What were the worst business moves in motorcycling?

[atadaskew]

Off hand I can think of two:

1/ KTM saying no to Ewan and his hanger-on

2/ Harley not letting Buell build bikes the way he wanted.

ok I can think of lots more, but let other people get a chance!
 

[bomber]

The British industry going out for tea, and not paying attention for 15 years?

[bubba zanetti]

AMF thinking there was some business
symmetry between making bowling balls and building Harley Davidson's.


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[Orson]

Triumph USA telling Kenny Roberts that he wuz too small to ride one of their bikes?

[bubba zanetti]

Shah not marketing his L.E.D. jacket.


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[Blunder]

Yamaha flooding the US market in the early '80s in an attempt to overtake Honda as the #1 MC importer. Of course, that meant there were some screamin' deals in '85 for leftover '82 models, but still....

[C 4]

Harley-Davidson shutting down the R&D dept in 1940 citing "There will never be greater technology than this!"

[stew71]

The DN-01.

Harley buying then selling MV Augusta..?

[atadaskew]

Ducati not developing the v4 back in the '60s?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ducati_Apollo

[falcofred]

Personally, my biggest mistake was not buy Harley Davidson stock back when it went public.

[Rogue]

2/ Harley not letting Buell build bikes the way he wanted.

+1

Also, shutting them down in 2010 when they were profitable but their new CEO thought they didn't fit into their "core business".  Their core business being selling merchandise related to motorcycles.  

[Orson]

some say that Soichiro's openin' a can o' RS750 whoop-ass on Harley's flat track hegemony, wuz a result of Harley's petitioining the government for relief by imposing a 700cc tafiff on Japanese manufacturers.

[sammyseaman]

The British industry going out for tea, and not paying attention for 15 years?

This ^^^^^^

[Dan K]

Ducati not developing the v4 back in the '60s?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ducati_Apollo

The Desmosedici RR is a V4....and available to the public, if at a ridiculous price...?

[Orson]

Suzuki rejecting Lucian Tilkens' monoshock suspension idea, telling him that two shocks were twice as good.

[DogBoy]

Ducati hiring Rossi.  

MotoGuzzi refusing to enter WSBK.

[atadaskew]

The Desmosedici RR is a V4....and available to the public, if at a ridiculous price...?

50 years later, and only as a one-off...

[Dan K]

But if you have a friend that owns one,  

But honestly, I like riding his 1098R more than the Desmo.  The Desmo isn't happy unless it's flying and leaning over beyond 45deg.  And HOT if not rolling...

- Dan

[Orson]

In 1971, Maico all but had the 500cc motocross world championship in the bag, with Ake Jonsson leading Roger DeCoster going into the final round.

Maico decided that they wanted to reduce the bike's weight, so they made a cylinder head made out of magnesium and aluminum rather than the pure aluminum they had been using. They figured that a little magnesium was good, so a lotta magnesium must be better, failing to realize that magnesium expands more than aluminum. Jonsson was leading the first moto when, sure 'nuff, the cylinder head expanded causing the spark plug to be expelled  

DeCoster cruised by for the victory and the world championship  

[D-Mac]

The British motorcycle failing to respond effectively to the Japanese I-4s in the early 70s. Why would anyone want a powerful bike that doesn't leak oil and has a reliable electrical system/engine, anyway?

AMF failing to understand the motorcycle market (golf carts aren't the same thing as cruisers). It's a minor miracle that HD survived the early 80s, and the overwhelming success they eventually achieved only serves to show how badly AMF screwed up things.

BMW failing to respond to final drive complaints from customers (yes, they are selling well but they're lost a lot of loyalty among their core customers).

Kawasaki and Suzuki failing to compete effectively with the Goldwing (which represents a ton of Honda profit in North America).

In North America (with the exception of the Goldwing and off-road bikes), I'd say Honda ignoring customers for the past decade has cost them market share in some areas. I doubt they care much though because they're too busy dominating the scooter market in the rest of the world.

Harley failing to support Buell (in manufacturing, selling, and supporting dealers). The MV fiasco only underscores their inability to manage other market segments.