Harley's Dirty Little Secret

[Rambunctious]

Beautiful bike....

 

[tyroneweaver]

Damn. They took steps to protect their own intellectual property. Outrageous.

What does this have to do with "freedom." Freedom to steal someone else's property?

They had dealers print apparel for them, thus not having to pay the overhead
Then seized it.
Probably sold it on the side

 

[Tom Horn]

The dude who bought the printing franchise here was rumored to be a notorious coke dealer who used his profits to go legit....so much for Harley giving a shit who they were doing business with.

 

[my2¢]

A merchandise counterfeiter accusing HD being the culprit here is certainly a hard sell.

Help Center - Product Authenticity | Harley-Davidson USA

 

[whitehall]

Harley has had it's ups and downs over the last couple of decades. When it was owned by AMF (the bowling machine company) they put out a notoriously shoddy product. Harley bounced back but the competition has increased. Chopper shops put out unique stuff if you can afford it and you can get something similar to the standard H.D. a lot cheaper from Yamaha. It's interesting that hypocrite lefties who were parading with Occupy Wall Street rabble and cursing corporate wealth during the Obama years are now hyper concerned about the alleged effect of tariffs on corporate wealth. It's all political bull shit.

 

[Tom Horn]

A merchandise counterfeiter accusing HD being the culprit here is certainly a hard sell.

Help Center - Product Authenticity | Harley-Davidson USA

I ain't "selling" anything, Jethro....just sharing my perspective of a company in the news. And we weren't "counterfeiters" since Harley wasn't producing anything remotely similar to what their dealers wanted and had to buy from us.

 

[Tom Horn]

Harley has had it's ups and downs over the last couple of decades. When it was owned by AMF (the bowling machine company) they put out a notoriously shoddy product. Harley bounced back but the competition has increased. Chopper shops put out unique stuff if you can afford it and you can get something similar to the standard H.D. a lot cheaper from Yamaha. It's interesting that hypocrite lefties who were parading with Occupy Wall Street rabble and cursing corporate wealth during the Obama years are now hyper concerned about the alleged effect of tariffs on corporate wealth. It's all political bull shit.

I had the Head Ski printing contract when they were owned by AMF up in Boulder, Colorado. Their purchasing agent (who will remain anonymous) and I used to smoke hashish during a sales call and watch movies of him hotdog skiing in his younger days.....I'd walk out of there stoned to the gills with a nice order and the receptionist would snicker...she was usually buzzed too.... it was the 70's.....good times.

 

[Dragonlady]

Having owned a sportswear printing business for just over 30 years, I had interaction with dozens of Harley Davidson dealers in several states. I sold the business in 2002 but I doubt what I'm about to tell you has changed. The truth is, Harley Davidson is about as much about "freedom" as our commiecrats in Congress. They are as ruthless a corporation behind the scenes as it gets.

Back in the mid-90's, Harley decided they weren't making enough money on their apparel line. Thousands of bootlgers like myself were selling Harley designs to their dealers and after-market chopper shops. Our designs made their stodgy old-fashioned logo shirts pale by comparison. So they informed their dealers in cease and desist letters that they could no longer buy "unauthorized" apparel from us. They sold these printing franchises for $100K and took a healthy cut of the profits. They could only sell designs and apparel approved by the company at full retail...no discounts. Nothing wrong so far...they were within their rights.

But then they took it too far. They sent their new franchised printers into Harley and Chopper shops posing as customers to find out where they'd been getting their merchandise....sneaky. Then they sent us printers cease and desist letters threatening lawsuits if we didn't surrender our artwork and silk screens to them. They followed that by RAIDING their own dealers and seizing unauthorized inventory and FINING them $1 for every piece of apparel seized. If the dealer objected, Harley would pull their parts kit...effectively putting them out of business. And what did all this result in?

