Harley's Dirty Little Secret

[Mac1958]

Struck a nerve. Again. Good..

Slapped your own face again is what you mean, dumbass.

Okie dokie.

Anyway, keep attacking American businesses, just like your leader tells you to.

Today. We'll see what you're supposed to do tomorrow. Who knows!

He has you so twisted up at this point, it's fun to watch.
.

 

[Tom Horn]

Oh well. Bye Harley Davidson.

Your post is blatantly dishonest.

They were already doing poorly, and now Trump has put the dagger in their back. You can always get a Honda or Ducati.

Harley had $5 billion in sales last year earning half a billion profit.

Their dealers used to take deposits on pre-orders so a dealer's new bike inventory was sold before it arrived on his shipping dock. But times are changing and Harley isn't changing...just getting more obsessed with the bottom line instead of their customers and dealers. If they think the EU will let them get away with what they're doing here they're in for a big surprise.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I don't think you are going to get a lot of sympathy for this.
They have a right to protect their intellectual property, which in many cases has more value than a companies physical property.

"sympathy"? Why the hell would I want that? I'm giving you an inside look at how Harley operates...they are low-rent shitheads who double-crossed Trump and their customers, workers, and the USA by leaving. I made a lot of money printing that apparel but that's not the point...it's the way Harley Davidson treated their dealers...and this was over 20 years ago.

I get it, but they have a right to protect their interest.
If they were charging to much for apparel then the market would have responded negatively, but obviously they didn't because as you say they make $$$$ off of this revenue stream.

Having said that, this is all part of the corporatism that swept America. Beginning in the late 70's companies all over America switched their primary concern from pleasing their customers to pleasing shareholders.
This was a tectonic shift that had negative effects for the average American in 1000 ways.

 

[Tom Horn]

Struck a nerve. Again. Good..

Slapped your own face again is what you mean, dumbass.

Okie dokie.

Anyway, keep attacking American businesses, just like your leader tells you to.

Today. We'll see what you're supposed to do tomorrow. Who knows!

He has you so twisted up at this point, it's fun to watch.
.

Lay off the weed and turn the volume down, comrade....I'm not attacking anybody and neither is Trump.

 

[Tom Horn]

I get it, but they have a right to protect their interest.
If they were charging to much for apparel then the market would have responded negatively, but obviously they didn't because as you say they make $$$$ off of this revenue stream.

Having said that, this is all part of the corporatism that swept America. Beginning in the late 70's companies all over America switched their primary concern from pleasing their customers to pleasing shareholders.
This was a tectonic shift that had negative effects for the average American in 1000 ways.

What happens is Harley enthusiasts collect T-shirts from all over the country...so when they travel, they pick up a shirt or two from the local dealer. Most are affluent enough to be able to afford Harley's price so they pay it. In that sense, it's a captive market which Harley exploits. I have never said they don't have the right to control their logo and company designs...what I shared is how they operate behind the scenes in apparel sales....I'm sure there are several other kinds of vendors who've experienced Harley's ham-handed tactics.

 

[Erinwltr]

I don't think you are going to get a lot of sympathy for this.
They have a right to protect their intellectual property, which in many cases has more value than a companies physical property.

"sympathy"? Why the hell would I want that? I'm giving you an inside look at how Harley operates...they are low-rent shitheads who double-crossed Trump and their customers, workers, and the USA by leaving. I made a lot of money printing that apparel but that's not the point...it's the way Harley Davidson treated their dealers...and this was over 20 years ago.

I get it, but they have a right to protect their interest.
If they were charging to much for apparel then the market would have responded negatively, but obviously they didn't because as you say they make $$$$ off of this revenue stream.

Having said that, this is all part of the corporatism that swept America. Beginning in the late 70's companies all over America switched their primary concern from pleasing their customers to pleasing shareholders.
This was a tectonic shift that had negative effects for the average American in 1000 ways.

Posting business sense? For shame.

 

[Erinwltr]

Having owned a sportswear printing business for just over 30 years, I had interaction with dozens of Harley Davidson dealers in several states. I sold the business in 2002 but I doubt what I'm about to tell you has changed. The truth is, Harley Davidson is about as much about "freedom" as our commiecrats in Congress. They are as ruthless a corporation behind the scenes as it gets.

Back in the mid-90's, Harley decided they weren't making enough money on their apparel line. Thousands of bootlgers like myself were selling Harley designs to their dealers and after-market chopper shops. Our designs made their stodgy old-fashioned logo shirts pale by comparison. So they informed their dealers in cease and desist letters that they could no longer buy "unauthorized" apparel from us. They sold these printing franchises for $100K and took a healthy cut of the profits. They could only sell designs and apparel approved by the company at full retail...no discounts. Nothing wrong so far...they were within their rights.

But then they took it too far. They sent their new franchised printers into Harley and Chopper shops posing as customers to find out where they'd been getting their merchandise....sneaky. Then they sent us printers cease and desist letters threatening lawsuits if we didn't surrender our artwork and silk screens to them. They followed that by RAIDING their own dealers and seizing unauthorized inventory and FINING them $1 for every piece of apparel seized. If the dealer objected, Harley would pull their parts kit...effectively putting them out of business. And what did all this result in?

Harley Davidson now makes more money on the apparel line than they do selling motorcycles. The popularity of their brand is based on two factors. How the Harley engine sounds, and that it's an AMERICAN icon, falsely posing as the "Great American Freedom Machine". Ask a Harley dealer how "free" he is dealing with Milwaukee, soon to be Bangkok, Thailand.

