ATK & Hyosung get inside the Harley dealer network

[bomber]

“The management at Harley-Davidson knows what we are doing with some of their dealers, however, they do not endorse our activities in any way.”


Last I heard, HDI frowned on dealers carrying anything other than HDI -- Uke's caught a ration, IIRC, for their KTM business . . . . .

This'll be interesting to watch, no matter what. Folks dismssed Honda not all that long ago, but they did ok.

[chornbe]

Looks like a VRod to me :shrugs:

It's not the lines that bother me... it's the... I dunno... disjointed nature of it all being put together. It's got a disruptive flow. There's no shui to its fung.  

[ACDNate]

While Hyosung can't be compared directly to the major Japanese manufactures today, I think it's fair to compare them to the Japanese manufacturers circa 1965. I've owned a Hyosung GT250. Was a great bike in it's own right. Frame almost identical to the Suzuki GS500E model, motor comparable in power output to the Ninja 250, with better low end response from the v-twin. Fit and finish were appropriate for a bike of it's level, even better when you account for the $2000 out the door brand new I paid for it.

I've ridden and been around a handful of GV650's. The fit and finish is similar to the GT, good quality but not up to Honda standards. The carb'd engine is as good if not a bit better than the 1st gen SV650's. And yes I have ridden them to make a legitimate comparison. I haven't ridden the new FI models from Hyosung so I can't speak to those.

For the price they can be had at they are hard to beat. Brand new 2007 model GT650's can be bought for around $3500 OTD. Pairing with a company like ATK, speaks volumes of their capacity.

I'm kind of shocked that HD dealers would bring in another line. Speaks volumes for the HD brand's ability to weather tough economic times...

[chornbe]

I'm kind of shocked that HD dealers would bring in another line. Speaks volumes for the HD brand's ability to weather tough economic times...

I think it's more like the DEALERS' ability to weather tough economic times.

I'd sell s'mores from an aircraft factory if it would help the bottom line in these times.

[DaleFranks]

Frank White has been working on this for months, and he first mentioned it to me on the phone back in August.  He's got about 30 of the established, large, high-volume dealerships lined up, and they really want something else in addition to Harleys to bring in younger riders.

The plan is to bring in the new 700cc Aquila, and bringing in and assembling the 650 and 250 bikes with different US-manufactured bodywork in Utah, puting an ATK badge on the tank, and sending them, as well as ATK dirt bikes, out to the dealers.

That gives the dealers some entry-level cruisers, and dirt bikes, to bring in something other than 50 year-old pirates as customers.

[oremike]

I'll bet parts for 10 year old ATK's are still hard to come by. And like my local H/D dealer the parts and service dudes only spoke H/D. My friends with Buells had to go to a different dealer 125 miles away to talk to someone with brand knowledge.  Even after buying the Buell at the local dealer. For what ever it's worth the local Triumph dealer sells Hyosung's as does the Yamaha dealer in the next town over. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

[Bravo12]

American out-sourcing at its best.  (Or is it really Korean out-sourcing to the U.S.?)  WTG Harley!  Let those fags walk around Korean bikes on their way to the t-shirt displays.

[krakum1967]

Well, new member but hey I like to jump in feet first.

I owned an 883 in the nineties, and I have never been happier to get rid of that disappointingly under-powered and cantankerous machine.  I have had more thrills on a Kawasaki 454, I swear. I tried getting back to Harley with the big twin 96 on the Dyna Fat Bob.  It was a 2008 FXDF Denim Black.  Nice bike, but I got caught in a 30 mile per hour headwind one day, and that bike could not crawl north of 70 mph in that headwind.  It also had a personality that ranked right up there with most manic depressives.  Happy and fun one moment, down and depressed the next.  And Harley Services?  Oh my god, why does a man have to pay 189 dollars for a freaking oil change?  Parts, accessories and services are redonkulously expensive. Combine these costs with threats from my dealer about cancelling the extended warranty whenever I tried to save cash and do my own maintenance, the love affair lasted exactly one year.  I also participated in the Harley Owners Group with my dealer, and it made me feel like I was in High School again.  Seriously, I was the most junior member by 17 years, my wife and I felt like babies there, and all events and parties wrapped up by 9:00 pm.  I know North Dakota has a high level of older citizens, but man was that an old crew.

I sold the Fat Bob this spring, took a loss, promptly marched down the street to the new Hyosung dealer, and bought the GV650AE EFI (red and Black), my second Hyosung sense my wife has been happily riding her GV650 (UM version v2c 650 T) since 2007 in comfort with no issues. These bikes are light, nimble, strong, powerful, and FAST. I have enough power (72 HP with 50 Ft/lbs of torque stock) and a 10500 red line motor on a 5 speed transmission (who ever thought the 6 speed was a good idea on the big twin should be b**** slapped by the way) that allows me to blow big twins of all displacements away, and Sportsters are more of a bother than a challenge.

