Ah gentle readers, I have to start with a bit of a confession. And as with most confessions, I'm nagged by a faint sense of shame, of that little smug voice in my cranium; ".....told you so, you shouldn't have looked!"
But I did look, and look again.......at the traffic counter for this very blog. Hmmmm. It would appear that I should change the name of this blog to "Table for One"! Hey, Snookie's career wasn't built in a day, nor most likely was her chest either........so I'll soldier on, if only for that one reader.........mom, mom are you there??? Dammit.......
On task now. I've been riding motorcycles for over 32 years, all kinds of bikes; sportbikes, enduro and motocross machines, even those lead sleds from Milwaukee. Spoiler alert, I'm a relatively late convert to the cult of Harley Davidson, but I do like the machines, own two, and am pretty fond of riding the piles. Say what you will, but nothing in the motorcycling world is as good at being a Harley as a Harley. I've never raced (unless you consider an enduro a race, which no self-respecting racer would), but I've run professional AMA road race teams; I'm not a designer, but I've helped design and market all manner of parts, accessories and clothing for my fellow motorcyclists; I'm not an "Iron Butt" guy, but I've got more miles on two wheels than I can count; I'm not a writer, but..........well, you get the idea. And my point would be?
Sound question, you're paying attention, good. The aforementioned shameless promotion of my motorcycling bona fidis, was merely my way of illustrating that while I may be an old windsack, I'm a windsack with a lot of seat time........
Which brings me conveniently to the thrust of this already too lengthy missive; taking a neutral stance while loitering about an intersection.........or more accurately, slipping the bike into neutral while waiting for the signal to change. Just the other day while terrorizing, as only a middle aged guy can, the back roads of east Contra Costa county on "Paint Shaker", the mighty '06 FLHRCI (for those that don't speak Harley, translation; 2006 Road King Classic) I came to a light as I entered town, pulling up behind a fellow on a late model BMW GS.....you know, an adventure bike. We waited.
As the light switched to green, I spied my fellow riders left foot retract gracefully up from the ground, and with a gentle downward "snick", he clicked into first gear and accelerated off into the distance. Which I have to confess is a pretty common occurrence when you ride a Harley, most everything accelerates off into the distance.......personally I draw the line at Kia's. The point being, the entire period of time my new found friend was sitting at the light, he was in neutral, and just one social networking, type A, soccer mom away from being a decidedly reluctant recipient of an SUV enema.
Here's the deal kids.........NEVER, and I mean NEVER sit at a light, stop sign, or lemonade stand with your motorcycle in neutral.........ever!! Should bad things happen, the extra time it takes for you to recognize the threat, click it into gear, and begin to accelerate out of Dangerville, means you're likely to get an up close and personal glimpse of Obama-care in action. Not good.
It's all about reaction time, being in gear at a stop means you'll be able to scoot should the situation call for it just that much quicker. And that fraction is likely to be the difference. It has been for me, on more than one occasion. And while we're at it, give your passenger a heads up that when you're at a light, stay frosty, and be ready for a quick acceleration even if the light is still red......remember, leave no one behind!
And so endith the lesson..........mom, your thoughts??? If anyone else happened to stumble upon this blurb and managed to struggle to the end.......am I whack? Got another angle, topic, or whatever......let me know........
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Selasa, 09 November 2010
Senin, 08 November 2010
Youth Movement......when will Milwaukee get it right?
Admittedly this is not an issue that's going to rally the great unwashed to take up pitchforks and torches, but it really gnaws at the intestines all the same. Seems I can't go a week without reading some Wall Street twerp spouting off about how Harley Davidson needs to capture a greater portion of the "18 to 35" segment of potential and current riders. Youth or death.
OK, makes sense, the Motor Company needs some fresh meat to replace those of us that are calcifying as we speak. Seems strangely enough like common sense. You might even ask yourself, well why aren't those young whippersnappers loitering at the local HD shop o' goodies eyeing the shiny stuff with lust in their hearts?? And this is where it gets good..........Milwaukee, in lockstep with their masters in Manhattan, dutifully set out to woo said youngsters; who by the way, are apparently the only group of people on the planet blissfully unaware of Harley's existence.
