| Author | Message | ||
     Andymnelson |
I'm not sure how I see myself lending a hand, but I have plenty of time on my hands these days. I have a business degree, lots of speaking/teaching/training experience, as well as sales. I also have lots of various compute experience, from photography to graphic design to web to office stuff (bookwork, data and word publishing). Put me to work however you see fit. | ||
| Drhacknstine |
Polkie Joe, It's just a direct copy of this. http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-news-industry/ buell-linked-to-takeover-bid/8513.html It's most likely local government trying to look good to their voting public. In the end, HD share holders and board is what will make or break any deal. If they see $$$$ in a sale and LOSSES in skunking Buell.. I'm in for the help, But I'm not sure how a hands on bodger' (mechanic/machinist and welder) can do at this point. | ||
| Nxtr |
Not sure if this was posted already, but if it helps, here is a good link to a whole lot of BMC Info. including videos, articles etc... http://redbandhq.com/Buell_Motorcycle_Company/On:harley_buell V/R, Nick (Message edited by nxtr on October 20, 2009) | ||
| Court |
>>>What's all this about Court?? That article has been inaccurately characterized as a "Take Over Bid" in other threads. There is no "take over bid" and the "American Businessmen" in the article are the Walworth County Economic Development Committee. They are seeking to retain as many jobs as possible and are looking for ways to "re-task" Buell employees. | ||
| Court |
>>>>It's most likely local government trying to look good to their voting public. Negative. These folks are not elected. They are interested in a vibrant business community. The don't want to see 200 jobs leave and local residents perhaps move away. I spoke to two of them yesterday and will be meeting with them. They seem like very nice people and only want the best for their community. | ||
| Drhacknstine |
Aaahhh... I understand now. Pass on my hope for all. Strong back and weak mind available if such a thing is needed. | ||
| Buellgrrrl |
East Troy is a town of only 4500 residents and largely a bedroom community for Milwaukee. Thus 200 local jobs is probably at least 10% of their local job base and very important to them. BTW Court and all, I've done lobbying before (I've written parts of several state statutes despite never being a legislator) and I'll be happy to help with government relations | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
Just posting real quick so I'll get email updates. This is interesting stuff! | ||
| Hughlysses |
Court- Someone posted this quote in another thread in which Wadell claims big losses by Buell for the last two years: "Wandell said that the company intends to reinvest capital that would have gone into the Buell brand into the Harley-Davidson brand. The corporation made a $6.6 million capital investment in Buell last year and a $4 million investment so far this year. In return, the brand lost $18 million in 2008 and $27 million so far in 2009, including the $14.2 million impairment charge, he said." Source: http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories /2009/10/12/daily59.html How can this be reconciled with a financial report issued on the same day which apparently shows a clear profit for Buell? Anybody? I'm only bringing this up here because I'm sure you don't want someone blind-siding you with this article as you're trying to build a business case for a new company. | ||
| Clarkjw |
Capital injections aren't recorded on the income statement. | ||
| Chadhargis |
So, the bottom line is, Buell was losing money? That's the first I've heard of that. I guess my sources have had rose colored glasses or something. I understood that Buell was fully funded by their own profits, including the development costs of the 1125 engine. What's the facts?? | ||
| Buellgrrrl |
Sounds like HOG(NYSE) may be retroactively cooking the books to cover their tails... | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
And what motivation would they have for "cooking the books"? They already closed Buell, and didn't need a good reason to do so. From the sound of things, a few parties are showing interest in purchasing Buell trademarks, patents, IP, etc from HD. HD is smarter than to make Buell look like a non-productive money pit right now, whether the company was making money or not. | ||
| Hughlysses |
And what motivation would they have for "cooking the books"? Well, they do need to convince Wall Street that it was a smart thing to do. | ||
| Buellgrrrl |
