Triumphrat

Drifter

Searching on yahoo sports this morning for the college and nascar updates an ad appeared in the middle of the page. It went something like this. As a soldier returning home from combat fighting for freedom i want to enjoy my life of freedom here that can only be accomplished on a HD...........what a crock of crap! Freedom means riding what you want!!!!

Im a disabled vet and freedom to me means riding what i want when i want. Maybe someone at the motor company needs to realize all military men are not lemmings that have to ride a HD to enjoy their freedom when they return home!! This ad along with the Buell ad dissing Triumph and Drag bikes shows a sign of desperation on their part! Maybe they dont realize there is another American made bike Company called VICTORY which has more American parts than HD.

Whats next..you are not a true American unless you buy one of our 35000 dollar hogs........or 500 dollar jacket ....or a pile of the endless supply of panties trinkets and other junk all made in china....all official HD of course.

I did not then or now need a HD to enjoy my freedom!

Silverado57

First, THANK YOU for your service to America Drifter.

Also, good eye on mentioning Victory. Since they run a FREEDOM 100/106 v-twin in their bikes, Victory is the more logical choice on many levels.

__________________
Kevin
Luceo Non Uro
NJ USA

HiDesert

True, but it's the marketing department's job to make you belive that you have to have an HD to enjoy your freedom. And never underestimate the skills and effectiveness of the HD marketing department.

__________________
I won't stop riding because you tell me about someone who died in an accident, just as I won't stop eating because someone died of e.coli.

HiDesert's ride photos

Cycles

Perhaps it works in some locales but I have to suspect that many people find that type of hype to be so cheesy that it flirts with comedy. The HD 2009 marketing literature had my wife and I chuckling like children. Here is a random quote I found by opening the book to a random page and copying the first thing I read:


"A WORK IN COMBUSTION AND STEEL
By CUSTOM VEHICLE OPERATIONS.
The medium is the motorcycle.
The effect is beyond anything you'd expect from a production bike. Thundering 1803cc V-twins with Screamin' Eagle Performance Parts. Sculpted metal pieces you won't find anywhere else. Glimmering paint jobs from the custom painter's palette."

No wonder they cost so much. Sculpted metal pieces have to be worth more than parts and accessories.

deluxe

$100 bucks say this was written by a woman, probably 22-24 years old, fresh out of college with a marketing degree, who has never ridden a bike nor been on the back of one.

Knowing a thing or two about marketing, this sounds very amateurish

Cycles

My favorite part is still the first page.

"
Do you think you know what it's like?

The irresistible pull forward.
The detail to lose your soul in.
The factor-forged custom.
The frame geometry beneath all the art.
The authenticity you can't get from anything else.
The metal.
The mountains of torgue.
The connection to something bigger.

If you've never ridden a Harley-Davidson motorocyle, you don't.
"

The first thought through my head was - I don't and I won't. I like some of the Harley machines but I'm not prepared to lose my soul in one.

welshrob

Hmm, I guess you don`t like their marketing blurb, I hear what you`re saying but be honest, even if if you thought the marketing was good you wouldn`t have bought a Harley, would you?

It is utterly pointless trying to appeal to a market that will not buy your product, likewise it is irrelevant what non consumers think of your marketing.

Harley Davidson are marketing GENIUSES and they are much admired and quoted for what they do. I`ve have been to many marketing courses that have used Harley as an example.

THINK ABOUT IT... they have a range of bikes which are very expensive and err.. not all that good at doing most of the things motorcyclists want their bikes to do. So you end up with a product that will be difficult to sell on value or its merits. So how do you sell it? You don`t. You sell an image and a lifestyle, which you will only get when you buy the bike. And your marketing targets people who have a lot of money but are a bit lacking in the image and lifestyle department. Very, very clever.

I`m not bagging Harleys or the people that ride them, I like them, I had one on long term loan for a couple of years. I daresay if they keep doing what they do so well, they will be around long after a lot of other manufacturers have gone belly up,

__________________


"An unarmed man can only flee from evil and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it."

JimF51

Yeah, the ad may bite, but like someone else stated, HD's marketing does sell bikes.

In fairness to HD, the give service members excellent deals. If deployed, you can order a brand new HD with a excellent discount price and have it waiting for you when you get Stateside. And if you happen to be stationed overseas and have a HD with you, you can service done at something like half price, and deep discounts on parts and accessories.

Now other mfr, not even our beloved Triumph, does anything like that.

__________________
Jim F

"Are you a Mod or a Rocker?"
"No, I'm a Mocker!"

Bonnie06Tangerine

JimF is right; I had to think long and hard over a HD last time I was deployed. This is a pretty good value that they offer and it is nice that they offer this to the servicemembers. With that said, the price tag is still wickedly high in my opinion and I am a sucker for a Trumpet. Wouldn't it be nice if Triumph offered this as well...I can see having two or three Trumpets sitting in my garage if they did but I won't be holding my breath for that day to come.

Drifter

I understand there marketing is one of the best, but it seems they reached a new low on this one and i suspect more to come as there sales decline. If the ad was by Ford or GM or anyone else i would feel the same way. Saying, if you dont pay through the ass and ride our bikes you cant enjoy your freedom to me is an insult to all those that serve the country. Freedom means exactly that FREEDOM to ride drive do what you want drink the beer you want etc...most guys when the get out want to be as far away from the orders and regulation of military life as possible. Being told you cant have fun unless you ride this or drink that is an afront to the word freedom in itself and what they risked their lives for in the first place.

Alot of HD sales are based on this type of intimidation and peer pressure from others who have been sucked in to the whole harley thing so they pressure there friends to buy one so not to feel like limp dicks themselves. How many times have you heard people say when alone and asked...why did you buy a harley. Cause my friends gave me **** for riding a (pick any brand) so i caved in............ and became a sheep.

You know what i say to that, **** them find some new friends who have the stones to ride what they want or god forbid...ride and think for themselves. Believe me there are others out there who think like this many right here. The more you exercise your freedom from the pack the more people you meet along lifes highway with equal and diverse opinions of riding and life in general. We only have one shot at life, there are no rewind buttons so enjoy it and truly understand what America is about...Freedom!!