Harley Davidson now makes more money on the apparel line than they do selling motorcycles. The popularity of their brand is based on two factors. How the Harley engine sounds, and that it's an AMERICAN icon, falsely posing as the "Great American Freedom Machine". Ask a Harley dealer how "free" he is dealing with Milwaukee, soon to be Bangkok, Thailand.

So you were illegally profiting from the Harley logo and advertising without paying a royalty for using it.

Harley has every right to make sure their dealers aren’t selling knock offs. You’re lucky you didn’t get charged for counterfeiting their merchandise.

 

[BluesLegend]

They could only sell designs and apparel approved by the company at full retail...no discounts.

That is illegal. Harley can put a suggested retail price tag on the stuff, and can restrict them from advertising discounts, but cannot legally force retailers to charge customers full price retailers can discount if they choose.

find a PS4 Pro below suggested retail price.

as for HD - if people are out there making bootleg shirts and *not* expecting HD to get mad, that was kinda silly.

I'm just telling you what the law is. Obviously bootleg products using HD's copyrighted and trademarked IP is also just as illegal I have no problem with them protecting their IP.

 

[Tom Horn]

So you were illegally profiting from the Harley logo and advertising without paying a royalty for using it.

Harley has every right to make sure their dealers aren’t selling knock offs. You’re lucky you didn’t get charged for counterfeiting their merchandise.

Nothing I did was "illegal", dumbass....if your attention-span was long enough to read the whole thread you'd know that...so fuck off.

 

[iceberg]

They could only sell designs and apparel approved by the company at full retail...no discounts.

That is illegal. Harley can put a suggested retail price tag on the stuff, and can restrict them from advertising discounts, but cannot legally force retailers to charge customers full price retailers can discount if they choose.

find a PS4 Pro below suggested retail price.

as for HD - if people are out there making bootleg shirts and *not* expecting HD to get mad, that was kinda silly.

I'm just telling you what the law is. Obviously bootleg products using HD's copyrighted and trademarked IP is also just as illegal I have no problem with them protecting their IP.

i get that - but retailers set prices all the time for their hardware. microsoft does it for their software and there are times it can and does happen. i'm not up on the laws as to when you can or can't, but many things i've bought i paid suggested retail for. example being my pentax K1 when it was like 6 months out - it was still full retail price and you simply didn't see anyone offering it at a discount.

 

[Dragonlady]

A merchandise counterfeiter accusing HD being the culprit here is certainly a hard sell.

Help Center - Product Authenticity | Harley-Davidson USA

I ain't "selling" anything, Jethro....just sharing my perspective of a company in the news. And we weren't "counterfeiters" since Harley wasn't producing anything remotely similar to what their dealers wanted and had to buy from us.

You could have approached HD with your ideas and signed a royalty agreement for the use of their intellectual property, but you didn’t. You just took it and then whined like a bitch when you got caught.

 

[RDD_1210]

Damn. They took steps to protect their own intellectual property. Outrageous.

What does this have to do with "freedom." Freedom to steal someone else's property?

What "property"? The parent company didn't own the designs or apparel their dealers bought from us. It was all about taking their dealer's ability to have a choice of product and sources.....try reading what I said again.

Careful now....your corporate Masters don't like your tone.......socialist.

 

[Tom Horn]

You could have approached HD with your ideas and signed a royalty agreement for the use of their intellectual property, but you didn’t. You just took it and then whined like a bitch when you got caught.

Didn't get "caught" either, dumbass...again, you ain't worth going over plowed ground so ESAD.

 

[bendog]

No more phony Kate Spade for you, little man! (-:

 

[Tom Horn]

Careful now....your corporate Masters don't like your tone.......socialist.

^^^^^ Another putz who suddenly believes Harley is righteous to off-shore solely because they hate Trump...pitiful, stupid dirtbags...that's the modern commiecrat.

 

[Nosmo King]

Having owned a sportswear printing business for just over 30 years, I had interaction with dozens of Harley Davidson dealers in several states. I sold the business in 2002 but I doubt what I'm about to tell you has changed. The truth is, Harley Davidson is about as much about "freedom" as our commiecrats in Congress. They are as ruthless a corporation behind the scenes as it gets.