I've seen it before... Back when I worked for Continental Baking they had dead bread trucks parked behind practically every company facility. They disappeared quickly after they sold the company... Those dead bread trucks had been carried on the books as "assets" and straight line depreciated over 20 years. Thus a 15 year old dead bread truck missing it's engine was shown on the books as an "asset" worth 1/4 of it's new price. HOG(NYSE) may be doing similar "creative accounting" to justify killing Buell. For example, normally the investment in tooling up a new engine might be amortized over a decade or more. Having killed the 1125, HOG(NYSE) could try to restate Buell's results for the last couple years, charging the entire start up costs for the Rotax engine on just two years of production. | ||
| Andymnelson |
"Sounds like HOG(NYSE) may be retroactively cooking the books to cover their tails..." Nonsense. Come on now, we are all shaken by this...but let's stick to facts. | ||
| Jaimec |
It wouldn't surprise me in the least. It's a "Dilbert World" out there. As I stated before, it's quite typical for upper management to make a bad decision, but they'll never admit it was a bad decision. They'll keep on working down that line until one of two things happens: 1) They're replaced 2) The company goes under Finding an executive BIG enough to admit they made a mistake and change his mind is just about one of the rarest things on the planet. | ||
| 46champ |
Finding an executive BIG enough to admit they made a mistake and change his mind is just about one of the rarest things on the planet. Almost as rare as a politician that will admit to bad legislation | ||
| Reepicheep |
Don't underestimate potential book cooking... HD developed BOB, right? So if HD payed some firm of bright ADD 20somethings $5 million for their artistic genius, then HD spent $5m on Buell. Not to mention various "overhead" charges for "shared services". (not to mention the $1m for developing a line of "chrome heelguards" and "Buell Flaming Skull" shirts...) | ||
| Hughlysses |
Following up on my post above about alleged Buell losses, I looked up "impairment charge" (Wandell claims a $14.2M impairment charge for Buell in 2009): http://www.investopedia.com/articles/analyst/11050 2.asp It sounds like complete accounting BS to me. | ||
| Xbrad9r |
what if there is a possibility that HD will be filing a bankruptcy like some of the automakers did and closing Buell down before that was to protect it from being liquidated. just a thought, not sure how the exact workings of that would go, but it is something i haven't heard mentioned as of yet that i saw at least, and thought others that are much more knowledgable than I could add to or squash the thought. | ||
| Jaimec |
46champ: And if they ever DO change their mind, they're labeled a <shudder> Flip-flopper! For the life of me, I never understood why that was a bad thing. Change is constant... a decision made today may not be applicable tomorrow or when additional facts come in. Guess that's why I'm a long way down from "Upper Management." | ||
| Jaimec |
Reepicheep: "Microsoft developed BOB, right?" There, fixed it for you. Anyone else remember that total waste of disk space and processing power?? | ||
| Rainman |
I think so, but my Vista crashed and I have to switch Windows ME, so I'll let you know as soon as I have Internet Exploder access. | ||
| Court |
Folks I am sorry to say I am withdrawing from this discussion. Someone just posted that I called the fellow I just FedEx's a presentation to and am meeting with a liar. Many of the discussions currently taking place are counter-productive. Folks are purporting to know the inner workings of various agreements and contracts and are speaking as if what they are saying are facts, not their opinions. Be mindful that folks who have never heard of Buell until 9:30am last Thursday are reading this and accepting is as gospel. I simply don't have time, nor should I, to play thought police and correct them. Court | ||
| Motorico |
Court, thanks for your effort in keeping the dream alive. | ||
| Andymnelson |
thank you Court. now that that's done, how can I HELP? | ||
| Hughlysses |
Court- We all appreciate it. Thanks. | ||
| Milt |
Rumors or rumors of rumors are often enough to scare away venture capitalists, investment bankers, benevolent sugar daddies, etc. Maybe we need a "Shameless Speculation" thread. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Another good pro-Buell article from Britain's MCN: http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults /First-rides--tests/2009/October/oct2009-erik-buel l-the-innovator/?R=EPI-119407 |
