Please help me understand Harley Davidson

I am having a problem understanding Harley Davaidson and their policies and practices. This page is not to flame HD, but to provide a forum for answers to questions that do not have a satisfactory answer.
Like most of you Harley riders, I rode other bikes for years before I could afford to get a Harley. My last bike was a Suzuki and I had it for 19 years. I probable did not spend more than $500 on it over all that time. Certainly, there were no repairs required like were required on my 1993 Harley. I have a problem understanding why Harley could not build a bike, in 1993, at least as good as my 1975 Suzuki. Why cannot Harley build a bike with current engineering technology so that it will go at least 100,000 km without major repairs? A friend told me recently that his Honda has gone 140,000 km with only $200 in parts plus oil changes and tires and he is still riding that bike and planning on keeping it until it wears out. Explain to me why Harley builds bikes like they do.
Other questions beg for a suitable answer. Why do so many regulators fail? Why so many problems with the ignition module? How many riders do you know carry spare parts on a trip because they expect a regulator or module to fail? How many trips have you been on with friends riding Harleys that there hasn't been a problem where at least one of the bikes had a breakdown?
For those of us closely tied up in the Harley "community" it is even more difficult to understand the official Harley position. What about that cam bearing? I have heard many stories that the INA bearing is not at fault, "It's the camshaft that causes the bearing to fail". Tell me why Harley cams are also failing. Does anyone have any statistical data on cam bearing failure that shows the failure rate of the INA bearing vs. the Torrington bearing?
Living in Canada there is another twist to my lack of understanding in that Fred Deely Imports is the sole distributor of Harley Davidson in Canada. I guess I must be really cheap because I fail to find any value in having them as the distributor and I certainly dislike giving them a portion of every dollar I spend on Harley stuff. Many people purchase most of their stuff Stateside because of pricing. I have heard rumours that many of the Canadian dealers and the distributor have complained to Canada Customs and that is whe we get hassled coming back into Canada. Can anyone verify or put to rest this rumor?
When I have a problem I call HD in the States. As soon as I tell them I live in Canada they insist I should deal with Deely. The situation is usually resolved when I tell them how I feel about the distributor and ask them who built the bike... Deely's or HD? They usually handle the problem without any further questions. Why is it that I feel that the only place I can get any reasonable response from is HD directly?
Help me to understand Harley's marketing policy. Do they seriously think this wave of popularity has no trough? Have you or any of your friends tried to buy a new Harley? I don't understand why you cannot be treated like a valuable customer. The big three car manufacturers have a network whereby you can order a specific vehicle and all the current stock is searched to locate you the vehicle you want. Why doesn't Harley have a similar arrangement?
I guess we are vain and just want to ride a Harley so we can have that precious image. I have not been able to convince myself that there is an engineering advantage to riding a Harley. Tell me again why I like my Harley and why I should continue pouring money into it to keep it road worthy.
I have met and made friends with a large number of people in the Harley community. Most of them are wonderful people and we share many good times and rides. I continue to own a Harley because of the people I get to associate with.
Maybe we should all purchase one share of Harley Davidson stock, which is currently around $35US. As a shareholder in the company we would be entitled to a bigger say than just a Harley owner. That's correct, even though you spent $15,000US on a Harley you do not have any say and are not entitled to any answers. If enough of us purchased shares and went to the stockholders meeting perhaps we could get some decent answers and prevent the company from slipping back into the AMF years. If you wish to purchase 1 share of HD check out http://www.oneshare.com/. They are selling single shares of framed Harley Davidson stock for $90.00. Caveat emptor!
File last updated February 22, 1996

Please send correspondence to: wyliecoyote@igs.net