Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

mat ch . Do we really wan t to " grow up" th at fast?) It may not be the most efficient way t o build motorcycles overall, but apparently it's th e mos t efficient way t o build Harleys. The big Hawgs are th at d iffe ren t fro m m o st ~~. . Ii III • III ~ The way they have e vo lved from a liar: pre-war d esign , th ey 've carried a lo t of Ubaggage " fro m an earlie r era . T hin gs that are uni t asse mblies in to d ay ' s technology are sti ll m u lt i-p ar t bolt -ups on the ' Harl ey s. Generally, the big machines are more complex and have more discrete parts than the average. That means m ore assembly' task s t h an fo r a co m parable "modern" design. The workforce at York exhibi ts neither the intense pride nor the intense labor unrest found at other plants in other industries. It h as a happy-mediu m, re l at ively easygoing relations hip, management to union to "work er . The , w ork pace tends to indicate straight hourly wage , rather than piece-rate. In an area where deer hun te r s are almost as rabid as football fans. : the first d ay of deer season is spelled' ou t in the union contract -as "Buck Day", a "plant-wi de h o lid ay , even for th os e who don' t like to ' sho o t d eer. Overall, it-seems th atnei th er manage ment nor' u nion push each other o u t of' tu rn, an d"the work gets done . , Another thing " that st ands out p l a n t -w i de i's , the ' co m p an y ' s " commitmen t to mee ting Federal , standards" both o.StIA (safe ty] and -: ': E PA (pollution). All presses are "two · hands on the controls o r she don't go ", .: ,Ilro u: ctive hand , and : foot gu ar ds are , · " every w ~er~ aro und . machining stations, : . • and 'o f course , safety -glasses ar e worn, . , ' everywhere ' by everybody. ' : Inclu ding ~ visiting reporters. Overhead . conveyors .; are carefully scr eened to-protect in case " , par t s sh ould fall off.: .'.. ' ' . Plant wastes', - ' wastewater ' fro m ' ' .... " plating, ,p ain tiil g, heat treating; . waste :cu t t in- fluid ', arid m achine ' o il ; used g F~lIowin~ the Bicent~nniarBike'from ea;.y bolt-ups- o~ t he..."-. : line "" . t o product inve~torY (abOVl! .and" .i~seti:lt's qUit~a ~ip: assembly chem icals Irompartscleaning an d other , . ;. -" . .. '. . . . . . ' "... . . . :.:..-. ..- , .' . ' · processes .:.., . all ar.e 'trea ted "in-house " as , a ' closed -eco lo gy . . There 's , a 42,000 ' " , 'Forks nia~~h t~' the 'line (Ieftl ., and m~ted t~ the'bike 'via ai~w~ench . and' ~xercis~ fbelov;,,:. ,.. com p le te a ll th e:'wiiin g in terco~riections , square-foot ' treatment p lant n e'x(to the ' . . . main', b uilding with settling tank 'lIla '. ' in Side the head ligh t shell. If yo u 've tri ed .treat rne n t 'p ro cesses to take care o f each : that chore your self. "you k now , what a bitch it is c.. and it's no less of.a bitch .o n ' . ,p ar t icu lar kind o f ', 'gu n ge . Even the vapors fr o m th e b ubbling plating vats . . an asse rnbly line:' More, 'irr, fact, because , ' ar e ' recycled, . so that tvaluab le p lating you: addtimepressure to the .task. ' ' , Had' en ough? ,As you .go down this , " chemicals can' ,p e' recovered and reused, -wh ile whatever ' is , e x ha ust ed . to- the line, , past , , brake ' assembly, ' exhaust atmospheregoes out c r u d- free .' ' ",' in st allat io n, ' fin al .m at in g . of sele c ted , ' T he-'w no le ecologyjsafety-ball of wax. .pain ted pieces 'o f bodywork, all of it " lies in ' Plant < La yo u t ' Engin'e e r ' Ed : - vo u -a ck no wled gei t hat a Harley V vtwin "Clautici:'~ lap : Whe n you work for a big ' ",'is.o n e ' lar ge , co m p lex "motorcycle ; and , outfit lik e AMF, you d on ' t birch : ab ou t "th ere 's o ne. hell, of a, lot of work to: " all that has , to be .d one-" satisfy the ,ti> putting one .to geth er . ' gove rnment: you .ju st do it 'with a wry Fin ally " off th e ' Iin e. v-tbere's a 'sm ile'. , because the ' , Feds. 