a relaxing day @ the tattoo shop.
I spent my free time annoying my tattoo artist friend Turk . He has a little shop called Left Hand Black tattoo in San Diego Ca. . Today we decided to re vitalize an old foot tattoo and bring it up to date . This then spawned an idea to tattoo over a piece I had on my forearm for 20 years . Needless to say, it came out amazing. The day was documented thru the lens of eggs and ice cream. More to come . .....
Shop Dog
This is one of my shop dogs Jaxsin . Hes a super cool dude . He helps out as much as he can .
shop snaps
My friend has been poppin around the shop while we fuck shit up around the way . Shes been snappin some goodies .. here's a preview .
Harley Davidson – Caught in a trap .
Of course I am aware of rumors of a potential leverage buyout of Harley-Davidson (HOG) reportedly by private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR). True or not, we will know very soon. But in any case, we can wonder about what can be the new strategy for the Milwaukee factory. Will a better economy stop the Harley-Davidson motorcycle sales decline? Maybe slow it down if many get back a job or feel confident they will keep it. But in my opinion, it’s not enough because Harley problems, although hidden, like those of many other companies, were present before the economy turned sour. I know that many of you think that the strategy of lower prices is the magic pill. Is it? Let’s look at the past.
In the 70’s Harley-Davidson problems were created by a deterioration of the brand image due to poor quality & reliability of its motorcycles, absence of innovation and very poor customer service. The big 3 Japanese brands, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki offered much better quality for much lower prices. Harley-Davidson’s market share shrank from 39% in 1979 to 23% in 1983. Harley legendary image could do nothing to protect the brand. The company could either lower its bike prices to maintain its market share or hold prices but continue to give away market shares. Because of fixed costs, neither of these strategies could work without destroying the balance sheets. Like today, future was grim.
In 1981, after a management buyout of owner AMF, Harley’s leadership turned the company around by re-branding the company around the mix iconic/rebel image. Although there was some progress in reliability, it’s this new fabricated image who attracted new buyers, making the Japanese motorcycles advantage in reliability less important. It was the marketing demonstration that quality/reliability of a motorcycle may be for some less important than its image, in this case riding the symbol of the “American Outlaw”. Later, Harley-Davidson evolved this image from outlaw to rebel, from adventurous gentle bad boy to self-expression then to weekend warrior, continuously re-shaping and coloring its image to stay in tune with a growing population of former and new bikers turned white collar baby boomers.
To acquire these successive “biker personalities” while on your motorcycle you needed to buy not only the bike but the gear, the tees, the bandanas, the leather jackets and stock on some “collectibles” to clearly state who you were to family and friends. The fact that Harley was not able to produce fast enough in the 90’s, making buyers wait 6 months or more to get their motorcycles arrive on the dealer floor amplified the desirability of the brand. Harley boom peaked 2 more times during the 95th and 100th Harley Anniversaries. in 2003 the company announced its absolute best revenues of $4.6 billion, 13% more than the year before. It didn’t matter that a Harley-Davidson bike offer more than its direct competition. Image was (almost) everything and bikers were paying big bucks for it (market studies at that time said that a potential buyer was ready to pay up to 35% more to get a Harley versus a comparable model from the competition…). So, Harley-Davidson spent hundred of millions working and re-working its image. Custom builders, through their works, reinforced these successive images for the benefit of Harley capital image…
Baby Boomers got older. Some went to the comfortable touring motorcycle, spending much less in genuine or after-market custom and/or performance parts. Others went for the 3rd wheel or abandoned motorcycling for reason of poor health or age. More gray beards on the road amplified the perception by young Americans that Harleys are for their parents, not for them. Then the economic recession hit hard American families. The fear of depression remained the main topic of these last 4 years. Signs of recovery are still weak. Baby boomers are older and started to retire fearing for their last years financial well being. Young graduates and junior executives are looking for first jobs. Harley-Davidson, as painful as it may be for too many long time employees, is doing the right thing by trying to get lean & mean by closing unefficients plants . But it will never be to the point of being able to produce bikes in America at a lower cost than its competitors, or Harley will go very fast in the red.
