High Value Guzzi Oil Filter

[Dan M]

insert (yawn) icon here

[Skeeve]

insert (yawn) icon here

 

Don't be too bored by this; after all, this is the same sort of turn around Moto Guzzi needs to experience if we're still going to be riding them in 10 years time [well, new ones anyway! The old ones will still be running... ]

 

[Greg Field]

Don't be too bored by this; after all, this is the same sort of turn around Moto Guzzi needs to experience if we're still going to be riding them in 10 years time [well, new ones anyway! The old ones will still be running... ]

 

 

Exactamente, Skeeve. We need an Italian Vaughn Beals to take the reins at Guzzi instead of the succession of bandits we've gotten.

[Alex-Corsa]

Exactamente, Skeeve. We need an Italian Vaughn Beals to take the reins at Guzzi instead of the succession of bandits we've gotten.

 

You can say that again !!!

[Dan M]

Exactamente, Skeeve. We need an Italian Vaughn Beals to take the reins at Guzzi instead of the succession of bandits we've gotten.

 

 

Now yer on to something. Any nominees?

[Daniel Kalal]

...here, in a nutshell, are some facts about the tariff...

 

Thanks for that summary, Greg. There's been a fair amount written about the destructive Honda/Yamaha wars of that time ("it's not business, it's personal; we will crush you"), but I hadn't seen it put into the context of H-D's problems. When I remember back to that time, it was my perception that Harley came under a lot of critisism in the motorcycle community for pushing that tariff, and--on balance--would have been better off if it had never happened.

[Greg Field]

Thanks for that summary, Greg. There's been a fair amount written about the destructive Honda/Yamaha wars of that time ("it's not business, it's personal; we will crush you"), but I hadn't seen it put into the context of H-D's problems. When I remember back to that time, it was my perception that Harley came under a lot of critisism in the motorcycle community for pushing that tariff, and--on balance--would have been better off if it had never happened.

 

Daniel:

 

Perhaps that's the best way to sum up the net effect of the tariff: Not only did it not save Harley-Davidson, the company would've been better off had it never sought the tariff.

[Ryland3210]

That is fair. I have no basis to name-call him. It was just such an odd interview, my room-mate and I thought maybe he was really paranoid. But then again maybe he knows a lot I don't and has good reason to be a bit paranoid.

 

Strange we haven't heard from him?

 

 

The QLT sensor determines the lubricity and the effectiveness of the additive by ascertaining the oil's permittivity, i.e. its electrical characteristics, through impedance measurement within a specified frequency range. Together with the oil level and temperature readings, permittivity data allow a cockpit display to warn the motorcyclist in good time of the optimum date for the next oil change. Depending on the usage profile, this might well be much later than had been the case so far, adding economic and ecological benefits to enhanced operating reliability.

 

Hey, Mattress,

I've been travelling, hence the delay in response.

 

Yeah, I wonder what Perot has been up to. As I recall, he was a gadfly on GM's board when they bought his company, EDS, for billions, then paid him more billions (I think it was 4, but not sure) to go away. It was after he had that war chest that he ran for President, but quiet since then. It's been a while. My guess is that he is quietly involved in some form of altruistic activity, or helping startups with money and advice.

 

Thanks for the info on the QLT sensor. I've heard of resistivity, conductance, capacitance, inductance, emissivity, diffusivity, dialectric constant, but never permittivity. I wonder if its a combination of the others conceived of by the makers, sort like when a new drug is promoted to help with a new malady, and the malady is given a Latin name, which when translated, merely describes the symptom.

 

It's interesting to think there is a corellation between electrical characteristics and "quality". Perhaps it has something to do with acid buildup from carbonic acid, or water absorption.

 

regards,

John

[Guest Mattress]

 

It's interesting to think there is a corellation between electrical characteristics and "quality". Perhaps it has something to do with acid buildup from carbonic acid, or water absorption.

 

regards,

John

Yes, I think it could very well be a measurement of acid build ups and maybe ions from worn materials.

 

Maybe you could contact Continental and design a retro-fit kit. I'm guessing you have better things to do.

[Guest Gary Cheek]

Well, since some are enjoying this and may be interested in forming an opinion based on other than anecdotes from the time, Your offerings ARE "anecdotes from the time"

 

Almost all of what follows is the result of original research... It is what I consider an informed undefined based on all the foregoing, plus undefined of friends at the time. If you don't like my conclusions, so be it.

Not a matter of not liking, Greg it is a simple not agreeing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

...........

Things soon got even worse, mostly because sales continued dropping..........

Meanwhile, in June 1981, despite dropping overall motorcycle sales every year and plunging H-D sales in particular, Vaughn Beals and a dozen others combined all their cash to buy H-D from AMF. Nineteen eighty-one H-D sales were down by 14 percent, and they were losing money on every sale................

 

To stem the red tide, manufacturing chief Tom Gelb instituted a just-in-time inventory system at H-D. Its first year of operation was 1982. During the1982 model year, H-D sales fell by a further 27 percent. By spring 1982, H-D was days from closing its doors. “A semi-recession had hit automotive earlier,” remembered Tom Gelb, “and all of a sudden in March 1982 it hit us. At the time, the Japanese manufacturers had about 18 months worth of finished inventory in the country, and they were selling two- and three-year-old bikes right out of the crate and discounting them, so the bottom fell out of the market.

“I remember we had a policy meeting, and in the next weeks we cut our production rate in half, laid off 40 percent of our workforce, and cut all the salaries of the officers by something like 12 percent and the salaried workforce by 10 percent.”