'h ave' -y ou r 28 .po~t, checklist to go -thro ug h, along -e rnp loy ert righ t where theY' can ' sq ueeze , with a-dyne runup. Then it go es t o that : and m ake hi m boiler. One of the p rices of , ' ' · afo re·m en tion ed ' cre w ' , of o ff-line me chanics, T he': b etter , the -in -p ro cess m ixed /managed \'success' t· · in ·· o u r -q uality contro l, the , smaller ' that "repair ; e co no m y . . . ,.bank" ,be twee n te st aad crating will be . .' ' Is York truly a su ccess ? Ac co rding to ' Wh~ the co m p le te ' bike is finally , . York Divisio n Presiden t Ralph Swenson, -re leased 'f o r ' sh ipment, -handlebars .ar e , Harley-Davidso n ' was gen erating $42 .rerno ved and , " s tr ap p ed" alongside, · million per year in , reven ues when .AM F accessories are kitte d with the bike on a ' bo u gh t it. ' 'I t ' s , d oing $200 million pallet, and 'a cr ate ' is buil t up around it. 'an n ual ly:' now, largel y' because of the Overseas shipmentsrare m ade in' .solid outpu t made possible , by the York' . wo o dcon tain ers, and H·D is j u st about pl ant." It ' m ay . rro t sit ,' well .: with ' .- ready '.t o go with a ' special corrugated :' ..motorcycle enthusiasts, but th at ' s th e "p aste bo ard' co n tainer for ' domestic kind 'o f stuff , c orporat e m an agemen t s shipment, Bikes go o ut 'to dealers via a ,'" read to judge a p rocess .or.a pro du ct. -: mixed-mode .man aged system: direct" ' , ' _ Wilt they eve r chan ge? .If tile.y · can. truc k if)ess than ' one -dayfroin' York , make money, year after year , w ill there , piggyback 'rail ' to. Dallas for distribution; eve r be a n ew Harfey ? Yes; t he Hawgs of or , " coll tain er ized Iar ge-lo t truck the future are- on the boards 'and in -sh ip m en ts . to -Denver , The Denver trek , p ro to ty pe rig ht now, co nst an tly being in one: leg in' a'ro und 't rip that doe. aw ay refined, waiting for : the day that ' , ' wi~h : ~ ' dea dh ead " e mpty runs ·- .fin ished m an age m en t d ecides they're needed. , b ikes : .Yor k ' to Den vdr , cas tin gs and .' Seeing brief samples o f th eir th inking, , it's safe to say th at the' next gen eration " machine .. tool par,ts ' Denver to' Milwaukee. 'en zines.Milwa u kee . to York. , of ' Har leys will , be ' V-twin s'- ,. ' . . . ._ _ unm ista keabl y' ' Harley .David sQn ' with the "styling by '.w illy 'C: ' touch . Yo u and Analysis. .:: " old , Harley -hand s, a nd ' q uite' a' few , Wow . Are you beginning ' to realize Bri tis h-bike freaks as well, o ug ht to love imperatives w h ic h, 0l1: ce y ou turn it , and 'repair wher e a crew , of m echan ics , ,the size and ' sco pe .- of ' the · 'e m . . .. control everything you m ust do . , ' hustles t o , m ake all wrongs righ t in an ' .Har ley-Davidson OPeration? .Whe n yo u Methin ks that fo ur-cy clinder bOHC So it goes beyond 20 : Ai ,24 th ere ' s a off-line repair area. ' , ba ck off. ' and , examine the p rototype got shown to ' the " p re ss , fairly extensive 'fork assembly, area and If i t" seems d umb to go ahead a nd s tam pi n g/d 'rawin g/ m ach in in g/ plating/ because it was one of their failures, -The at . 27 there's another important b uild ,the m o torcy cle before fixing the pain ting' assembly work ' task that goes B ·D he ir archy $Uards its , 'real pl ans su bstation to p re -assemb le all con tro ls defect right there, you have to weigh .o n here, yo~ can.'t help b~t, ~ecognize ,jeal o usly . If yo u're stit! waiting fot the hand lebar gro up befo re iego ':s on th e hassle, and cosl o f that against the that Harleys are bilil t ala f like cars. , :Har leY· David so n to b uild th e "be tter , ' hass le , and ' ' co st . of off.loading a the' bike. At 34 and 35 they grab wheels" T h is, in ,spite of the fact that by ca r Japanese motorcycle " , at ,t hei r York off an overhead storage con vey o r from standards; 'th e York plant's ult im ate half-built " moto rcy cle at th at point; , plant, d on't ho ld your breath. ,wheel asse mbly an d bank them up to be , 75,OOO/year 300/ d ay, one every lettirig an em pty hange r ' go dO\l(n, line Instead, they ' ll ' b,uild a better Harley min ute·and·a,half pace is pain fu lly ~Iow , read y to go on the bi kes. Station 3 7 is a ,b reakin g u p ' people's w ork rhyth m, and - t h,e las t su rvivor of a truly American then sending word u p · lin e to ar ra nge trave ler - ,a crew of several , asse mblers (At some car p lan ts , th ey 're pushing breed, , another emp ty hanger fo r the bike when who have to wal k with the bike past 20'seco nd cycle times 1m multipl e lin es, ,w it h labor 'and productio n problems to it's fixed . An assembly lin e , has its two "or three other st ation s while they Lane Campbell . (left' , ,J . '. ." '. ,- . <, ~ . . . ; ; ; ; ; ; . . o o . . o . ~ ,Overview on, to . ' ,.'

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