ATK to import small displacement Korean cruisers to USA Harley dealers???

[BaltimoreGS]

According to an article in Motorcyclist magazine the niche dirt bike maker ATK is planning to import S&T Motorcycles' (makers of Hyosung)  small cruisers to the USA and sell them under the ATK name brand at high profile Harley Davidson dealerships.

-Jessie

[The Buddha]

Aaaaah lets see how many random crap is in that 1 sentence.
So ATK from austria, is going to import korean small bikes, like there isn;t atleast 10 different importers of that crap, and sell it in Harley dealerships. That gotta be a great business strategy, after all see how well Harley sold small displacement bikes that were american made no less ...

Buell Bee-last any one. No ... how about an even tackier POS with 1/2 the displacement.

Yea I get it on small displacement bikes, but sorry, there is enough korean crap to choke a horse (or is that whore). An ATK with a home built motor/frame even if it is that smaller displacement will work a lot better, of course its easier, and cheaper to buy some crap and stamp your name on it.

Cool.
Buddha.

[BaltimoreGS]

Buddha, here's another sentence for you to dissect:

Swedish dirt bike maker Highland Motorcycles is reorganizing and relocating to Oklahoma to produce American built street legal V twin powered super enduros and street fighters   

-Jessie

[BaltimoreGS]

So ATK from austria,

By the way, ATK is an American company and since the demise of Cannondale's motorcycle division they are the only remaining dirt bikes produced in the USA.

-Jessie

[ohgood]

HD stalesman: "Yes, sir! You can choose from a $32,000 'custom' flxstrxyzabcqrc, or this really cheap mini-chopper for oooooooooonly $4000."

about-to-be-instantly-cooler-than-the-other-cul-de-sac-suckers: "HOT DAMN ! IT LOOKS JUS LAK A HURLEY !!!!"

HD stalesman: "Whoopie ! LETS GO GET YOUR LOAN ON !"

about-to-be-instantly-cooler-than-the-other-cul-de-sac-suckers: "HOT DAMN YES, I WANT TO FINANCE THIS POS FOR 3 YEARS OR MORE, IF YOURE GOING TO THROW IN THAT BADASS GENUINE PLEATHER VESTAGE !!!"

so, fred hauls ass (ok, not really, but his flab feels like he did!) home on his new badass motorscooter. he's envied. the neighbors THINK he just dropped dime on a cool cruiser. he must be getting paid, and most assuradly he's getting laid too. DAMN. WHY DOES HE HAVE ALL THE FU..... oh wait.... that's one of those chinese bikes ! f%$k YA ! HE'S A BIGGER LOSEr THAN ME !

three months later, he's trying to hawk it on craigslist for 1/2 what he paid for it. no takers. everyone (but fred) knows those bikes suck ass.

[Caffeine]

Hardly-Davidson?

[yamahonkawazuki]

HD stalesman: "Yes, sir! You can choose from a $32,000 'custom' flxstrxyzabcqrc, or this really cheap mini-chopper for oooooooooonly $4000."

about-to-be-instantly-cooler-than-the-other-cul-de-sac-suckers: "HOT DAMN ! IT LOOKS JUS LAK A HURLEY !!!!"

HD stalesman: "Whoopie ! LETS GO GET YOUR LOAN ON !"

about-to-be-instantly-cooler-than-the-other-cul-de-sac-suckers: "HOT DAMN YES, I WANT TO FINANCE THIS POS FOR 3 YEARS OR MORE, IF YOURE GOING TO THROW IN THAT BADASS GENUINE PLEATHER VESTAGE !!!"

so, fred hauls ass (ok, not really, but his flab feels like he did!) home on his new badass motorscooter. he's envied. the neighbors THINK he just dropped dime on a cool cruiser. he must be getting paid, and most assuradly he's getting laid too. DAMN. WHY DOES HE HAVE ALL THE FU..... oh wait.... that's one of those chinese bikes ! f%$k YA ! HE'S A BIGGER LOSEr THAN ME !

three months later, he's trying to hawk it on craigslist for 1/2 what he paid for it. no takers. everyone (but fred) knows those bikes suck ass.

