CASHFLOW

I hope H-D has as much cash in the bank as I think they do. They and Buell are gonna need it to ride out the economic storm over the next few months. Harly sales are off on the order of 35% over the last two months and we are starting to see some dealers go under. For those who say that Buell needs to be free of H-D I reply that Buell may have been making a little money over the last two years but not nearly enough to handle this market. Hopefully the mothership can ride this one out and not emasculate Buell in the process.

Email me here; mailto:davegess@yahoo.com

I am in no way connected to Buell Motorcycle Company and anything I post here is pure speculation on my part and should be construed as having ANY connection to Buell.

Another Shot at the 299?

amamsuperbikeplanet.com is reporting that Jeremy McWilliams and Australian Garry McCoy will race Buells in '09 DMG/AMA action.  Add this to the Buell race mechanic ad last week and it is looking more and more likely that Buell is going racing.  The new AMA riles do seems to make this a perfect year to go after the Daytona 200 and I know that Erik would dearly love to win that race.  After all winning at Daytona has been something he has been trying to do since the days of the RW750.  He is disappointed that it has lost it’s international flavor and standing and has become unimportant on the international scene.  The ill-fated XBRR effort was inspired by the eagerness of dealers from 4 countries to jump on board.  I wonder if we might see a similar type of setup this time.   

 

Folks can whine about why a big twin gets to run against 600s but as far as I am concerned the rules are the rules.  Just like no one except the hardcore fans will understand or care about how much money Honda spends versus how Buell spends the same is true for displacements.  Winning is all that most folks will see or care about.

 

I do wonder just what Roger Edmundson has up his sleeve.  He has been know as a guy who puts on a very good race meeting, he is the guy who brought he CCS to it’s glory, so I have to think he has a pretty good plan to turn AMA racing around.  The current state of the sport is dismal.  Very few spectators, weak fields and pretty boring races mean that there has to be a pretty good upside to the sport.

 

Dave

Saving GM

It is sure looking like a rescue plan for GM is going to be a very close thing.  While I believe we have to do it I am glad that Congress is demanding a plan that is going to require some painful changes in Detroit.  GM in particular is being run into the ground and needs to undergo a radical reshuffling if they hope to survive.

 

The first thing they have to do is dump brands.  Pontiac, Buick, Chevy and Saturn all chasing the same consumer makes no sense in today’s world.  It was a decent plan back in 1960 when they had 50% of the US market but today it just cannibalizes sales between divisions.   They can keep some of the iconic nameplates they have, a hot rear drive platform could be a Pontiac GTO of example, but they can keep an entire division afloat.  Set up three divisions and three sales networks.

 

Cadillac does Caddies and maybe sells one car that carries the Buick badge.  No trucks. Chevrolet sells Chevies as well as the one or two Pontiac nameplates that survive.  They get pickups, vans and SUV’s.  GMC goes back to selling real trucks, not Silverado pickups with a big GMC logo on the front.

 

Next they need to take on the UAW (I am an old, card carrying union guy so I am not anti-union but the UAW is out of control).  The union and management need to work together to make the company more profitable so they have a bigger pie to split up.  Trying to get a bigger slice of a fast disappearing pie is idiocy.  The UAW needs to get on board with fixing the automakers of go away.  There is no middle ground.

 

And they have to control executive pay.  These guys have been getting huge bonus check to watch the ship sink.  That has to stop. Now.  

 

Dave

 

Email me at davegess@yahoo.com

 

 

I am in no way connected to Buell Motorcycle Company and anything I post here is pure speculation on my part and should be construed as having ANY connection to Buell.

What Does This Mean?

Buell is advertising for a race mechanic. Are they going racing? I am pretty sure Erik would love to field a serious race team but in this economic climate I have to wonder.

Could they be doing something really unusual...providing mechanical support at the track for privateers racing Buells? With the new AMA rules there should be some real opportunity for privateers on AMA weekends. With the support they already have in place and the simply incredible role that Henry Duga plays adding some mechanincal support would lead to a lot of folks racing Buells.

That would be pretty cool and a very American way to go about the business of racing. Giving the little guy some help.

We will know in a few months.