, when you google "Hero Motocorp", 90% of the hits you get are related to the price of their stock, should you invest in them, etc. Apparently the stock market in India is at least as big a deal as it is here. Hero's 2014-2015 results are due shortly; that should be VERY interesting reading. In a related note "Hero Motocorp Sales Decline 7% in April": http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/auto/news/two-wheelers/motorcycles/hero-motocorp-sales-decline-7-in-april/articleshow/47124100.cms (Message edited by Hughlysses on May 01, 2015) | ||
| Figorvonbuellingham |
I've been anti hero from the beginning, but I guess it was EBRs only alternative. I've said from the beginning that no Indian made bike would ever sit in my garage. I've watched the product made, by my employer, go from world class to junk in about 8 years. It all began when the company started hiring Indian engineers at cut rate wages. The quality progressively declined as these engineers cut the bulk of the steel from our product until they break in the field in a matter of months as opposed to decades like our pre Indian engineered product. The Hastur is so indicative of Indian engineering, just one look and you can see its merely a cheap under built motorcycle. If you cant see that then you dont have an eye to quality. Sure it has similar lines to a EBR type bike but thats all it is....a similarity. Its a disposable bike. I bet if you had an issue and took it in for warranty work they probably would just give you a whole bike exchange rather then waste money trying to fix junk. (Message edited by figorvonbuellingham on May 01, 2015) | ||
| Steveford |
I was wondering when someone would mention replacement bikes. The 10 gazillion bikes a year they're selling aren't necessarily going to 10 gazillion eager new riders; I think it's more like replacing an awful lot of cheap bikes which have croaked and then get junked by the owners because it just makes more sense to buy another one than sink money into the wretched old pile. | ||
| Ruprecht |
I've ridden Hero bikes in Thailand, and it's a very different sort of product for a very different market. They aren't "lifestyle" machines, recreational vehicles or hobbies. It's cheap transportation. Built to a price, with low cost of ownership and designed for very, very average road conditions. It's not that India isn't capable of quality production though. If you've checked out the entry level KTMs (390 Duke), like all entry level bikes it's obvious that they're built to a price, but they are still good machines despite the compromises (and you can always upgrade the suspension). Reading up on Hero's situation, it seems that fierce competition (from their old partner Honda as well as KTM/Bajaj), a tight market (poor rainfall in much of rural India apparently) and the delayed launch of their new lineup (first "independently engineered" models since the Honda split, and replacing a very dated lineup) has hurt them. Stock prices dropping all year. They also apparently sold a 3.5% of the company to finance buying a controlling interest in Pipavav (defence contractor). Diversifying like that might be a move to hedge their position of trying to enter the North American market, or it could be a complete change of strategy. Have to wait and see whether this was really all "part of the plan" I guess. | ||
| Henshao |
I'm not sure what very, very average road conditions means. | ||
| Ruprecht |
Lots of unsealed roads and corrugations/potholes/gaping chasms (or crumbling concrete with exposed rebar). Cheap, hard compound, dual sport tires and soft suspension. (Message edited by Ruprecht on May 02, 2015) |
