Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

John Baker By HENNY RAY ABRAMS n his first year as the head of the Harley-Davidson Superb ike team, John Baker had two jobs, one was to make the senescent VR 1000 competitive, the other was to assess its rapidly fading future. Baker was like a doctor tending to a very ill patient, a doctor who had to be objective enough to know when to end the suffering. The end came last Tuesday, August 29, when the greatest name in the history of American motorcycles finally admitted what everyone else had known for a very long time; you can make a hog run, but you can't make it fly. "Basically, for any company that's in racing, there's two paths," Baker said, "one is to go after the championship, or get out. And that's pretty much what was facing Harley-Davidson. In that context, once we understood that [we needed] a new design, which is what the development team and the race effort believe was required to go after a championship, and we weren't going to do that, then the question came into play, 'Do we continue the current race effort, however much potential there might be in it, or do we get out?' And obviously we've chosen to get out." The simple truth is that Baker never had a chance. Trying to compete against the always-innovating Japanese factories, and Ducati - when they're serious - can't be done with a motorcycle locked into a decade-old design with no possibility of significant updating. Racing motorcycles, unlike good Bordeaux and Catherine Deneuve, don't age gracefully, a truism made painfully apparent with each passing lap. An even simpler truth is that Harley-Davidson doesn't need to road race, despite their proud racing heritage. This is a hyper-successful company with record earnings that chooses to have its dealers on allocation because it doesn't want to compromise the quality of its motorcycles. The withdrawal was an about-face from what Baker said when he took the job of racing boss at the beginning of the year. When Baker come on board earlier in the year, his initial pronouncements were filled with optimism, couched in businessspeak, but not, as it would turn out, grounded in reality. The future was bright, there was life in the old bones, the results would come in time. "We think there is potential left is this architecture, this base architectural design that was homologated in 1994, and that's what the primary focus will be is to identify that and realize that potential so we can get the results we're looking for," Baker said. That said, he made it clear from the outset that this was a rebuilding year, and money was not much of a concern. There was a 35 to 50-percent increase in budget, much of which went to the creation of a dedicated development team, the first in AMA Superbike racing. That a dozen engineers would work full-time on an outdated motorcycle was met with more than a little cynicism and skepticism. "This is a very important initiative to HarleyDavidson, and Harley will stay committed and focused to become a leader in this series," Baker said at the time. I 60 SEPTEMBER 12, 2001 • cue I • n With time, it became clear that their quest was quixotic, at best. The final decision was based on dollars and cents. "There was very high confidence that with the plan that was put together and the solution to go get a championship, that that was definitely within our grasp if executed," Baker said. "It simply came down to: What are the business priorities for Harley-Davidson and the choices that we have facing us, relative to, basically, where we need to spend our money for the company?" The decision to shut down the VR program was made at the highest levels of the company and Baker said he agreed with the decision. "' absolutely agree with the decision," he said. "I think it is the best thing for the company, moving forward at this point in time. Certainly there's disappointment. I think there's disappointment in the new organization, the team that's been put together. The hearts and souls and the people that have dedicated a good portion of their life to make this initiative successful. Our focus was more of a two-year purview on the existing platform, with, at the same time, focusing on understanding what the program would be to deliver the new design, which is the one that would carry us to championship levels." It was clear from the start of the year that to get to championship levels meant abandoning the graying VR1000 for a new design. Early in his tenure, Baker mentioned the likelihood of the new bike to at least one potential hire. "Clearly at the beginning of this year we were focused on improving this existing platform and we __ • Harley-Davldson's dlrecto. of racing, John Bake., talks with _m rlcle. Mike Smith at a test session earlle. this yea•. Harley announced last week that they have dropped the ¥A1GOO road-racing program, effective attar the final race of the AMA Superblke season on september 30. actually had found gains and our perspective is that this year is a rebuilding year, and then the expectation and plan is to actually enjoy the fruits of our labor coming into the '02 season," Baker said. "But as you go through the decision process as to what the long-term picture for the race program is for the company, you understand what it takes to go out and win a championship." Baker said that there were two objectives starting out this year, one was to bring the existing platform up to competitive levels. But equally important was to make an honest assessment on what it would take to execute a new design, a VR-2, so to speak, race bike and street bike, and the engine platform along with that. "That's always been in the picture, more or less," Baker said. "I:!arley-Davidson, we entered in 1994 with our first Superbike design and platform and, after seven years going into this year, that's always been there, but not necessarily made publicly known for a number of reasons. But certainly when you assess what it takes to bring your race effort up to a competitive level, you look at all angles of what it would take and that certainly included evaluating platforms and new designs and doing things outside would be required to homologate a new design." When they realized that a completely new motorcycle would need to be designed, built, and

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