| Author | Message | ||
     Zhen13 |
Don't know how many people watched? I did found it entertaining and interesting. But I do wonder how much Harley paid Discovery for that three day advertisement. I bet it cost them a pretty penny. I must say that in my opinion the executives at Harley could've learned a lot by watching the show themselves. To me the theme that seemed to be reoccurring throughout the early years of Harley was cutting edge engineering and racing. Seems that the current motor co. has neglected to learn the lessons of the past. Releasing old technology (Rivera/Primo was selling four valve head in the 90s) And acting like its the latest greatest is sad IMHO. I was there in the 80s and 90s when there was 2-3 yr waiting list and they need dumpsters to haul the money away. I understand it's tough to be motivated to update your product when people are buying them like hot cakes in their current incarnation. Especially when there was no competition in the market at the time. But it didn't take long for the Japanese to catch on and want their portion of that market and start making Harley clones, that in most cases were faster better engineered and cheaper. Luckily for Harley most of the faithful would not be caught dead on one. But fast forward 10 more years. You have the revival of Indian and the creation of Victory. Again selling a faster better engineered and less expensive bikes. So coming to my point if the geniuses at Harley Davidson watched their own show they would realize they made a catastrophic miscalculation when they axed Buell the only part of the company that was doing cutting edge innovative engineering and would have had a damn good shot at having the fastest production motorcycle title ( Or at least be in the running). If they had kept Buell on and perhaps acquired a company like Zero electric motorcycles they might not be in the pitiful state they find themselves in currently. Again just my two cents. I could be completely off base. | ||
| Ebutch |
Great Movie !!!!!!! Rare for TV !!!!!!   | ||
| Damnut |
Watched the first episode last night and was definitely entertained. I'll watch part two tomorrow night since football starts tonight. | ||
| Airbozo |
Watched all 3 and thought it was done well. I asked in another forum how historically correct the show was. Some feel it was very close, but there were some questions about the Indian and HD lawsuits and the whole Ford issue. Someone suggested that HD missed the chance to make a killing off of "vintage" motor clothes. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
Times have changed. The masses are not concerned with speed. Most modern bikes go fast enough. Furthermore, no one goes to the motorcycle races in the U.S. I bet horse racing, which also suffers from lack of attendance, is more popular. | ||
| Aesquire |
H-D & Buell were always an uncomfortable fit, culturally. H-D has long had the problem that if they make anything that isn't another Road King, attitude wise, it just doesn't sell. They've tried, but the customer base just did not buy any of the couple of decent bikes they've made in the last couple of decades. Of course "decent bikes" is from a Buell Owner's perspective. In engineering terms, how have the sales of a H-D that can lean been? Pretty dismal. 2 personal anecdotes. First. When I first saw my Cyclone, it was a yellow, rearing wasp of a beast in a sea of black and chrome cookie cutter hogs. Seriously. The middle of the showroom was cheek to jowl hogs, all black. With one "sitting around too long" Cyclone in the middle. Reactor Yellow. I sat on it and the love affair began. looking back at it, lonely in the crowd of "same-same", just emphasized how out of place it was, and how much more I liked it than the herd. Second. One cold fall day I rolled into a BMW dealer, and started looking. It had been a while since I'd paid attention to beemers, and everything was new & edgy. ( read that as "wow!, that's ugly ) The salesmen watched as I squatted and peered intently at details of front suspensions, engine features, and tech tags, ignoring price tags completely. I then stated sitting on them, ignoring looks & features, looking for that happy fit. When I found it, naturally it was the most expensive, most high performance 4 cylinder monster in the showroom. The sales dude then came over.... Now understand BWM salesmen have training in CULTURE. They know to look at clothes and tell at a glance that you are not one of the unwashed masses, and worthy of attention. I'm wearing jeans, a Joe Rocket Meteor 2 jacket, and a "cheap" HJC helmet. OBVIOUSLY not BMW material. As the salesman starts hinting that perhaps one of the entry level bikes might be more to my liking.. ( and station in life ) I just pointed out the window at Buttercup, my Cyclone, and told him that's mine. It was like flipping a switch. He went from condescending to gear head in a split second. I'm sure others have had similar reactions. | ||
| Azxb9r |
I thought the series was very entertaining. It also explains why H-D are such a$$holes about patents. | ||
| Airbozo |
Aesquire; Had a similar situation when I bought my ATS. Sales guys ignored me even though I was looking at the mid range vehicles. When I asked for a test drive, I thought they were going to ask for a deposit. WHen the guy saw my helmet, he asked what I was riding and I showed him my S3T. Conversation changed in an instant and they offered 3 cars to test with an overnighter to convince the SO... If they only knew what I paid for it. Patents: Everyone knows that HD tried to patent the sound of their bikes. Did anyone know that they used an SGI Supercomputer to tune that sound and record each and every model to verify it matched? | ||
| Aesquire |
Yep. Never has so much work to keep the exhaust loud by quieting cams been done. Some cars ( bmw? ) have speakers on the firewall to sound cooler. Ford Escort RS . |
