|  | Topic : Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. |  |
| | | Thatch | | Thor |  |  | | Reg. Date | : | 24/06/2009 | | Posts | : | 3,655 | | Location | : | Savannah, GA, United States |
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| | Posted : 19 Feb 2010 - 15:01 Post title : Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. | | | Link
Interesting story from my neck of the woods. I wonder what bird sales will be like there. We all know the bird beats everything that HD has on it's technical merits (vrod coming the closest and in some ways surpassing) and it's got it on style as well. But now you've got it parked in the same showroom (one of the largest Harley showrooms) so now it's an acceptable purchase. The giver of all knowledge and cool points (your local Harley dealership) says these bikes are cool, you're still in the club if you buy this..... I'd love to know how many birds they end up selling.
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| | | daz | | Zeus | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 12/05/2009 | | Posts | : | 7,686 | | Location | : | United States |
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| | Posted : 19 Feb 2010 - 15:33 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: Thatch) | | | More than if they had to go to a triumph dealer to see one of course. but i really don't see them selling many to those who walk in to look at harleys. It will create a few converts no doubt. but as has been said many times, the main reasons people buy harleys have nothing to do with what the Tbird has over a harley. It's like walking into a sushi restaurant and seeing a little corner of the menu with sandwiches on it. very few walk into a sushi restaurant to buy a philly cheese steak. Thats not just a fictional analogy.....there a sushi place near work and i often get thier cheese steaks and they're great ! But in the 5 years i've been going there i have yet to hear anyone else order one. Guess I truly am a triumph guy ! 
| 2010 Blue/White Thunderbird, "Brutus". 1700 kit, short tors, gutted cat, UNI filter, filter seal off, custom tune. Brutus in his native habitat: Link
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| | | Pappasgarage | | Set | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 05/10/2009 | | Posts | : | 371 | | Location | : | Espoo, snowbird in California, Finland |
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| | Posted : 19 Feb 2010 - 17:24 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: daz) | | | This has been a fact in Helsinki, Finland already for years. Harleys, Suzuki, Ducati and Triumph all under the same roof. H-D Center, House of Bikes
| Speedmaster 2004 in Espoo Fi, Rocket3 Touring 2014 in Oceanside Ca. IBA Finland SS1000
and T-Bird 09 gone
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| | | Kando | | Chaac | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 08/11/2009 | | Posts | : | 780 | | Location | : | United States |
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| | Posted : 19 Feb 2010 - 17:40 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: daz) | | | that's beacuse the Japanese can't do Philly!!!
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| | | Druid | | Jupiter | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 14/10/2009 | | Posts | : | 1,359 | | Location | : | United Kingdom |
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| | Posted : 19 Feb 2010 - 18:14 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: Kando) | | | Great idea. If your going to sell bikes sell ones that will sell together. Both have history and culture. Triumph can offer the dealer sports machines too and when the economy gets better I bet they sell a few Bonnies to Harley die hards.
TBH it seems like a natural mix to me. Two origional motorbike manufactures in the same shop.
As to the Bird , I doubt they will sell many in those dealerships but hey at least they might try one and realise it is a seriously good bike that can rival and best most HD's on the road .
I wish they would do it here in the UK too it would make a great walk about looking at some good looking machines in one shop.
| Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery - W.Churchill
| | Post edited by Druid on 19 Feb 2010 - 18:16 |
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| | | feduke | | Thor | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 11/08/2009 | | Posts | : | 2,441 | | Location | : | Daytona Beach, Florida, United States |
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| | Posted : 19 Feb 2010 - 18:42 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: Thatch) | | | I bought my TBird from Daytona Harley, the Bruce Rossmeyer dealer here that claims to be the world's largest Harley dealer. Shelly Rossmeyer who has taken over the reins since her dad's accident at Sturgis tells me mine was the first sold. Since that she has sold the Triumph and Ducati dealership to the local Daytona BMW dealer. I haven't been able to really get a straight answer as to why, but suspected Harley might have had something to do with the decision. Maybe not? By the way, if you're coming to bike week the new dealer is on the west side of the Main Street bridge. I imagine it will be a gathering place for Triumph riders. See you there?