Back in the mid-90's, Harley decided they weren't making enough money on their apparel line. Thousands of bootlgers like myself were selling Harley designs to their dealers and after-market chopper shops. Our designs made their stodgy old-fashioned logo shirts pale by comparison. So they informed their dealers in cease and desist letters that they could no longer buy "unauthorized" apparel from us. They sold these printing franchises for $100K and took a healthy cut of the profits. They could only sell designs and apparel approved by the company at full retail...no discounts. Nothing wrong so far...they were within their rights.

But then they took it too far. They sent their new franchised printers into Harley and Chopper shops posing as customers to find out where they'd been getting their merchandise....sneaky. Then they sent us printers cease and desist letters threatening lawsuits if we didn't surrender our artwork and silk screens to them. They followed that by RAIDING their own dealers and seizing unauthorized inventory and FINING them $1 for every piece of apparel seized. If the dealer objected, Harley would pull their parts kit...effectively putting them out of business. And what did all this result in?

Harley Davidson now makes more money on the apparel line than they do selling motorcycles. The popularity of their brand is based on two factors. How the Harley engine sounds, and that it's an AMERICAN icon, falsely posing as the "Great American Freedom Machine". Ask a Harley dealer how "free" he is dealing with Milwaukee, soon to be Bangkok, Thailand.

Here's an analogy. In this scene, the role of China is played by you. Essentially, you've been stealing copyright items and the intellectual property of Harley-Davidson. The role of the United States of America is played by Harley-Davidson trying to protect that copyright and intellectual property.

Are you saying businesses are not entitled to protect their image, copyright and property?

What argument would Donald Trump make?

 

[BluesLegend]

They could only sell designs and apparel approved by the company at full retail...no discounts.

That is illegal. Harley can put a suggested retail price tag on the stuff, and can restrict them from advertising discounts, but cannot legally force retailers to charge customers full price retailers can discount if they choose.

find a PS4 Pro below suggested retail price.

as for HD - if people are out there making bootleg shirts and *not* expecting HD to get mad, that was kinda silly.

I'm just telling you what the law is. Obviously bootleg products using HD's copyrighted and trademarked IP is also just as illegal I have no problem with them protecting their IP.

i get that - but retailers set prices all the time for their hardware. microsoft does it for their software and there are times it can and does happen. i'm not up on the laws as to when you can or can't, but many things i've bought i paid suggested retail for. example being my pentax K1 when it was like 6 months out - it was still full retail price and you simply didn't see anyone offering it at a discount.

One issue nobody has raised yet is this. The online retailer running his business out of a garage over the internet. No overhead so they blow product out the door at prices most retailers with overhead can't match. It gets worse, these people tend to move so much product because of the deep discounts that the manufactures then discount their products to this internet guy, then he's able to make his 5% at BELOW what other retailers are paying wholesale for the product. I have seen this wipe out retailers on a large scale. If that wasn't bad enough, people will buy from the internet retailer then go complain to a brick and mortar service shop or try to get them to support the product because the internet guy provides none of that.

 

[Winston]

They could only sell designs and apparel approved by the company at full retail...no discounts.

That is illegal. Harley can put a suggested retail price tag on the stuff, and can restrict them from advertising discounts, but cannot legally force retailers to charge customers full price retailers can discount if they choose.

Not true. They can contractually set a retail price and forbid their retailers from discounting. Mattress Firm discounted Temperpedic, lost their contract and paid ten million dollars to Sealy-Temperpedic for discounting in violation of their contract.

 

[OldLady]

They could only sell designs and apparel approved by the company at full retail...no discounts.

That is illegal. Harley can put a suggested retail price tag on the stuff, and can restrict them from advertising discounts, but cannot legally force retailers to charge customers full price retailers can discount if they choose.

In a lot of "seconds" stores, they just rip out the mfg. label. Would that have made it legal, or is it the logo itself?