Don’t get me wrong, Harleys are great, and if I ever make 6 digits or when the lottery to be able to pay the extravagant service fees, I will be next in line to buy a Road King Classic.  But, I took the challenge of the UM dealer in my area, and road one before I made judgments.  Don’t get me wrong, they are loaded in plastic (I hate that cheap chrome I must admit), and need fit and finish work to complete the line. But they are designed to be light, and have a fantastic power to weight ratio.  I weigh 300 pounds and can still burn out on the Hyosung EFI.  For now, I cannot personally afford Harleys until things turn around.

I actually bought Progressive Harley Chrome shocks that they put on the Fat Bob, and mounted them on the Hyosung, and custom fit a set of Rinehart Slip-ons onto a set of Larry Craig pipes, and modified the airbox on the EFI model which boosted me up to 79 HP on my last dyno run.  This power sits on a 450 pound frame with a Belt drive(Liquid cooled too).  It is FAST.  I have had to deal with nuisance issues like safety switches or tip over switches, but ALL makes (including the omnipotent HD) have quirks.  And what do most Harley owners do?  They do the exact work that I did to finish up and improve the look and feel of my Hyosungs.  I replaced grips, added floorboards, saddlebags, a wind screen, made suspension changes, ran through the bike and tightened all bolts and fittings, and removed all unnecessary safety switches that I do not require.  This is the same work I do on the Hondas, Kawasakis, and even the Harley which has a real bad habit of shaking loose the exhaust bolts.

If you test rode these bikes prior to 2007 models, those early models had issues.  But there have been significant improvements in quality, parts supplies, and accessories over the last two years.  They will be launching a Power Commander for the EFI models, and have a range of suppliers for custom exhausts, and jet kits.  There are also two notable forums (Alternative Cruisers, and Korider .com) that are great sources for parts, discounts and advice.

My wife and I own an older ZL600 Eliminator, a 1997 Honda Magna VF750C, a 2006 Kawasaki Vulcan 2000 Classic, and we own two of the Hyosung based cruisers. I look forward to buying the new GV700i that is being discussed.  They are looking at making the serious changes they need to make to be competitive, but I LOVE my Hyosungs, and I am partial to ALL brands.  Whatever happened to as long as you are in the wind for Pete’s sake?

Some last comments:
1) I really don’t care about anyone’s orientation, but comments like “Let those f*** walk around Korean bikes on their way to the t-shirt displays” really have no place on an open forum.  I just find that type of response to be distasteful.
2) Harleys are loaded with foreign parts, especially the v-rod.  Harley is also likely going the Mexican route like GM, Ford, Chrysler and all of our beloved “American” car companies and suppliers.  Wake up people, we now live in a global market, and EVERYBODY outsources, seeing work come back to the US with the proposed ATK assemblies will likely help the Utah and local economies
3) Hyosungs look nothing like a v-rod.  They fill gas in the gas tank, not under the seat. The exhausts, rim design, rake, trail, wheel bases, seat design, handlebars, lighting, instruments, and everything else are really quite different.
4) Sportsters are loaded with the ‘disjointed look’ as they have always looked like parts and pieces thrown together.  That ratty look is part of their appeal.  I love the sportster Iron, and the Nightster, but I am too heavy for their suspension and power trains.  They don’t have the power or comfort I require at my current girth.
5) I think the ATK venture would round out a Harley dealership.  Like mentioned in other posts, the Blast or the Sportsters are not great beginner bikes.  I have personally ridden a GT250 naked sport bike at 95 miles per hour. I could not get the Blast or the 883 up to that speed. (The 883 test was when I weighed 200 pounds too by the way. I don’t know if mine was a lemon, but I hated that bike, it was a 94 model, and it was a dog.)
6) The GV250 is a nice v-twin motor with a lot of power for its size that gives beginning riders a good option to learn on that are not scooter based and they have been in production for over 10 years now (sold first as Alpha Sports, than UM, than directly marketed by Hyosung).  The GV650 (and the GT’s) have also been out for over 5 years now with a lot of the bugs worked out.
7) Hyosung has been working in technology partnerships with Suzuki for almost 31 years.  This will be a big boost for ATK. These bikes run on proven technology.  Look at the Suzuki SV650 next to a Hyosung GT650, trust me that is basically the same motor. That Suzuki is Korean built, I don’t care how much Suzuki tries to deny it.
8) Finally, Hyosungs have a great 2 year warranty on parts and labor at no extra cost, try to get that out of Suzuki or Kawasaki?

