How to save Harley Davidison - Page 5

 


<snip>


Oh, that's *harsh* :-)

Did you know that Norton Villiers Triumph, in the final months before
it went down completely, assembled exercise bicycles? 'Tis true.
Perhaps the sign of when a vehicle manufacturer is really on the brink
is when it starts to make sporting goods.

<Thinks, and then Googles>

Thought so. Porsche has made tennis racquets....

 

On 7/13/2010 9:59 AM, TOG@Toil wrote:

But Porsche never belonged to a tennis-racquet company.  Back when I was
in high school all my friends bowled, so I got dragged to the bowling
alley regularly, where the "AMF" logo was prominently displayed at the
end of every lane.  AMF's major profit maker was those pin
setters--Harley was a sideline.  In 1981 Harley managed to escape from
AMF, but the damage had been done.

 


Agree with the last sentence, but disagree that American Machine and
Foundry's (AMF) major profit maker was those pin stters.

From Wikipedia's history of AMF:

"By 1961, AMF controlled and operated 42 plants and 19 research
facilities scattered across 17 countries, producing everything from
remote-controlled toy airplanes to ICBM launching systems. AMF was the
builder of the launching silos for the Titan and Atlas ICBMs, and also
developed the rail-car launching system for the solid-fueled Minuteman
ICBM.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s the company ran neck-and-neck with
General Dynamics in the construction of nuclear power reactors."

Oh yeah, they made automated bowling pin-setters, too.  And today,
that is their sole remaining business line.

And they owned Harley-Davidson from 1969 to 1981.

 

J. Clarke wrote:

You're young.  H-D, like most companies, depended on hand craftmanship.
That went away, replaced by automation.  The Japs had been in the same boat
but the war destroyed their craft-based production facilities and we helped
them build new automated facilities.  Lacking the labor force to build bikes
the old way, and without the capital to modernize, H-D was doomed  ... just
like Triumph, BSA, BMW, Ducati and all.  But a group of AMF exec's who loved
Harleys maneuvered AMF into buying H-D before it want under, allowing H-D to
use AMF's credit and expertese to modernize.  During that time they built
many faulty bikes,  both because the craftsmen who knew how to build good
bikes with the old equipment, and because they had to push production to
keep AMF happy.

The only reason Ducati didn't go was a group of enthusiests saved them too,
and the only reason BMW still makes bikes is that bike performance sells
cars.

I'm not sure who owned who in the Porsche deal.  Maybe VW owned both.

 



No, this isn't true, quite. It is true that BMW considered giving up
bike manufacture in the past, but continued because of the reflected
sparkle it gave the cars, but these days the business is very much a
profit centre in its own right.


--
BMW K1100LT  Ducati 750SS  Honda CB400F  Triumph Street Triple
Suzuki TS250ER GN250  Damn, back to six bikes!
Try Googling before asking a damn silly question.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com