KC's Harley Davidson plant to close

[redfan]

Gonna lose about 800 jobs. Damn

http://www.kansascity.com/news/busin...197340544.html

[Randallflagg]

Originally Posted by Stinky Nuts McGee

I'll take them over the suicide jockeys on their doucherockets any day.

I have a fat boy (and have had several other Harley's over the years). 99% of the people out there don't understand the idea of loud pipes. I have been nearly hit 100 or so times - just minding my own business over the course of 40 or so years riding.

I finally took the hint and put "loud" pipes on my bike. Now, they HEAR me coming...even when they aren't seeing me.

[Otter]

Worked at Harley Davidson plant for 5 years in IT. You can thank the union for fleecing Harley Davidson for every nickle it could extort out of the company. Those asshole union reps were like dealing with the mafia. But don't worry, I assure you they'll walk away with a nice big compensation package not giving a shit about the lives they screwed in the process.

[Over Yonder]

Originally Posted by Eleazar

The boom from the decade of the 00s is long gone, boomers and the midlife crisis buyers from the reality show fad are getting too old to ride are selling their bikes off, millennials are not embracing motorcycling as much as the previous generation, etc etc

Really? That's not what's happening here. Although I know we are barely a blip on the radar. Of the dozen or so locals that are "bike riders" I think every one of them that have a son, the son is riding as well. And here, if you don't ride a Harley, keep whatever you ride hid. It's like a small cult.

This is just what I have observed, I'm not really a biker. Have rode a few times, but just not my thing. And I hate hearing about losing any jobs, let alone good manufacturing jobs.

[Sassy Squatch]

Originally Posted by Otter

Worked at Harley Davidson plant for 5 years in IT. You can thank the union for fleecing Harley Davidson for every nickle it could extort out of the company. Those asshole union reps were like dealing with the mafia. But don't worry, I assure you they'll walk away with a nice big compensation package not giving a shit about the lives they screwed in the process.

that's what membership pays them to do.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by BiStateNo

I have a fat boy (and have had several other Harley's over the years). 99% of the people out there don't understand the idea of loud pipes. I have been nearly hit 100 or so times - just minding my own business over the course of 40 or so years riding.

I finally took the hint and put "loud" pipes on my bike. Now, they HEAR me coming...even when they aren't seeing me.

And Bubb Rubb did his whistle pipe for exactly the same reason.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Dayze]

Originally Posted by BlackHelicopters

Harley’s product are well known repair mobiles.

maybe during the AMF days.

but from the EVO to the TC to the M8....they're very reliable.

the whole 'Harley's don't leak oil....the mark their territory" stuff is outdated and doesn't really apply anymore.

Not saying there aren't issues here and there but out of all of the people I've ridden with / know.....I've only heard of one story of a catastrophic failure of the motor. cam/timing chain tensioner shoe coming apart and fouling the oil pump. Motor had like 40k miles on it with the old spring tensioners before they went to hydraulic. IMO, that's a maintenance item (at least in terms of the spring loaded ones) that need to be looked at every 24k miles to replace the shoes if they are worn to the point of near failure. I think they switched to hydraulic tensioners in '08, and the shoes seem to last a lot longer now that a ton of unnecessary pressure isn't placed on them by the springs..

[Otter]

Originally Posted by MephistophelesJanx

HD has been steadily losing market share for the past decade plus. Something to do with charging top dollar for 100 year old tech.

That too. HD decided to ride their antiquated reputation until the wave broke, dried up, and a bum came and took a piss on it. Again, the union hand cuffed them from changing with the times in both technology and price modeling.

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by Eleazar

Isn't all that stuff made in China?

I don't know, check the tags in your closet.

[Sassy Squatch]

Originally Posted by Otter

That too. HD decided to ride their antiquated reputation until the wave broke, dried up, and a bum came and took a piss on it. Again, the union hand cuffed them from changing with the times in both technology and price modeling.

blaming the union for management failures. Unless Harley Davidson is completely reeruned there's a provision near the front of each contract that goes something like "Harley Davidson has the right to run the business as they see fit."

[Otter]

Originally Posted by Superturtle

blaming the union for management failures. Unless Harley Davidson is completely reeruned there's a provision near the front of each contract that goes something like "Harley Davidson has the right to run the business as they see fit."

I was a senior IT analyst at the York plant for 5 years. Trust me when I say you have no idea what you're talking about or the influence the union (aka. mafia) had over the day to day and long term business strategies within the company.

But hey, at least your overuse of smilies make you look like you know what you're talking about.