All manner of strategies are employed, UFC sponsorships, supermodel spokespersons (whatever that is), product placement on hip TV shows, blah, blah, blah........insert cliche laden advertising gimmick here. All of which sadly miss the point, as is so often the case with "analysts" analysis....did any of these "best and the brightest" think to ask these wayward youth the root cause of their gross lack of interest? Judging by HD's strategy, I'm thinking no........
It would have taken just a couple afternoons at a rally, or a local dealership, any local dealership for that matter to determine that HD's "youth problem" was a product/price issue, not a lack of awareness of the brand, or a lack of desire for the brand. Younger folks simply can't afford the models they want. Boring I know, but facts is facts.
Milwaukee doesn't need to spend millions to spoon feed Gen X that Harley's are cool. News flash, they get it, they already know. What they don't get is why the only model in their affordability window is a puney 883 Sportster, you know, Harley's "girls bike". Yeah, nothing gets a testosterone fueled twenty-something stoked about your product like having his buddies refer to it as his sisters ride......a winner every time.
What the Motor Company needs to do is offer more "real rider" models at prices the segment they're drooling over can actual afford to buy. Hey, how about a $9,500 Dyna for starters? Think I'm nuts on this.........try asking actual HD dealers what they think, after all they're the ones that have to turn these young bucks away. And trust me, when it's your meal ticket, that hurts.
So there it is, the analyst are screaming that Harley is becoming an irrelevant brand unless saved by a huge influx of youth, the Motor Company takes up the challenge, pours tons of dough into reaching out to the young buggers........yet no one thought to develop product these rebels without an AARP card would actually want to buy! All HD's managed to do is make even more people aware of the fact that they don't have the product they want..........better to have spent it on the old codgers that still have a couple of nickles.
Look, it's a given that any company needs to develop new (in this case younger) customers if they are to survive, but they need to look holistically at the issue, and not fall into the trap of serving the analysis rather than the individuals that make up the analyzed. Are you listening Milwaukee????
OK, makes sense, the Motor Company needs some fresh meat to replace those of us that are calcifying as we speak. Seems strangely enough like common sense. You might even ask yourself, well why aren't those young whippersnappers loitering at the local HD shop o' goodies eyeing the shiny stuff with lust in their hearts?? And this is where it gets good..........Milwaukee, in lockstep with their masters in Manhattan, dutifully set out to woo said youngsters; who by the way, are apparently the only group of people on the planet blissfully unaware of Harley's existence.
All manner of strategies are employed, UFC sponsorships, supermodel spokespersons (whatever that is), product placement on hip TV shows, blah, blah, blah........insert cliche laden advertising gimmick here. All of which sadly miss the point, as is so often the case with "analysts" analysis....did any of these "best and the brightest" think to ask these wayward youth the root cause of their gross lack of interest? Judging by HD's strategy, I'm thinking no........
It would have taken just a couple afternoons at a rally, or a local dealership, any local dealership for that matter to determine that HD's "youth problem" was a product/price issue, not a lack of awareness of the brand, or a lack of desire for the brand. Younger folks simply can't afford the models they want. Boring I know, but facts is facts.
Milwaukee doesn't need to spend millions to spoon feed Gen X that Harley's are cool. News flash, they get it, they already know. What they don't get is why the only model in their affordability window is a puney 883 Sportster, you know, Harley's "girls bike". Yeah, nothing gets a testosterone fueled twenty-something stoked about your product like having his buddies refer to it as his sisters ride......a winner every time.
What the Motor Company needs to do is offer more "real rider" models at prices the segment they're drooling over can actual afford to buy. Hey, how about a $9,500 Dyna for starters? Think I'm nuts on this.........try asking actual HD dealers what they think, after all they're the ones that have to turn these young bucks away. And trust me, when it's your meal ticket, that hurts.
So there it is, the analyst are screaming that Harley is becoming an irrelevant brand unless saved by a huge influx of youth, the Motor Company takes up the challenge, pours tons of dough into reaching out to the young buggers........yet no one thought to develop product these rebels without an AARP card would actually want to buy! All HD's managed to do is make even more people aware of the fact that they don't have the product they want..........better to have spent it on the old codgers that still have a couple of nickles.
Look, it's a given that any company needs to develop new (in this case younger) customers if they are to survive, but they need to look holistically at the issue, and not fall into the trap of serving the analysis rather than the individuals that make up the analyzed. Are you listening Milwaukee????
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