Motorcycle Views

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Here's a gem from the past. Better late than never.

Honda, Harley-Davidson and the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Announce Joint Venture with Ford Motor Company

April 1, 2007

I don't know if you've ever heard of the Google Alert system. It allows you to register, select keywords you want to track, and give your email where the Alerts will be sent. I get maybe 10 or more alerts a day having to do with motorcycles. Today, I got an Alert that shocked me and I need to tell you about it.

First, here's the Alert Summary as I received it:

Google Alert for: motorcycles

American Honda, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, and Motorcycle Safety Foundation Announce Joint Venture with Ford Motor Company
MILWAUKEE (AF) - In an unprecedented move by two of the largest motorcycle companies, a beleaguered automobile company, and an organization dedicated to training motorcycle riders to be safety conscious, a new company, Ford-Harley-Honda-Safety Motor Company has been formed. According to a company spokeswoman, the F-H-H-S Motor Company will provide vehicle choices that will track the complete life span of motorcyclists. It will also provide complete training of its customers to ensure that riding motorcycles will be just as safe as driving a car.

Well, this got my attention and I immediately began researching the Alert to be able to bring you all the details. I hope my insider story will be better told than Pat O'Brien's 20 minute diatribe on the Insider TV show the other night as he tried to explain to reporter Lara Spencer that the late Anna Nicole Smith's boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, was not the same as shock jock Howard Stern.

But to be serious, let me continue and tell you what I have uncovered.

For many years Honda and Harley-Davidson have independently worried about what they needed to do to retain customers. Historically, most riders have taught themselves how to ride and that has resulted in many accidents, injuries, and deaths over the years. Each permanent injury or death results in one less motorcycle-buying customer. For the past 33 years, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation has trained numerous riders in safe riding practices. Also, Harley-Davidson's Rider's Edge training program has assisted new Harley riders to learn the same safe riding techniques.

"Such training pays off," said Harley-Davidson Senior VP of Styling, Willie G. Davidson. "Our Rider's Edge program together with the MSF program just seemed like something we needed to get under one umbrella. That's one reason the new company is being formed." Davidson was speaking at a press conference where the new CEO of The F-H-H-S Motor Company was being introduced.

"It gives me great pleasure to introduce our new CEO, my daughter, Karen Davidson," said Willie.

The assembled crowd at the press conference was abuzz. Would Karen Davidson, who until recently was General Merchandise Creative Director at Harley-Davidson, be up to running a huge company like this?

Ms. Davidson thanked her father and then proceeded to outline why F-H-H-S was created and what its mission would be.

"I guess you're all wondering why such diverse companies have merged," said Karen. "It's simple. We need a new company to track our customers. In my old job I was responsible for merchandising. You know, selling H-D branded clothing, beer mugs, lamps, clocks, piggy banks, you name it. We catered to our customer and gave them what they wanted. That's the same mission for the new company and that made me the logical choice for CEO. Here's what the company will be doing:

Honda and us will be combining our product lines. We want to provide a complete motorcycle product line over the complete lifetime of a rider. We'll get riders early with the F-H-H-S Rebel 250. We're taking training to the high schools. Our MSF training division will be offering free riding courses along with driver training courses. We'll then rent a Rebel 250 to each student for $100 a year. As they gain experience, we'll provide them with an upgraded model every six months. It'll come automatically via UPS. We'll pick up the old bike when we deliver the new one. Our customers will never want to buy anything else because we'll always offer them a better deal than anyone else. Of course having both Honda and Harley together makes it even better. We essentially lock up the market.

Our riders will be upgraded starting with the Rebel 250, then through the Shadow 600, Shadow Aero 750, Sportster 883, Sabre 1100, V-Rod 1130, Sportster 1200, VTX1300, Road King 1584, and VTX1800.

As the riders age, they may need to augment their rides with three or four wheeled versions. That means some riders will switch to trikes. Harley will be producing its trike in conjunction with Lehman. That has already been announced last year. Honda will discontinue its support of trikes and drop its Gold Wing model. We'll be concentrating on using our time-proven Electra Glide Ultra Classic as the basis for our trike. Of course we still produce a sidecar model.