Sorry for the length, but I had to air this out to address a number of issues in this string.

Krakum1967

[SteveG]

I really don’t care about anyone’s orientation, but comments like “Let those f*** walk around Korean bikes on their way to the t-shirt displays” really have no place on an open forum.  I just find that type of response to be distasteful.

Good thing you showed up here to straighten us out...  So are you a Hyosung dealer?  

[swimmer]

krakum, Did you see the South Park episode about Harley riders?  The word fag is no longer strictly a negative slang word slandering one's sexual preferences.  I appreciate your thoughts.

I suspect that  is the longest first post ever on this forum.  Unless perhaps Bob Mielke had a longer one.

[Ti954]

Well considering Korean made bikes are complete junk, this will be a step up for HD.

[swimmer]

Well considering Korean made bikes are complete junk, this will be a step up for HD.

krakum  give his personal account of why the hyosung bikes are not crap.  What is your personal experience proving they are?

[2DFlyer]

Desperate times I suppose but I can see this backfiring in a very big, bad, and lasting way if they bring in cheap, ill conceived crap.  A product relationship similar to the Scion/Toyota model makes sense.  To bring in the right kind of aspirational customers without alienating their base the products need to be less expensive, but not cheap.  They need to be competing for the Kaw Vulcan 900 and Honda Shadow customers.

[Croak]

I remember those desperate times in the '60s when US stores started carrying Japanese electronics like Sony, Panasonic and Pioneer.  "Jap crap" that went on to rule the market.

I remember those desperate times in the '70s when major US dealers started picking up Toyota, Datsun, Subaru and Honda.  Motorcycle dealers started carrying Honda and Kawasaki.  All those were considered cheap, ill conceived crap.  Interesting how that "backfire" turned out.

I also remember those desperate times in the 80s when major US dealers started picking up Hyundai and Kia, once again considered by some as cheap, ill conceived crap.  Interesting how that turned out too.

I remember those desperate times in the '90s when US stores started carrying cheap, ill conceived crap electronics from Korea like Goldstar and Samsung. Not much of a backfire there either, just solid, innovative products.

Looks to me like Hyosung is following the proven Japanese/Korean model to break into the US, and I predict that the brand will improve quite a bit over the coming years, and market acceptance will grow as well.

[Justin]

Looks to me like Hyosung is following the proven Japanese/Korean model to break into the US, and I predict that the brand will improve quite a bit over the coming years, and market acceptance will grow as well.

And if they throw in a 10 year/100k warranty then it will really sell!

[2DFlyer]

Looks to me like Hyosung is following the proven Japanese/Korean model to break into the US, and I predict that the brand will improve quite a bit over the coming years, and market acceptance will grow as well.

Like Chrysler before them the only reason Hyundai offers a 10y/100K warranty is to overcome the reputation they built by bringing unreliable products to market.  They may be good products today but it took 20+ years to get there and they still suffer from miserable resale values.  Honda, Toyota, and Datsun brought good product but they weren't sitting on the show room floor next to Lincolns and Cadillacs.  There's no disputing that Hyosung might bring a respected product to market at some point.  But we're not talking consumer product commodities, or stand alone dealerships.  We're talking about an unproven product of questionable aesthetic appeal sitting on the same floor as HD product bringing in clientele that may or may not be representative of those that HD wishes to cultivate.  All I said is it's a risk that they need to manage or it can blow up in their faces.  Hell if I was a dealer principal I sure wouldn't sign up to be the guinea pig in this experiment.  

[Brad1445]

*shrug*

And yet, when I write this stuff, it turns out to be true.  Just like my announcement that HD was making the decision to shut down Buell, which I wrote a month in advance of the official announcement.
  

I beat you by two years.

[BigBeavk]

Well I like the Harley dealers that sell other brands. I'm so glad they gave me an even trade for a 05 Wide Glide so I got my 07FJR that was sitting in their showroom for a year and a half. It makes it easy for those that want to upgrade. I had 40k miles on the Harley, bald tires, valve seals gone bad which they said was "normal they all use a 1qt of oil every 1200 miles" and it was ready for the cam chain tensioner service and I had just plowed through a ground hog so they got all the guts underneath. I did learn about target fixation on that one.

PS kimchi kimchi kimchi I owe somebody some loose change sorry.

[Quickv4]

Wasn't that Cagiva?

Aermacchi in Italy

Aermacchi was bought out by Cagiva in the early 80's

[Papa Lazarou]

Stuff Harley.

They wrecked MV Agusta.