Digging through the anti harley  LOLRANT, i agree. ive got a chinese motor on my trek mtn bike. it actually runs good. BUT that is because i went in and replaced teh cheap ass chinese gasketry contained within

[ohgood]

it shoulda read like a anti-cheap-as-walmart rant, but i guess you're right. it's coming off anti harley. again

[yamahonkawazuki]

it shoulda read like a anti-cheap-as-walmart rant, but i guess you're right. it's coming off anti harley. again

BUT, its directed at the chinese attempt, err failed attempt at a moto. HD  SINCE hte days of AMF has built a decent biek that fopr whatever reason holds its value EXTREMELY well

[bill14224]

it shoulda read like a anti-cheap-as-walmart rant, but i guess you're right. it's coming off anti harley. again

BUT, its directed at the chinese attempt, err failed attempt at a moto. HD  SINCE hte days of AMF has built a decent biek that fopr whatever reason holds its value EXTREMELY well

Harleys always held their value well compared to foreign bikes but that's changing.  Because of the flood of yuppies who bought Harleys since the 1990's and today's bad economy, there is a flood of used Harleys for sale at lower prices than in the past.  Meanwhile, resale values of Japanese bikes is rising.  The gap is closing.

[tt_four]

F'N Harley Davidson. I've read about this plenty already, so i already knew it was happening, but it doesn't get any less obnoxious. Why in the world would HD pull the plug on an awesome project and bike maker like Erik Buell, just to fill their showrooms with junk cruisers. No doubt they're just as nice as a HD, but that's because all Harley is selling is a name covered in chrome. People actually choose a lesser motorcycle over japanese bikes just because it's an image. What in the world makes them think these cruisers are going to do any better than a Buell on the showroom floor? One of the biggest problems Buell had was it's lack of support from HD. The salesmen in the dealerships hated them, and will make a point of it if you just call the dealerships to ask a question about a buell. If you're not buying a harley, the salesman don't want to talk to you. All the Buells were shoved in the back corner of the showrooms, and this is going to be the same exact story.

Shareholders are already pissed at the way HD handled the Buell situation by refusing to sell the company, and instead just flushing the whole thing down the toilet. How are they going to feel when HD screws this one up too?

I know people weren't crazy about Buells, but they were making some huge progress, and switching to the rotax engine would've really opened up some doors for them. I think if HD makes a living out of selling cruisers based on nothing but image alone, they should've been able to do amazing things with Buell, because it would've been a perfect opportunity to try to get over the bias that sport riders have against cruisers and vice-versa, but obviously that wasn't important.

Anyway, the new Buell 1190(track only, picture below) looks awesome, and I can't wait until the 4 year ban is up and Buell is able to start putting out some more street bikes. I can't wait until the article comes out saying that HD is throwing in the towel.

Anyway, I know this wasn't supposed to be about Buell, but it's just a good example about HD just keeps screwing up time and time again(don't forget the MV Agusta thing), and I can't wait until they finally have to deal with it.

[Caffeine]

Why in the world would HD pull the plug on an awesome project and bike maker like Erik Buell, just to fill their showrooms with junk cruisers. No doubt they're just as nice as a HD, but that's because all Harley is selling is a name covered in chrome. People actually choose a lesser motorcycle over japanese bikes just because it's an image.

That pretty much sums up my view of HD.  It's all about image.  They might put out a great bike once in a while (even if the wheels fall off), but the average HD owner I know treats their bike like a fashion accessory.  "Oh!  Look at ME!  I'm a BIKER!  I'm LIVIN' THE BIKER LIFESTYLE ON WEEKENDS!  I'm a BADASS!"   Then they go to their local HD dealer to buy Harley toilet paper holders and shot glasses and keychains.  These same guys have a hard time getting the bike into first gear 15 seconds after the light turns green.  Seriously, just count how many pieces of clothing these guys are wearing that have the HD logo on them.  How many of you seek out stuff with "Suzuki" all over it? 

It makes me wonder what HD is trying to do here.   I know they are having a b*tch of a time selling $25,000 bikes in this crappy economy, so I suspect they are trying to make some sales by selling a bike at 1/2 the price.  They will probably get the Korean-made bikes for about $4,000 each and sell them for $10,000.  Or at least try to. 

[BaltimoreGS]

Don't know if it is actually true but I heard somewhere that HD makes more money off licensing their name for merchandise than they do from actual motorcycle sales.

-Jessie

[tt_four]

Don't know if it is actually true but I heard somewhere that HD makes more money off licensing their name for merchandise than they do from actual motorcycle sales.