Now for where Ford comes in. Our Ford division will be providing a new vehicle just for motorcyclists.

Most riders these days get to an age where they want to look good on their bikes but don't have the stamina to hold up the bike for long trips. Many have trailered their bikes or put them in the back of pickup trucks. We're going to change that for the better with our new products.

The Ford division will be producing a new F-150 based truck with built-in capability to haul our motorcycles. You'll have two options.

First, you'll be able to ride your bike up to the back of the truck into a new locking port. Then with the push of a button, the bike will automatically be lifted completely inside the truck where it will be protected from the elements. In fact, it will even lift the bike with a rider on it. The roof opens up and receives the bike and rider and then the roof closes. Inside, the bike is firmly mounted and can't tip. You can even choose to ride inside the truck still perched on the seat of the motorcycle. This is a great convenience when it starts to rain or snow. No messing with anything. Just ride to the locking port, push a button on your bike, and presto, you're inside the truck. Of course this means that 2-up long trips are out so the pillion rider can now drive the F-H-H-S truck.

The second option is an attach capability. This can be used to support the rider and allow him or her to rest for awhile at speed. In other words, the rider attaches the bike while going down the road. A special docking maneuver will be effected under computer control. The rider can rest up a bit and then decide to unlock and flow back out into the traffic stream under motorcycle power.

Ford and Harley each began selling vehicles in 1903. Honda produced its first bike in 1949. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation was founded in 1973. That's a combined total of nearly 300 years in the business of building vehicles and training people to use them. We expect our new company, F-H-H-S Motor Company to be the leading motorcycle company for at least another 100 years."

"Karen, What about your automobile business?" yelled a reporter from the Wall Street Journal.

"Good question," said Karen. "As you know, Ford has not done well lately. Even its truck business has suffered. We're lucky that so many of our truck buyers also own Harley-Davidson motorcycles. We will be selling our regular car business to General Motors. We'll retain the truck business and fold it into F-H-H-S. That process should be complete by the end of the first quarter of 2008. Just in time for April Fools Day which also happens to be today."

Get ready to lay out a lot of cash to support your motorcycle habit

In the beginning there was the idea. Pretty innocuous at first: "I want to learn to ride a motorcycle." Just a simple goal, perhaps one that you've been thinking about a long time and finally have the family situation and money to accomplish. You encounter all the typical resistance from your family and friends but decide to go ahead anyway. You do it right. You buy a starter motorcycle and sign-up for a Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) class. You find out after finishing the course that you really like to ride motorcycles so you continue your training with a good friend who has a lot of years of experience and has taken several MSF courses. Somewhere along the line you wake up one morning and realize that you have been bitten by the motorcycle bug and there is no cure.

Over the course of a year, you outgrow your first motorcycle and buy a bigger one.

Then after about six more months you decide you want to do some serious touring and want to cross several states. You end up needing to part with some serious cash to buy a new motorcycle. Now, when you just had the idea you wanted to ride back two years ago, you didn't realize that this need to ride would impact such a large part of your personal balance sheet. You find that a new touring bike is going to set you back as much as $18,000. Logic seems to have flown out the window by now so you find all kinds of ways to rationalize this purchase.

Also, you have had to upgrade your wardrobe by purchasing a helmet, boots, summer gloves, winter gloves, balaclava, wind triangle, denim jacket, leather motorcycle jacket with liner and vents, long winter riding suit, long underwear, electric vest, gloves, and socks, leather chaps, and numerous turtleneck pullovers. And, your buddy has a full leather riding suit that you've been eyeing and that's probably next.

As soon as you get the new motorcycle, you notice that they left something off. That piece of plastic on the side where the air from the engine comes out looks terrible. You run down to your dealer to buy a chrome replacement. On the way out the door, you see another customer's bike just like yours except it has a rack on the back trunk and what are those lights that go all the way around the bike? You don't have those. You run back in and inquire how you can get these features too. No problem. All it takes is cash. Are you beginning to get the picture? Your bike is fast becoming a money pit.