[Mephistopheles Janx]

Originally Posted by Pablo

I don't know, check the tags in your closet.

Mexico

[Sassy Squatch]

Originally Posted by Otter

I was a senior IT analyst at the York plant for 5 years. Trust me when I say you have no idea what you're talking about or the influence the union (aka. mafia) had over the day to day and long term business strategies within the company.

But hey, at least your overuse of smilies make you look like you know what you're talking about.

Yeah, no. I work at the Ford plant in Claycomo. UAW has **** all to do with business and mechanical decisions made by Ford. If Harley Davidson actually lets their union meddle in business and mechanical decisions that union brass would know nothing about then that's STILL 100% at the feet of Harley Davidson.

[WhawhaWhat]

[Dayze]

not saying one is better than the other....just pointing out what a rider/buyer can get for the same $$.


Ducati Multistrada 1200 (base Model; S model has even better Ohlins suspension):
BASE PRICE: $20,295
Powertrain: 1198.4-cc V-twin, chain drive, six-speed manual
OUTPUT: 160 hp at 9500 rpm, 100.3 lb ft of torque at 7500 rpm
Weight: 518
active suspension
IMU
ABS + cornering ABS
DTC (Ducati Traction Control)
Wheelie Control
Power Modes


160 hp at 9,500 rpm and 100.3 lb-ft of torque at 7,500.

Ducati manages all that power through the miracle of electronics. A Bosch Inertial Measuring Unit is the middle ear of the motorcycle, constantly determining whether you’re about to slide out, pop a wheelie or do a crowd-pleasing stoppie. The IMU is the centerpiece of a phalanx of electronic controls: everything from wheelie control, traction control and both ABS and cornering ABS to four separate riding modes. IMUs came on the market only fairly recently on hyperbikes and are slowly making their way down to the rest of the lineup, just as airbags and ABS started on luxury cars and are now on everything.

The biggest draw of the Multistrada is its versatility. Ducati says it’s four bikes in one: sport bike, tourer, daily rider and enduro. The way it manages that is at least partly through those four ride modes: Sport, Touring, Urban and Enduro. Each has different amounts of electronic safety net. Sport allows maximum power, sets the Ducati Skyhook suspension in sporty and draws minimal interference from traction control, wheelie control and ABS. Touring also allows maximum power but with a softer throttle response and higher intervention from electronic controls. Urban limits power output to 100 hp while softening the suspension and maintaining the touring settings for electronic controls. Enduro is also limited to 100 hp but sets the suspension in off-road mode, sets ABS to the lowest intervention level and turns off rear-wheel and cornering ABS altogether.


KTM Duke 1290 GT
Suggested Price: $19,999
Displacement 1,301 cc
Bore/stroke 108/71 mm
Power 127 kW (173 hp) @ 9,500 rpm
Torque 144 Nm (106 ft-lb) @ 6,750 rpm
Clutch PASC slipper clutch, hydraulically operated
Engine management/ignition Keihin EMS with RBW and cruise control, double ignition
Traction control MTC (3-Mode, disengageable)
Front brake 2 x Brembo Monobloc four piston, radially mounted caliper, brake disc Ø 320 mm
Rear brake Brembo two piston, fixed caliper, brake disc Ø 240 mm
ABS Bosch 9ME Combined-ABS (incl. Cornering-ABS and super motomode, disenengageable)
Dry weight approx. 205 kg






2017 Harley-Davidson Street Glide
MSRP Starting at $20,999
Engine Milwaukee-Eight 107
Engine Torque 111.4 ft.-lb.
Engine Torque 3250 rpm
Horsepower: I"m guessing around 90?
Weight, In Running Order 830 lb.

no ABS standard; no cornering ABS
no IMU
No traction control
no power modes

[Randallflagg]

Originally Posted by Superturtle

blaming the union for management failures. Unless Harley Davidson is completely reeruned there's a provision near the front of each contract that goes something like "Harley Davidson has the right to run the business as they see fit."

I have to agree here. My family was fairly "anti-union" and I was, as well, until I retired from the Army and ended up in a Union job. I wasn't in the Union (management) but the rank and file was.

I can only say that those guys (without) a union would have been screwed to hell and back. They worked their asses off, and I can only imagine what their jobs would have been like without representation. I had always heard that "the union takes all your money" - that's nonsense. back in the late 80s (when I started there) they were charged $34.00 per month. When I retired in 2014 - they were paying $50.00 per month and that included Health Insurance and pension.

So yeah, I'm not a HUGE union guy - but I DEFINITELY see the need for them.