-Jessie

Has to be true, bicycle shops make more parts of selling grips and handlebars than they do off of selling bicycles. I honest to god consider HD to be an advertising agency first, and the only reason they even make bikes is because they'd rather just advertise their own product than someone elses. I used to just not like the bikes somewhat, but over time I've grown to fully detest them for everything they are. There's always the stupid bickering about people on japanese bikes not liking people on harleys, and people on harleys not liking people on japanese bikes, but the thing is japanese manufactures put out a very broad range of bikes for anyone who wants to ride, while harley refuses to put out anything but the 40 year old technology of under powered engines in heavy motorcycles priced way too high, and anything else isn't worth their time. That fact was pounded home to me with how they were willing to put Buells in their show rooms at the hope of making some cash, but obviously did not want them there, and wasted a perfectly good chance to say "we're not the ones fueling this stupid Harley/japanese fued." because they clearly are. If you can't even respect an american built sportbike with a low revving harley engine in it(that was actually tuned to make some power), there's obviously not going to be anything you'll accept aside from your own.

but the average HD owner I know treats their bike like a fashion accessory.  "Oh!  Look at ME!  I'm a BIKER!  I'm LIVIN' THE BIKER LIFESTYLE ON WEEKENDS!  I'm a BADASS!"   

Don't forget status symbol. I knew that was serious when one of the guys in the office came over to look out my window and said "I keep track of what the weather's doing now that I bought a $22k Harley Road King". He's a nice guy, but it's pretty sad that he can't just act like he want to look outside without me having to know he spent $22k on a bike.

[The Buddha]

The problem they had with buell is going to repeat, just much much more severely and may dirty the brand ... but then the HD Idiots prolly like that ...

The thing is, it will not be pushed by the HD dealers, and the fact that its a crappy korean crap is going to meave a mark. Atleast Buell was a HD based sport bike, and Erik Buell was a true HD head.

Cool.
Buddha.

[tt_four]

Buell at least stuck around in Harley dealerships for quite a while. I bet these Korean bikes are dropped within 2-3 years

[yamahonkawazuki]

Why in the world would HD pull the plug on an awesome project and bike maker like Erik Buell, just to fill their showrooms with junk cruisers. No doubt they're just as nice as a HD, but that's because all Harley is selling is a name covered in chrome. People actually choose a lesser motorcycle over japanese bikes just because it's an image.

That pretty much sums up my view of HD.  It's all about image.  They might put out a great bike once in a while (even if the wheels fall off), but the average HD owner I know treats their bike like a fashion accessory.  "Oh!  Look at ME!  I'm a BIKER!  I'm LIVIN' THE BIKER LIFESTYLE ON WEEKENDS!  I'm a BADASS!"   Then they go to their local HD dealer to buy Harley toilet paper holders and shot glasses and keychains.  These same guys have a hard time getting the bike into first gear 15 seconds after the light turns green.  Seriously, just count how many pieces of clothing these guys are wearing that have the HD logo on them.  How many of you seek out stuff with "Suzuki" all over it? 

It makes me wonder what HD is trying to do here.   I know they are having a b*tch of a time selling $25,000 bikes in this crappy economy, so I suspect they are trying to make some sales by selling a bike at 1/2 the price.  They will probably get the Korean-made bikes for about $4,000 each and sell them for $10,000.  Or at least try to. 

same thign happens in suzuki dealerships, and kawi as well, bmW, the list goes on, i still have a pretty good size chunk of hd stock, and it climbs, albeit slowly, it climbs, idk, maybe because our govt has yet to get their hands on it. who knows. lol. anyhoo back on topic, id say these korean/chinese/tongueincheekistan bikesk will last until they run out of parts, then their gone

[tt_four]

i still have a pretty good size chunk of hd stock,

Yikes, haha, that's not the kind of thing I'd admit to the general motorcycle public! I was really surprised to read it until I scrolled back up to see who it was that posted it   

I haven't seen too many problems with Suzuki or Kawasaki dealerships. Japanese bikes tend to get lumped together in dealerships, and they still have sportbikes, cruisers, dirtbikes, and usually some quads. Plus they'll sell jackets and helmets from other manufactures. HD dealerships are nothing but cruisers, and nothing but gear with HD stamped all over it.

BMWs are pretty similar, they usually want nothing but BMWs in the showroom. The place I bought my triumph from was a bmw dealership, although they had the triumphs in a smaller showroom across the street. I still had to go into the bmw dealership for parts and service, and it was an awful place. They made it perfectly clear that the reason they keep everything but bmws out of their showroom, was so that people like me would stay out of the showroom. Sad thing is there's japanese dealerships all over the place, and that's the only triumph dealer within 2 hours. I'd love to go check out some new bikes, but it's not worth it to have to run into some of those guys again. I'd kill to get in on a demo day to try out the street triple, I might be will to put up with seeing some of them for that one.

[jserio]

just ride whatever bike makes you happy that you can afford. don't get your panties in a knot over whetever is in the next guys driveway.

[yamahonkawazuki]

just ride whatever bike makes you happy that you can afford. don't get your panties in a knot over whetever is in the next guys driveway.

Exactly. BUT some here. wont ever be convinced of that lol