Harley is pursuing the right strategy in organizing “Women Garage Parties”, but its big twins line-up and macho image has already intimidated too many women who, since many years, have already opted for competitors. Harley trying to “talk” to youngsters with blacked-out Sportsters and trying to seduce minorities is also the right approach. Problem is that Harley’s iconic status and image of these last 20 years is now irrelevant to these targets. If people have no discretionary money to spend, if young people refuse to consider the Harley brand because considered old, if women are already faithful to other brands, and if the Harley past iconic image can’t no more justify the price paid for their motorcycles, what is the solution? I am not sure that anyone in Milwaukee knows for sure.
During these last 3 years Harley has multiplied its incentives and dealers have discounted to the point of no profit just to maintain their sales objectives, keep cash flow positive to prevent going out of business. Sounds to me like a desperate temporarily strategy because Harley is structured such a way that there is no more room for discounts. Trying to preserve market share with lower prices has run its course. Harley-Davidson is caught naked without a strategy to attract generations X & Y. Harley sales have always been supported by image, much less by products and never by lower prices because it can’t compete on this criteria. But which image when you have to address so many different markets with different profiles with a potential clientele in majority new to motorcycles or very recent bikers? And this without alienating your core clientele and altering your iconic American image. Interesting marketing problem, isn’t? Harley-Davidson is caught in a trap. How to escape it? Many top Harley-Davidson executives are subscribed and read my Blog. Share your ideas with them…
By Cyril Huze.
http://www.cyrilhuzeblog.com/2010/03/18/harley-davidson-caught-in-a-trap/
For Sale : Front Street handlebars
FRONT ST CYCLE POLISHED STAINLESS DRAG BARS WITH INTEGRATED RISERS
1" POLISHED STAINLESS STEEL
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Handmade things are the best things
When you cant find what you need in a catalog or @ your local chopper shop, make it with your tools on the end of your arms . Here is our first sissy bar with multi bends made from a single piece of 3/8 steel roundbar . Hand bent . Hand pounded . Enjoy . Pics by Erik Brunetti / Canon 30 D
2010 redo .
New for 2010, amongst the other 10 million things going on is a re work of a Custom Cycle Creations / diamond Chassis 2 up / 2 out . I got the frame from a friend so I know the history of it but I took all the existing paint and rust off and checked the welds and the rest of the frame to be sure its still in solid condition . After sanding, priming and painting it flat black it was ready to start the process of becoming a functional machine again. I decided to use what I had lying around for " mock " stuff that wont be there in the end. Check back for more updates on this build called "Cybil 2010"
2010 Valentines Day rules .
1.) Stay away from any chicks named Amber, Kristin, Stacey or Victoria, these girls are spawned from an evil seed .
2.) Be careful is two words.
3.) If, at any point in your life, an 8 year old asks you to smell his finger for the love of god don't do it.
4.) Don't move to Colorado unless its for snowboarding, they dont like pitbulls there.
5.) Call your mother more often, you will wish you did later in life .
6.) Be nice. It's easier to blow people off because they are lame /stupid /vampires /christians /models /cat people or fuckfaces but they can all add to your experience of life, even if it's so you know what not to become.
7.) Try setting set your alarm for any other time than one that ends in a 7 and see how shitty your day is.
8.) Go to college, drink a lot of beer, screw a lot of people and get that worthless piece of paper that will make you seem like you are more qualified for a job than future you. You are'nt.
9.) Don't spend so much time on social media. Your a nerd.
10.) Prepare for the Zombie invasion AND your own retirement. That way you are ready for whatever happens.
11.) Don't tell people you think anything about their lives, it will cause dismay in the matrix.
12.) Learn to keep your to do lists short. You will get more done .
13.) Make love not war. Well, war when you have to because some people deserve to get destroyed but then make love to their moms when you are done, take pictures.
14.) F T W
Valentines Day card provided by www.westcoastchoppers.com
Shovelhead exhaust pipes
Trying to find pipes for an old shovelhead motor with a 4 speed ratchet top kicker and mids is pretty hard to do when you need some "SS" style pipes that come to a custom end length . When times are rough, make them yourself . Heres a few pics of the first set we came up with.