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| | | daz | | Zeus | | | | Reg. Date | : | 12/05/2009 | | Posts | : | 7,686 | | Location | : | United States |
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| | Posted : 19 Feb 2010 - 19:08 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: Kando) | | | Kando wrote:
that's beacuse the Japanese can't do Philly!!! |
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Oh, but these guys CAN do philly !!! Thats really the point....no one buys them even tho they are really good because they go there for the sushi. Same way those going to that harley dealer are going for the harley and have no desire to try the triumph.
By the way, they actually have one of the best philly CS's i have ever had !
| 2010 Blue/White Thunderbird, "Brutus". 1700 kit, short tors, gutted cat, UNI filter, filter seal off, custom tune. Brutus in his native habitat: Link
| | Post edited by daz on 19 Feb 2010 - 19:08 |
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| | | EnGage | | Thor | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 14/07/2009 | | Posts | : | 3,155 | | Location | : | Grand Rapids, MI, United States |
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| | Posted : 19 Feb 2010 - 19:19 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: Thatch) | | | I passed by that dealer in November when visiting my daughter.
It will be interesting to see what happens. I agree with DAZ, that it likely won't influence the party faithful, but a number of people, like me, start motorcycling late in life. A person going into a HD dealer that has never owned a bike, might look at the Harley's and then look at the Tbird and say, hmmmm, more bike, better bike, less money. I'll take Tbird please.
Time will tell, but basically that's what I did. I needed to get off my Bonneville because of a bad knee, started looking at a used VRod then saw the Tbird and said: "I'll take the Tbird please..."
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| | | Thatch | | Thor | | | | Reg. Date | : | 24/06/2009 | | Posts | : | 3,655 | | Location | : | Savannah, GA, United States |
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| | Posted : 19 Feb 2010 - 21:36 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: EnGage) | | | I disagree with it not affecting the HD crowd. It's one thing when its sold somewhere else, the Harley guys just won't step out to visit another dealership much less consider one. However when your local Harley dealer is selling them, guys are talking about how they loved their old Triumphs... I think it will make the acceptable. Triumph unlike any other brand has the ability to sway HD'rs. Personally I can't imagine HD agreeing to let them sell them.
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| | | daz | | Zeus | | | | Reg. Date | : | 12/05/2009 | | Posts | : | 7,686 | | Location | : | United States |
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| | Posted : 19 Feb 2010 - 22:11 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: Thatch) | | | It's true that more than any other bike, the triumph name is one of the few that HD guys respect. But they mainly respect the older bonnevilles of the 50's on up because they had them back then. Newer young HD riders don't know what triumph means. The way i see it is that while they will like the Tbird they won't respect it enough to buy one because to them it's going to seem like a wannabe harley, and when a HD guy wants a harley he's gonna buy a harley. I would thing they'd buy a bonnie or rocket before a Tbird because they aren't competing with harley the way the tbird is. Imagine if harley made a P twin engined bike that resembled a bonnie. Who would buy one instead of a bonnie? Only HD guys....we sure wouldn't. I just don't see it happening. i agree they will sell a very few more, but i believe the majority of thier sales will either be as engage said, to the guys who aren't married to the HD name/lifestyle/club/etc, or those who came to the dealer to look at triumphs and not HD. but again, they will sell a few more than they would have at a triumph only dealer to be sure. I just don't think it will be significant. Besides, if they did go that route they'd have to throw away $10000 worth of bandanas, leather vests, chaps and have $10000 worth of tats painfully removed.
| 2010 Blue/White Thunderbird, "Brutus". 1700 kit, short tors, gutted cat, UNI filter, filter seal off, custom tune. Brutus in his native habitat: Link
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| | | feduke | | Thor | | | | Reg. Date | : | 11/08/2009 | | Posts | : | 2,441 | | Location | : | Daytona Beach, Florida, United States |
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| | Posted : 19 Feb 2010 - 23:35 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: daz) | | | Actually, here in Daytona (absolute Harley country) I have had so many Harley riders admire my TBird it's unbelievable. The first time I pulled into the Iron Horse (Harley mecca) parking lot, the TBird emptied out the bar and 4 Harley riders got on their bikes then and there to see what kind of a deal they could strike. One even said he thought they might do well because they are dealing with a Harley dealer that would give them more for their bike. I have had many Harley guys admire the bike, none have had anything bad to say about it, and several expressed an interest is getting a TBird. Almost all of them have said they intended to ride one at Bike week. The younger guys appreciated the technology and the older both the technology and the nostalgia. Yes, I've been surprised and have a new impression of Harley riders not being 100% married to a brand. Daz does make a good point about all the Harley goodies being rendered obsolete though.
