The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

What Can Motorcycle Companies Learn From a Furniture Maker?

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Let's talk furniture. Well, let's talk about a certain, almost bankrupt, furniture maker and how the company was transformed. If you look at what happened, we might see a few lessons for some motorcycle companies struggling through the slump. Norwalk Furniture from Norwalk, Ohio, was having a really tough time due to the housing market being in the dumps, fewer new homes … [Read more...]

Honda CR500R Resto Mod – One Niche at a Time

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Here's one answer to the "anti-trend" segmentation of the motorcycle market, a 1991 Honda CR500R resto-mod by Jason Meyer. If you look at the photos, you see a spotless, better than new, off road bike built just the way the owner likes it. It's almost 20 years old and he's got something you can't buy in any showroom. Jason has to build on a budget, but this bike looks great, … [Read more...]

The Next Motorcycle Trend May Be No Trend at All

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"Choppers are over." That's really old news, their day came and went and may, some time down the road, come again, ... or maybe not. What's interesting are comments we see on many posts here showing a cafe racer, board tracker, street tracker or some other style of motorcycle where the complaint is we're seeing too many of those, implying that style is also too popular and … [Read more...]

Sbay Motor Company Wins Production Manufacturer Class at World Championship

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If you look at some of the other results at the 2010 World Championship, there's a lot to like and many of the entries are far removed from all of the chopper variations of not too many years ago. The winner of the production class is this entry from Sergio Bayarri of Sbay Motor Company of Spain. Using a RevTech 110 cubic inch V-Twin, though it could as easily have been any of … [Read more...]

Harley Davidson Completes Sale of MV Agusta

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Harley Davidson completed the sale of MV Agusta to Claudio Castiglioni, former owner of the marque. UPDATE: An article in the Wall Street Journal has a few details from the 8K filing with the SEC. It's probably a good thing they sold it, but as an investment, it certainly didn't turn out well. Note to Harley, don't buy Italian motorcycle companies. In the filing Harley … [Read more...]

Harley Davidson Leaving the Sidecar Business

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Harley Davidson has seen a significant decrease in demand for sidecars since their Tri-Glide models got rolling, so they've decided to exit the sidecar business. This is a pretty big move since sidecars have been a part of Harley Davidson since, well, ... almost forever. It's another move in the company's efforts to concentrate on their core business which is pretty much down … [Read more...]