Here.

 

WOW!!! Those words actually coming from a “Harley Lifer”!?!?! At what point in a person’s life does money take such a hold that they turn to plastic and recite whatever horse sh*t that will keep the dough flowing.

To offend a large portion of your own customer base by being spineless, and Mr. Wiener, I am offended that you believe my tastes are “unfortunate” and harmful to the customers that provide your $11K a week paycheck!

Comments like that are “not a good way to go for the long-term health of the industry”.

[sm=boosign.gif]

 

After reading that interview the guy is an idiot; he's going to destroy what Harley has built over the years.

 

I think a lot of you are confused on the meaning of the words 'sound' and 'decibels'.

 

no, that's a little short sighted. i am pretty sure most of us know the difference, especially in the traditional definition of the word. What you are infering that we might be confusing is the actual "potato-potato" sound with volume.

What I am refering to is the overall "sound" of the HARLEY. It's "sound" or character, many of us believe, is defined by the not only the potato but the legacy and history of the snap, pop and BLAAAAAAA sound, which we all identify with some significant degree of volume. No?

Trust me, the moniker that is associated with this "sound" didn't come from the long history of the biker (baddass gang or otherwise) blasting down the freeway or through town on what sounds like a vespa skooter! Right?

And in actuality, that sound profile changes depending on the baffling system: short, thumpy, stacato, tinny, snappy, raspy, bassy, (you get the point), the majority of which do not and have not happend with stock pipes, not since the 70's anyway.............hence, the identifying nature of the overall sound.

Thats like saying that Hendrix, Led Zeplin and say AC/DC would have been who they are today without amplifiers.................and Jimmy, Robert saying now that it was UNFORTUNATE that people liked to hear listen to them at a volume to wake the dead...........maybe we should give some of that money back.

The sound, including the volume or decibles of said sound, is defiant of normal society, and that is what many of the customers are buying, a small piece of that historical defiance. Hell, he even says that in his own statements with regard to the average guy owning one.

and furthermore, if it weren't such an itegral part of what make a harley a harley..............where are all the aftermarket pipe companies getting all their money from?

And on another note, I disagree with his statements that the un-obtainability and the premium price was killing the brand. Again, that one of the things that defines the brand. Tell that to Ferrari, Bently, Walley Yachts (if you don't know, look 'em up!) Rolex, the Amex Black card. If every joe blow on the street could just waltz in and get one the, they would be flying around town on every corner like the Ford Taurus...............then..............its just a Taurus.........or



a.............shudder...........a .................................................. ...................honda!


sorry, i'll step down now.

 

Interesting post but you didnt get me. Here is what Mr. CEO said:
Jimi or Angus being played so only you can hear it it your car is one thing, but turning it up so loud that you annoy the people in the houses you pass by, or the people at the stop light within a 30 yard radius is another. Same sound different decibels. The same goes for pipes. My across the street nieghboor a few years back had straight pipes on his RK. He started it up every morning at 5:00 A.M. and woke me my wife my stepdaugher and most the rest of the block. Also when he came home at 2 or 3 or 4 on weekends then left it running while he opened the garage then pulled it in and revved a few times before shutting it off. When confronted he got all high & mighty and in essence told us his rights to loud pipes out wieghed our right to sleep. THAT is the person CEO is talking about. The retired firefighter right next door had a stone stock Heritage Softail that purred like a kitten, was plenty loud, sounded great but wasnt loud enough to wake people 4 doors down out of a solid sleep. THAT is the difference.

 

Then the CEO needs to make this differentiation. The way he described it was just using the word loud. Like all pipes except stock are loud because they don't sound that way when they leave the factory.

Sit next to a tractor trailer at an intersection and they're just as loud as any Harley, Mr Zeimer.

 

I think that is exactly it. He's a CEO being interviewed bya business magazine very much in the public eye as well as the government. Ziemer is just making all the right noises to placate the powers that be and their narrow minded PC existance. I have a feeling if you were to get this guy talking one on one over a beer he would probably laugh at his own dialog in that interview. Just gotta play the PR game.

 

It sounds like he did make that distinction, to the guy with the loud radio and the guy with the loud pipes. I caught the point he was trying to make. And you want to compare a truck about 500 times the size of a harley to a Harley, noise wise?

 

I don't like the idea of that much more production. It is really going to hurt resale if they keep production levels that high.