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| | | EnGage | | Thor | | | | Reg. Date | : | 14/07/2009 | | Posts | : | 3,155 | | Location | : | Grand Rapids, MI, United States |
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| | Posted : 20 Feb 2010 - 13:43 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: feduke) | | | As I said, time will tell, but Triumph has one thing going for it that other non-HD cruiser manufacturers don't - it's not a rice brand. In fact, its even from the country in Europe that we in the states relate to the most.
The very thought of an Asian cruiser seems wrong to me. I mean no offense by that and have owned Japanese cars, but I simply would not consider a rice-burner cruiser. If HD had what I wanted, I'd buy it in a minute, but they don't. Jumping to Triumph was an easy next step for me and perhaps it will be for others.
Edit: While writing this I had images of 120 lbs Asian men running around on the cruisers they build.  (why do I think I'm going to get in trouble for that statement  )
| | Post edited by EnGage on 20 Feb 2010 - 13:48 |
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| | | feduke | | Thor | | | | Reg. Date | : | 11/08/2009 | | Posts | : | 2,441 | | Location | : | Daytona Beach, Florida, United States |
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| | Posted : 20 Feb 2010 - 21:53 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: EnGage) | | |
EnGage wrote:
Edit: While writing this I had images of 120 lbs Asian men running around on the cruisers they build. (why do I think I'm going to get in trouble for that statement ) |
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And this has become a politically correct site? I don't THINK so.
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| | | masterguns | | Set | | | Reg. Date | : | 08/01/2010 | | Posts | : | 15 | | Location | : | Texas, United States |
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| | Posted : 21 Feb 2010 - 02:46 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: feduke) | | | I agree that those who have only known/owned HDs, or those who have "friend's" influence that are brain-washed on the brand, will probably not buy any other bike--especially rice-burners (as a given). The respect the HD types have for Triumph may be cited, but only because they remember this brand being established & respected (somewhere in the back of their brain-housing group).
Yet, I disagree that all former-Harley types (me being one) will not buy a Tbird, because I did. It helped that I had had a good experience with my Triumph Trident in the 70s as a first used bike, before migrating to a Sportser, a Super Glide, then chopping this Glide.
Having both under one roof would have saved me considerable gas money going back and forth. The fact that both are under one roof is a good thing since it's more probable that the cream will naturally rise--HD brand loyalty notwithstanding. It'd be interesting to see the figures of those who have moved from Harley to Triumph, but I really don't care. To each, his own...
For me the decision to buy a Tbird was simple: performance and styling. The HD Deluxe that I longed for went to second best after having ridden both.
BTW, yesterday I had some Harley riders check mine out. Their comment: "Sounds good, but it's too smooth" (=refined).
Just rolled my eyes, and the term "whatever" came to mind.
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| | | daz | | Zeus | | | | Reg. Date | : | 12/05/2009 | | Posts | : | 7,686 | | Location | : | United States |
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| | Posted : 21 Feb 2010 - 05:54 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: masterguns) | | |
masterguns wrote:
Yet, I disagree that all former-Harley types (me being one) will not buy a Tbird, because I did. |
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Well, i for one never meant to insinuate that i won't happen at all. My point was that you will be the minority and that for THE MOST PART harley guys will not consider it. That could mean many will, but as percentages go i think it will be small. A tiny percentage of a million is nothing to sneeze at, but is still a tiny percentage in the big picture.
| 2010 Blue/White Thunderbird, "Brutus". 1700 kit, short tors, gutted cat, UNI filter, filter seal off, custom tune. Brutus in his native habitat: Link
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| | | EnGage | | Thor | | | | Reg. Date | : | 14/07/2009 | | Posts | : | 3,155 | | Location | : | Grand Rapids, MI, United States |
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| | Posted : 21 Feb 2010 - 13:18 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: feduke) | | | feduke wrote:
EnGage wrote:
Edit: While writing this I had images of 120 lbs Asian men running around on the cruisers they build. (why do I think I'm going to get in trouble for that statement ) |
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And this has become a politically correct site? I don't THINK so. |
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Yeah, sorry about that, but culture is what culture does. Cruisers from the east make about as much sense to me as Hollywood making a marital arts movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse the Body Ventura ...
| | Post edited by EnGage on 21 Feb 2010 - 13:19 |
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| | | DVR | | Chaac | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 12/10/2009 | | Posts | : | 651 | | Location | : | I'm Denis, from Belgium |
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| | Posted : 21 Feb 2010 - 15:07 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. | | | I have had 2 Harley's before (both from the V-rod family) but didn't consider myself a "Harley rider".
