A lot of bike manufacturers have come and gone over the past decade or so. A few have gone on to prosper but most have fallen (or even fallen multiple times in the case of Indian) by the way side.

What is the difference between the winners and those that didn’t survive?

Certainly the business side of things hasn’t been handled well in a few of these cases. Nearly everyone acknowledges that the rebirth of Excelsior-Henderson in the mid-90s was bungled from the start. The first two or three attempts to revive Indian were out-right scams, if not just horrible examples of management. If you don’t have management that know how to manage a budget, don’t understand the industry or how to make harsh decisions you aren’t going to get off the ground. But management alone isn’t enough…The last revision of the Indian company seemed to have a clue about the industry. Cannondale was part of a huge company and they certainly knew how to run a business. Still struggling Aprilia were one of the biggest bike producturers in the world, thanks to their scooter sales, before their recent bankrupcy.

Perhaps to see where others may have gone wrong, I should comment on what I think was done right with some of the survivors…

First and foremost, has been the return of Triumph starting in the early-90s. The list of what these guys did right should be a “how to” for the other companies trying to get started. First, they made sure their new products had a tie-in to the original. For their first models, this was in name only but their greatest success has been with neo-retro bikes like the Thunderbird and then a complete re-imaging with their twin cylinder Bonneville line. The second thing John Bloor did was to partner with a Japanese company to learn the ropes. The original triple engined Hinkley Triumphs used Kawasaki parts. Bloor even traveled to Japan to see how Kawasaki built their bikes. While this drew criticism for making Japanese Triumphs, it allowed his company to get off the ground quickly. Third, the first generation of Triumphs started with unit production parts. All models used the same basic engine and frame. This meant a wide variety of bikes could be made without having to tool up lots of different assembly lines. With this start, Triumph started to build bikes. They deviated from these rules only as money and the market gave them an opportunity.

The second company that obviously did things right was Victory. Seeing the success of Harley in the early 90s, Polaris decided to diversify their snowmobile/ATV business with a motorcycle line. Despite some troubled times, this division has gone on to success and is now considered a major player. The biggest factor to their success has undoubtedly been their success in other motorsports markets. That means both money and knowledge of how to play in this industry. Secondary to that, I believe they also hired some truely great engineers when they started. For example, I know they brought in Dr. Rob Tuluie to help with their initial designs. They continued this by bringing in Arlen and Cory Ness when they did their second line. Hiring good people is essential to building a successful bike. Third, they followed the racing dictum of never follow, always look for a way past. The first Victory, the V92, was a “sport cruiser”. While it didn’t sell well then, it was certainly a successful market to shoot for given the success of todays V-Rods, Warriors and Mean Streaks. The current Hammer is the first major production “custom”, again show in Victory is looking beyond their competition not at their back end.

The third example of success is the rebirth of MV Agusta. (Success in the Italian motorcycle industry, BTW, just means they haven’t yet filed for bankruptcy). The company was brought back from the dead by the Castiglioni family who have a long history in the motorcycle business. He started out with truckloads of cash and immediate hired Massimo Tamburini, designer of the Ducati 916. That was the clincher, no matter what else happened. Tamburini knows how to build a lust worthy bike and that along would generate the buzz needed to fuel the company’s growth. Their second step was to focus on the upper end of the market, making their money off high pricing rather than mass production. This allowed them to gain momentum and gain the image of exclusivity. Now that they are building more bike at lower prices like the Raptor, the market is jumping at the chance to own their own status symbol. Finally, they partnered with Malaysian based Proton meaning that their source of money isn’t dependent on the notorious Italian business environment.

So the folks that got it wrong?

Well, most of them tried to develop a new engine too soon. The “new” Indian went under when they tried to develop a new (non-S&S) engine for their Chief. Its rumored that Excelsior-Henderson was tanked for the same reason. Cannondale was trying to do to many unique things with their 400cc dirt bike engine. The current Motoczysz project has spent millions so far and only have one working engine to show for it. Building an engine is the most complex and expensive bit of engineering possible, made even more difficult by the constantly changing government restrictions. The rumored “new” Vincent has cut out that hurtle by buying engines from Honda. The “new’ Norton did it by modifying the original Norton design, rather than starting with a blank sheet of paper. Even the strange Gurney Alligator uses a Honda engine and Dan Gurney knows a thing or two about building engines.

Second, re-use parts as much as possible and stay with a small line-up until money allows growth. Indian did this well with their Harley clones but it was when they tried to build an all new bike that their costs skyrocketed. Aprilia had huge success with their scooters and sport bikes but went bankrupt because they bought and tried to revitalize Moto Guzzi just as the scooter market was collapsing. Meanwhile, India’s Royal Enfield has been making the same bike since the ’50s and new Korean manufacturer Hyosung are building a bike based on the SV650 that they build under contract for Suzuki. This maxim is true for the established manufacturers, as all of Ducati’s current line-up uses two basic engines, one of which has been around for 15 years.

Finally, know the market place. The list of cruiser/custom builders that have dried up on the vine, like Titan Motorcycles, is continually growing longer. It is always good to aim for a known portion of the market but always look for new places to go. Harley will always own the American cruiser market. Folks like Excelsior-Henderson that thought they could exist solely by stealing a piece of the cruiser pie away from Harley were doomed from the start. Victory came in looking for something different like the sport cruiser or factory custom markets and have prospered. Titan tried to take on West Coast Choppers and Orange Country Choppers but couldn’t bring anything new to the table (and lacked a fancy TV show for marketing). Down they went. ATK has always survived, like MV Agusta, by focusing on a narrow and exclusive portion of the dirt bike market. Cannondale went head-to-head with Honda. ATK is still selling bikes.

I’m no economist and I’ve never started a motorcycle company. Ultimately, I’m just looking at the wreckage strewn about the motorcycling landscape and trying to make sense of it all. Maybe the next company to strike success will build their own engine, have lots of unique models and will go up against an established leader in the market place…but I doubt it.

[image from my photo collection]