Franchises are treated like this in all kinds of industries. Car dealerships are always getting their chains jerked by corporate. Ditto for restaurant franchises. I understand they messed with your money but they make the rules.

 

[bendog]

Damn. They took steps to protect their own intellectual property. Outrageous.

What does this have to do with "freedom." Freedom to steal someone else's property?

Oh well. Bye Harley Davidson.

I'm too old, and have wayyyy too much arthritis to ride one. They'll do well in Europe probably..... or perhaps an anti-American wave will doom them there as well.

 

[Brain357]

Damn. They took steps to protect their own intellectual property. Outrageous.

What does this have to do with "freedom." Freedom to steal someone else's property?

Sounds like he was doing like China...

 

[Tom Horn]

Corporations deal with sportswear printers in several ways...most figured as long as the product wasn't obscene or otherwise harmful, it was free promotion. A printed t-shirt is a walking advertisement of a satisfied customer and in it's lifetime, will be seen by more eyes than any other venue but television. Ever wonder why the Adidas logo is that light blue? It's because that is a "process blue" which is invisible to a copy camera and more difficult to reproduce. We used to get cease and desist orders from them all the time for some reason. Disney has more spies than Putin. And for good reason....I once had a limited line of shirts that had Mickey doing unmentionable things to Minnie and they enjoined us within 24 hours....never could figure out how they did that.

 

[Siete]

95% of Trumps crap is made overseas, he has no room to whine.

F Trump

 

[DarkFury]

HARLEY has made other costly mistakes. They bought Buell and killed the AMERICAN sport bike market so youth rides Jap. So when that 20 year old is 40 why should he switch brands? If your Jap bike gives you 10 to 15 years of great ride and service why the hell switch?

 

[Rambunctious]

Spot on....I bought my last Harley in 2005....went to Honda....better bike better company and fully made in America....

 

[Rambunctious]

95% of Trumps crap is made overseas, he has no room to whine.

F Trump

That is why he is the one that can fix it....look at the people that are trying to stop him...they are your enemy and always have been...not Trump...

 

[DarkFury]

Spot on....I bought my last Harley in 2005....went to Honda....better bike better company and fully made in America....

ST 1100 here A Pan Euro.

 

[Tom Horn]

HARLEY has made other costly mistakes. They bought Buell and killed the AMERICAN sport bike market so youth rides Jap. So when that 20 year old is 40 why should he switch brands? If your Jap bike gives you 10 to 15 years of great ride and service why the hell switch?

I've often wondered why there weren't more American brands...Harley and Indian and John Penton (who I raced enduro against once and picked up a terrific tip on how to cross a steep drainage ditch) who was based in Ohio but later became KTM and moved to Austria. The Japs sold their first Hondas here in sporting goods stores and now are both #1 and #2 in sales...their used Hondas outsell every other brand. They killed the European bike market in the 70's....BSA, Triumph, Bultaco, Maico, Montesa, etc because they didn't leak oil and the lights worked...even in the rain. Reagan saved Harley from the Japs...another reason them trying to leave seems almost like treason.

 

[bendog]

HARLEY has made other costly mistakes. They bought Buell and killed the AMERICAN sport bike market so youth rides Jap. So when that 20 year old is 40 why should he switch brands? If your Jap bike gives you 10 to 15 years of great ride and service why the hell switch?

I've often wondered why there weren't more American brands...Harley and Indian and John Penton (who I raced enduro against once and picked up a terrific tip on how to cross a steep drainage ditch) who was based in Ohio but later became KTM and moved to Austria. The Japs sold their first Hondas here in sporting goods stores and now are both #1 and #2 in sales...their used Hondas outsell every other brand. They killed the European bike market in the 70's....BSA, Triumph, Bultaco, Maico, Montesa, etc because they didn't leak oil and the lights worked...even in the rain. Reagan saved Harley from the Japs...another reason them trying to leave seems almost like treason.

Reagan was anti-tariff.

 

[DarkFury]

HARLEY has made other costly mistakes. They bought Buell and killed the AMERICAN sport bike market so youth rides Jap. So when that 20 year old is 40 why should he switch brands? If your Jap bike gives you 10 to 15 years of great ride and service why the hell switch?

I've often wondered why there weren't more American brands...Harley and Indian and John Penton (who I raced enduro against once and picked up a terrific tip on how to cross a steep drainage ditch) who was based in Ohio but later became KTM and moved to Austria. The Japs sold their first Hondas here in sporting goods stores and now are both #1 and #2 in sales...their used Hondas outsell every other brand. They killed the European bike market in the 70's....BSA, Triumph, Bultaco, Maico, Montesa, etc because they didn't leak oil and the lights worked...even in the rain. Reagan saved Harley from the Japs...another reason them trying to leave seems almost like treason.

The ST 1100 is a fuel injected V4 with shaft drive. And smooth? Damn its smooth.

 

[iceberg]

They could only sell designs and apparel approved by the company at full retail...no discounts.

That is illegal. Harley can put a suggested retail price tag on the stuff, and can restrict them from advertising discounts, but cannot legally force retailers to charge customers full price retailers can discount if they choose.

find a PS4 Pro below suggested retail price.

as for HD - if people are out there making bootleg shirts and *not* expecting HD to get mad, that was kinda silly.

 

[Rambunctious]

Reagan was anti-tariff.

Reagan was for free trade...free and fair just like Trump...what always gets left out is the fact that every nation on earth imposes trade restrictions and tariffs on us...why is it so wrong to simply follow their lead??? we need jobs too....we want a good economy too...our farmers want to sell goods too...wake up libs you used to hate tariffs....what happened????