Just like bikes. Must say I was close in buying a Fatboy Lo but than I saw the Triumph and HD lost a customer.
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| | | masterguns | | Set | | | Reg. Date | : | 08/01/2010 | | Posts | : | 15 | | Location | : | Texas, United States |
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| | Posted : 22 Feb 2010 - 00:20 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: daz) | | |
daz wrote:
Well, i for one never meant to insinuate that i won't happen at all. My point was that you will be the minority and that for THE MOST PART harley guys will not consider it.
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Agreed. I must have read into that.
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| | | feduke | | Thor | | | | Reg. Date | : | 11/08/2009 | | Posts | : | 2,441 | | Location | : | Daytona Beach, Florida, United States |
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| | Posted : 22 Feb 2010 - 01:14 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: masterguns) | | | There's a local custom shop (meaning Harley, of course) here in Daytona called Crank N Chrome. It's run by a really nice couple and is very professional. Every month they put on a Sunday ride and I went on my second with them today. There are a couple of Wings, a Star and a few other mongrels. We did about 250 miles and had a super time. These people could care less what you ride and are a great bunch of responsible, experienced riders. It's fun for me because they are all fascinated by the TBird.
Sure there are some idiots out there, and some of them ride Harleys. Some ride Triumphs and everything else. I really think about 95% of it is what effort you put into communicating and going in without any preconceived notions. Not always, but sometimes your attitude can bring out the response you really don't want. Of course knowing that you ride the best bike in the world makes it easy to be gracious.
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| | Post edited by feduke on 22 Feb 2010 - 01:15 |
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| | | ray548 | | Set | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 09/02/2010 | | Posts | : | 299 | | Location | : | sylmar, CA, United States |
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| | Posted : 22 Feb 2010 - 08:02 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: feduke) | | | You are so right,
but the orange type is hard to read.
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| | | EnGage | | Thor | | | | Reg. Date | : | 14/07/2009 | | Posts | : | 3,155 | | Location | : | Grand Rapids, MI, United States |
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| | Posted : 22 Feb 2010 - 13:46 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: feduke) | | |
feduke wrote:
There's a local custom shop (meaning Harley, of course) here in Daytona called Crank N Chrome. It's run by a really nice couple and is very professional. Every month they put on a Sunday ride and I went on my second with them today. There are a couple of Wings, a Star and a few other mongrels. We did about 250 miles and had a super time. These people could care less what you ride and are a great bunch of responsible, experienced riders. It's fun for me because they are all fascinated by the TBird.
Sure there are some idiots out there, and some of them ride Harleys. Some ride Triumphs and everything else. I really think about 95% of it is what effort you put into communicating and going in without any preconceived notions. Not always, but sometimes your attitude can bring out the response you really don't want. Of course knowing that you ride the best bike in the world makes it easy to be gracious. |
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+1 on that. I ride on Tuesday nights with the Kalamazoo RAT Pack. RAT Pack is obviously a Triumph thing, but we have a couple of Harley's, more than a few Ducati's, Two Hayabusa's (man those things scream when opened up), my son's FJR, couple of Star's, etc. It's actually very nice since we hang out and discuss the various bikes for 30-40 minutes before we ride.
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| | | Birdy68 | | Thor | |  | | Reg. Date | : | 16/07/2009 | | Posts | : | 3,352 | | Location | : | Bad Zurzach, Aargau, Switzerland |
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| | Posted : 22 Feb 2010 - 14:33 Post title : Re: Harleys and Triumphs under one roof. (Re: EnGage) | | |
EnGage wrote:
.....It's actually very nice since we hang out and discuss the various bikes for 30-40 minutes before we ride. |
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That's what it's all about...
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