November 2008 Archives

Harley Davidson first debuted the XR1200 at the Intermot International Motorcycle Exhibition in Cologne, Germany in 2006, looking to measure the overseas interest in the dirt-track racer inspired Harley. 

That viewing of the bike went well, and in early 2008 HD announced that they would be producing the XR1200, but to the dismay of the domestic Harley faithful it was only released in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Rider Ed Krawiec and his Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines Harley Davidson entered the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals trailing reigning class champion Matt Smith by just 19 points.  For those unfamiliar with the scoring in the NHRA, a driver/rider is awarded 20 points for each elimination round reached, so Krawiec had to simply last through one round more than Smith to secure a championship win.  Krawiec made his way through a first round run against Peggy Llewellyn, and in the second round he went head to head with Chip Ellis, and this race marked his second win of the event (and second convincing win over a Suzuki).


 Smith, riding the Nitro Fish Buell, wouldn't go down without a fight, and in the first round he ripped off the only 7-second run in the first round, taking out Mike Berry. However, the second round run against Chris Rivas wasn't so forgiving for Smith, in a run that was especially interesting to Krawiec.  Rivas entered the event third in points, trailing Krawiec by just 25 points and staring at a championship of his own, when Smiths bike broke around half track giving Rivas the easy win.  This also put Ed Krawiec in sole possession of first place at that point in the event, with Rivas nipping at his heels.

This Friday morning has opened on a slight upside, with stock prices up from yesterday, but without a substantial (and unexpected) spike in prices, HOG looks to close at its lowest weekly price.  HOG opened this morning with a price of 12.63, up 0.73 from last nights price at the bell, and prices have spent the early part of the day in the low 12 dollar range, but that's likely little comfort to investors who have watched the stock drop over 50% since the end of the October and 70% since August.

HOG is near facing its lowest unadjusted closing prices since the mid 1980s, but as prices get very low, other companies have seen that cause booms in stock sales, as those who generally don't play the market find themselves considering incredibly low stock prices for companies in which they are generally interested.

The Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.) organizes some of the largest and most popular Harley events annually, and they have announced that Oklahoma City as the host of the 2009 H.O.G. OKC.  This event will be held on June 27-27, 2009, at the Oklahoma State Fair Park, and it will offer a wide variety of HD related entertainment under the name "Club HOG OKC".  

Activities at the event will include musical acts on two stages, demo rides on 2009 Harley and Buell models, service seminars, the Willie G. Award, the H.O.G. Wall of Ink tattoo contest, the H.O.G. Garage, The Chapter Parade of Flags, and many other related functions. Of course, free motorcycle parking will be offered, and Kiddie demo rides are also being offered, so CLUB HOG OKC could be fun for the whole family.

The stock market has continued its downward spiral, and luxury items, such as Harley Davidsons, have been hit the hardest.  Company stock prices today have been in the 16.90-17.05 range early on this Friday, and HOG closed the week of 11-3-2008 at 21.31. Based on the trends this week, there is a chance that HOG could look at a weekly closing under 20.00 for the first time since the week ending January 7, 1991.

The SEMA (Special Equipment Market Association) Show in Las Vegas every year is held to recognize the leaders in the automotive aftermarket industry.  This is aimed at the aftermarket for cars and trucks, but in the past few years some motorcycles have found their way into various displays, and this year saw a handful of bikes from Orange County Choppers.







The first two that we came across were the OCC Mobil 1 Bagger and the OCC Airgas bike.  The Airgas bike built in 2006 as part of a deal between OCC and Airgas, as they provided all of the welding equipment for several seasons. Both of these bikes were fairly tame as OCC bikes go.