But this is only the beginning. As you travel around on your bike you see that other motorcyclists have customized their bikes in many beautiful and expensive ways. You find yourself drawn like a magnet to vendors who promise to add better performance to your bike's engine and suspension by buying their products. You find your backside is not dealing well with the stock seat and you have to decide among six different brands of custom seats. You're outgrowing your carrying capacity so you start investigating adding a trailer. The money is really flowing now.

Then one day your significant other comes up to you and says: "Honey, I want to get my own bike."

Well, double trouble is not what you expected when you set out on this journey to follow your dream. But, the die has been cast. Your life is over as you used to know it. All your children's inheritance is slipping fast.

The funny thing is you know your life has changed for the better. You've been places you never would have gone. You've met people you never would've met and had the best time of your life on your motorcycle.

In a way, you've been blessed in that now both of you are hooked into a new life of motorcycling. Yes, buying a bike is only the beginning and you will never be the same again.

2008 Orange County Choppers (OCC) Motorcycle Day Trip Pictures taken on July 27, 2008

The following are pictures and captions from a motorcycle day trip from Freehold, NJ to Orange County Choppers (OCC) in Newburgh, NY.

I'm showing this now since I just realized that this was probably the last motorcycle trip that I took with my wife, Jane. She died slightly more than one month later on August 31, 2008 in a car accident with two of her girl friends as they were going on a trip to the Outer Banks. Jane was a front seat passenger as another car ran a stop sign and crashed into the car killing both its driver and Jane. The other two women in Jane's car were severely injured but did survive. See Jane's Tribute for details.

The last picture in this article is of the two of us.

The regular monthly gathering of Chapter NJ-F (F Troop) of the Gold Wing Road Riders Association (GWRRA) was held at the Empire Diner. After the gathering, many members and guests rode to the Orange County Choppers (OCC) headquarters in Newburgh, NY. We rode in three groups each with a leader and drag rider. Most members communicated via CBs to keep the groups together and informed.

We stopped at the last rest stop on the Garden State Parkway in NJ. The lower gas prices in NJ as opposed to those in NY was one reason that this stop was made.

OCC headquarters was just off Exit 17 of the NY Thruway. The building is quite impressive as viewed from the Thruway. Total distance to OCC was 105 miles. This place has become a mecca for motorcyclists.

Our members, wearing red, walk toward the OCC building.

The front of the building contains the famous OCC motorcycle logo.

I found a lot of people hanging around the entrance waiting for groups to form or posing for pictures on the front steps.

Inside, many of the famous OCC theme bikes were displayed around the periphery of the building. Shown here is the Air Force Bike. Most of the building seen by visitors is devoted to OCC merchandise. Inside a secluded doorway was a corridor leading to a one-way window where the shop area seen on the Discovery Channel TV show can be viewed. A sign on the window says not to knock on the window to get the attention of the OCC employees.

This is the aircraft style gas tank on the Air Force Bike.

Individual shells on the Air Force Bike

The NY Giants Bike. Some details shown below.

In the center of the handlebars of the NY Giants Bike

The gas tank of the NY Giants Bike

The football shaped air cleaner on the NY Giants Bike

I'm running one new Motorcycle Views Poll in each issue of the newsletter. Please participate in each poll so we can all find out what's happening in motorcycling.

Here's Poll No. 36 (It may take a few seconds to load, so please be patient.): When you buy a motorcycle, is it only new, only used, or a toss up?

The latest Motorcycle Views Poll also appears on the front page of the Motorcycle Views website.

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6. Five Motorcycle Terms:

7. Motorcycle Video:

This New Jersey rider took a high-speed trip through heavy traffic at speeds as fast as 140 mph. Then, with many cops trying to stop him, he evaded them. He posted this video on YouTube and four months later police were able to track him down. I don't encourage such behavior. He also managed to perpetuate the general public's view that we all ride like this. Check out the video.

8. NEW! My Latest Book, Motorcycle Kick-Starts:

9. Motorcycle Picture of the Month for April 2016:

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