07-05-2014, 12:32 AM
(07-04-2014, 11:27 PM)CB4ME_imp Wrote: What if other HD riders got a taste of the CB? For many folks, HDs are the only brand of motorcycle they've ever considered, rode, owned, or know anything about.
We know what happened when the CBs arrived in the late '60's. HD and Brit bike riders dumped their old wheezers so fast the vacuum made your ears pop. Honda dealers literally had people waiting in line when the shipments of 750s arrived. My brother in law was a factory-trained HD mechanic, but he'd moonlight building new 750s. He said guys were shoving cash in dealers pockets to skip ahead in the waiting line. It took years for the supply to finally catch up with the demand.
The truly bizzare part is how the whole thing flipped in the '90's. Within a few years HD dealers went from staying in business by selling parts and service to having buyers waiting a year or more for a bike...any bike...and then selling those bikes for thousands over MSRP. They'd even get away with forcing people to buy a used bike, or a Buell, to get in line for the bike they really wanted.
What changed? The EVO engine was certainly an improvement, but it can't account for the suddenly insane demand for HDs.