Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Speaking of the "new" sport of snowmobi ling • • ; The future su ccess of Harley-Davidson will depend largely on maintaining the traditional " top of the heap" Image of the heavyweight models, pl us developing and emphasizing the lightweight machines and in reducing the ti me between dr awing board and production line for new models and featur es . The fore cast Indicates more direct coordination with Aermacchi H-D, now wholly owned by AMF, in developing raeIng machines and competitively priced li ghtweights. New models will conti nue to be introduced In li mited quanti ties and carefully eval uated for market feasIbll1ty . H-D probably cons iders this appr oach far more practical, esp ecially in long r ange terms, than following the Japanes e " buckshot" approach of model proliferation. Evi dence of the new thrust at Harley appears In the displacement Incr ea se for Sportsters, disc br akes, the Shor tster mini bike and 011 Injection and 5-speed transmissions !or the li ghtweights. Colors and trim are now consis tent thr ough- out the li ne, featuring r ed, white and blue stripes for all the " Great American Freedom Mach ines." Although Harley-Davidson can s till be char acterized as a cons er va tive organization within the fr amew ork of today's motorcycle business, the as sociation with AMF clearly Indicates a new spi r it of agr essive vitality. We can only hope the British manage to provide a simila r Injection of vigor ous competition In maintaining a dynamic market. Cost, of course, Is the biggest obstacle In head- on competition with the Japanes e. But, as Ralph Warkentin puts it, " Obvious ly when you have a built-In cost disadvantage, you have to do something else to keep the customers coming to your door . The Japanes e are designing ver y fine motor cycles , a nd If we have to pr oduce at a higher cos t the n we have to build something that people want." That philosophy, plus Increased r esearch and development, should Ins ur e a long and prosperous life for Harley Davidson. EXPANSION Ne w Facil ities , Fac es , Features The tempo of expansion and development has increased at Har ley-Davids on in the pas t year and a half . Form er Vice P resident - Enginee ring, William J . Har ley, died in 1971. He has been succeeded by Ralph War kentin, who worked In the s ame capacity for White Motor Corpor ation . Total employment figures have near ly doubled at H- D In the past five years. New Is a half -million dollar computerized heat treating facility In Milwaukee , and a large as s embly plant In York, Pe nnsylvania. Production schedules are well up over previous years. Mana gement has assured employees that expans ion outside Milwaukee will not affect their Jobs . Regarding the York pla nt, a company bulle tin s ta ted, " Har ley- Davidson for esees no los s of Jobs at any of the Wisconsin fa cili tie s, but r ather an Increase in employment a s the booming motorcycle , s nowmobile and golf ,car markets continue to gr ow." More significant personnel changes have been made r ecentl y. Willia m H. Davidso n, father of J ohn and Wllllam .G., started In the factory In 1928.He beca me P r es ident of the company in 1942, and ser ved In that pos ition until 1971 when he became Chai r man. He has been succeeded as President by John H. O'Brien, formerly Chair ma n and ManagIng Director of Chrylser operations In South AfrICa. 0' Brien established an admirable performance record with Chrysler and, by all appearances, he br ings to his new job the hard-nosed determination that typifies the Rodney Gott style In management . Another AMF employee ca me to Harley-Davidson as Controll er In 1971. Gerald A. White, mor e rece ntly promoted to Vice President / Controll er , had s erved with AMP s Ben Hogan Company In Texas. The company announc ement states that, " Mr e , White' s appointmentls part of organizational changes bein g made in recognition of the need for broader realignment of functional manag ement responsibilities. These changes are beIng made In line with Harley-Davldson's present growth and expected gr owth In future years ." The new Harley-Davidson fac ility in York, Pennsylvania . Growth was proce eding satisfactorily . at H-D until this past summer when a strike halted production for one month. It 's tempting to assume that increased production demand s or Inflexible management prompted the walkout. But the union lea dership accepted the management offer , only to have It voted down by the membership. At Issue was a wage increas e that, although unacceptable to some of the wor ker s , was the maximum allo wed under President Nixon' s wage control limit. After weeks of negotiation, the emplo yees returned to wor k, 'a ccepting a contract package that was virtually identical to the original offer. Harley's concerted effort to catch up with the demand for high performance models was thus further delayed. H-D made 1,000 of these shaft-drive, horizontally opposed twins for the army In WWII . Joe Leonard, Grand National Champion in '54 , '56 and '57. It) N " Cl '" Q. ~. '" ~. rJl ;:: w Z W ..J U >U

• Cover