 

No doubt, this too HELPED the turn around..........

 

If all that wasn’t bad enough, Harley’s production was now below the minimum level specified in the agreements with its lenders. What that meant was, those banks were free to foreclose and seize Harley at any time...........

Pretty grim.....

 

Fortunately, they chose not to, and here’s where Gelb’s Japanese-inspired changes became key: They saved Harley $20 million in inventory costs for 1982. Said Vaughn Beals, “In essence, the cash freed up from inventory offset the operating loss for 1982. Absent that, I’m absolutely sure our lenders would not have supported us.” To a man, the bankers I interviewed, plus all the H-D execs (except Gelb, who is too modest to claim that he saved the company) said this was the critical point and what saved H-D. This was before the bid for the tariff even began.

 

Excellent point

 

.....But Beals went after the tariff anyway.....

 

On September 1, 1982, he petitioned the ITC for relief.

 

 

 

In short, Beals went ahead with the tariffs, but the tariffs were never really part of the plan to save the company because a) he never thought he’d win them anyway, the company was already saved....., For the moment ....and c) he would be willing to drop any tariffs he did get in exchange for not even cash but just guarantees of loans to complete projects that weren’t even part of the “saving” plan anyway. This is why I say it was a sideshow....

Yes that is why YOU say it was a sideshow

........... The tariff to the Japanese was no more than a mosquito bite to an elephant.. Another reason I (Greg Field) judge it an inconsequential sideshow.

 

Yes a mosquito bite to the Japanese juggernaut but the sales generated and the cross-overs to Harley were real and a shot in the arm that has been sustained by many FORMER Japanese bike riders who did indeed switch over to Harley during the embargo. Many of today's Harley riders bought their first Harley DURING the EMABARGO and they have not gone back to the Japanese bikes since. Small loss for the Japanese, hege gain for Harley.

 

 

Despite the tariff, H-D sales fell again for 1983. (Yet another reason I say sideshow; the tariff did not result in sales increase,

.....But may have indeed helped minimze the DECREASE.....

despite the introduction of $3,995 Sportsters the company offered that year had a measurable positive effect.) Despite this further fall below the production covenants in the loan agreements, the bankers decided yet again to hold off on foreclosure because Harley’s cash flow was positive and because Harley was making profits on practice bombs for the military, and because the bankers knew the Evo engine and Softail were debuting at the start of the 1984 model year

 

. Good timing with sales bottomed out and and upturn beginning, along with the ehanced investor confidence due in part to a new price advantage?

 

Once those bikes hit the market, Harley was back, and Beals was a rock star. In the January 1984 issue, Cycle named him Motorcyclist of the Year for 1983, because of his winning of the tariff battle and because of H-D’s astonishing resurgence.

..At last positive press ...because HD won the tarriff. Momentum is gaining... Sales for model year 1984 were 31 percent higher than for 1983

 

 

 

Greg you seem to keep insisting that I am somehow crediting the embargo as the sole saviour of Harley Davidson, I certainly have not said nor implied that. I simply do not agree with your conclusion that Harley was harmed by the embargo and I still see the sales that were generated as a huge part of the sustained turn around. At a time when sales were still plumetting the drop in HD sales slowed, stopped and turned around. For many reasons. No doubt the mangement changes and the new sales from Japanese rider crossover were elements of the HD we see today. The number of first time Harley owners increased substantially during and after the embargo. That did not hurt Harley. HD came out of the embargo a much stronger company than the HD that went in to the embargo. Surely the changes that were enacted by management were a key element in keeping HD alive to get to the next step in the turn around. The sales generated by the cross over from the Asian machines also contributed and sustained the re-birth. Even though HD sales were still down at the BEGINNING of the embargo we can't really say the embargo caused that. Indeed the sales may have and likely would have been far worse without the embargo. The sales did improve while the embargo was in effect so it is hard to say the embargo hurt the sales and HD.

 

No Greg I wasn't fooled by Mr. Beals, no need to try that stretch.

 

Did the embargo save HD? Not by itself.

Did the embargo harm HD? I don't really think so.

Did the embargo help bring HD to the strong place it has in today's market? I have no doubt.

 

Greg Fields quote:

"The original assertion was that the tariff SAVED H-D." That was never MY assertion.

 

 

 

It was and remains what Vaughn Beals intended it to be: A way to distract everyone while he pulled the real trick. It still works, what, 23 years later?

Along with the added market share pulled from the former owners of Japanese made cycles. The first time HD riders that boomed during the embargo. Not first time bike riders but riders who switched from the Asian makes they had been buying. The riders who wanted "big bikes" not 700 cc "crotch rockets". The same riders who have owned multiple HD products since they switched to HD , during the embargo . Yes indeed 23 years of growth. Thanks to new blood in the owner pool....

 

I salute you on being as predictable and easily fooled as he knew most of you would be.

Come on Greg don't you ever get tired of dishing out that brand of condescension?

No Greg I wasn't fooled by Mr. Beals, no need to try that stretch.

If that makes me an elitist, so be it.

No Greg. that in and of itself does not make you an elitist. It is a PACKAGE, a COMBINATION of elements that you assume. Just like the embargo by itself did not save HD .

 

And the Wal mart (Champion) filter works great, thanks for the tip.... Guzzi filter content.

[Greg Field]

OK, whatever.

[Guest Gary Cheek]

OK, whatever.

Thank you whatever.