The Harley Davidson Motor company has trouble in the board room after CEO steps down!

[T. Cotten]

Just curious what everybody thinks,..

Is the modern company in any way still relevant to our vintage world?

After our only life-line of aftermarket replacements was under its bootheel to where mostly off-shore crap was our only option, for decades?

Or do we still benefit from their nostalgic advertising? (I admit we need all the nostalgia we can get...)

...Cotten

[DEEBS47Chief1991]

Back in the day, the Harley was know as an economical form of transportation. Easily maintained and repaired. Most parts interchanged from bike to bike. The bike represented an American value of longevity and simplicity. This time has passed. Forever.

Now it's about corporate greed and money. The company and it's current customers are driven by legends from the past which are simply gone and are never coming back. You can't get to the parts counter of a Harley Davidson stealership without tripping over Harley Monopoly games, $90.00 T-shirts, & Harley pot holders. You can't even flush your brake fluid without having to bring your bike back in to reset a flag in the microprocessor with a laptop with proprietary software. Everything is designed to block the backyard mechanic so they can soak more money from you. What ever this company is or represents has nothing to do with what goes on with old motorcycles other than using distorted "glory" ideals of the past to wring out any wallets that are stupid enough to walk through their door.

[T. Cotten]

... You can't even flush your brake fluid without having to bring your bike back in to reset a flag in the microprocessor with a laptop with proprietary software..

Hokey Smokes, Deebs!

Its only been two decades since I was in a stealership, and now it sounds absolutely dystopian.

When I see bikes lining up at the bar across the street from my shop, I latch the screen door.

Graciously, the rare few who are curious can't even find a doorbell.

....Cotten

[DEEBS47Chief1991]

I'm sure there's an app for that.

[KNUCK]

If Harley was only selling bikes that had a total loss oil system do you think they would still be in business. This evolution has happened to every single motorcycle and automobile company in the world. Like it or not if you don't move forward in technology you will just die as a company. I don't like many of the changes HD has made, but neither do I like the changes at Ford, Toyota, General Motors etc.
I wish I could go in and buy a Corvette just like in 1959 with 2 four barrel carbs and not have to take a new one in because the fuel injection system is not communication with a module that is getting a false reading from an O2 sensor. No I don't own a new one, just an example.

To answer your question, no the company is not really relevant to our vintage world. So why do we have to despise HD and all the others who operate the same because they have moved forward for better or worse. So going to rip that vintage Corvette shirt in half? Or toss that Ford shirt with the blue oval on it in the trash?

[T. Cotten]

... So why do we have to despise HD and all the others who operate the same ...

I didn't say I despised anybody, Knuck.

I said they despised "me", meaning all the itinerate and independent folks that otherwise would have been loyal.

That's the way I remember the last....uh, ... forty-five years or so.

No big deal, as I've no embarrassing ink to remove.

...Cotten

[DEEBS47Chief1991]

Heaven forbid we rip and dispose of any t-shirts. They cost $90 and Willie G. would not come down the chimney on Christmas.

[DEEBS47Chief1991]

Sickening.


Credit card t shirts for sale.jpg

[DEEBS47Chief1991]

Sorry. about the 90 dollar quote. I meant 20 thousand. I will not be associated with this culture.

20 thousand dollar shirt.jpg

[DEEBS47Chief1991]

And the hits just keep coming

Harley Monopoly game.jpg

[DEEBS47Chief1991]

I gotta say that these are pretty reasonable. The average dork could afford them.


Harley pot holders.jpg

[DEEBS47Chief1991]

And BTW. Just for perspective, I have owned, wrenched, and ridden this bike for the last 36 years.


DSCN4077.JPG

[Peter Cooke]

Sorry. about the 90 dollar quote. I meant 20 thousand. I will not be associated with this culture.

Jeez, I've been using my old shirts for rags. I gotta stop doing that apparently....

[DEEBS47Chief1991]

Nah Pete, it's really just an old piece of cloth.

[T. Cotten]

To answer your question, no the company is not really relevant to our vintage world...

I appreciate your honesty, Knuck!

And everybodys' responses, albeit depressing.

Their customer demographic morphed from the banal to the grotesque.

....Cotten