Well, for starters, floorplan set ups are bullshit and will make just about any company go under once an economy struggles. There is something about a company that sells high end products and relies on dealers to get a floor plan that is not right. All of our dealers pay cash for their bikes and once the bike is finished it belongs to them and will never return to us. On another note, I HOPE Big Dog will not be there once all is said and done. Too much brouhaha has come from some of their staff to allow them to be trusted in the market place, if you read between the lines and are on here often you will know what I am talking about. Liars and scumbags should not be tolerated in our industry.

But then again I am very bitter towards a few of Big Dogs employees who are extremely trashy and unprofessional. But that is just me even though I know many others feel the same about the certain individuals as I do.

Conrad Nicklus

Sheldon is sharp. The only bad decision in years past was getting rid of Nick. Without Nick, the face to the dealers was gone. Nasi is a good face; Hansen was a good face… but neither had the presence of Nick to the dealers. We never had a level of confidence from Doug or the others after he left. Nick would have done a better job rallying the troops to fight the battle.

I think the 6 pack, 4 pack, 2 pack, whatever did fine. I never have met John Brock, but hear good things. Never met Bob Brown, but heard good things. Doug was a mistake. Sharp, sure, but over his head in sales and marketing… Never sold a bike, rode a bike, or visited dealers. Again, Nasi and Hansen could have run that area of the company very well. .But overall the people were good, intentions are great… the bankers? Not quite as a favorable opinion. I wish the best for the remaining 65 or so to get through it.

We all just wait for the economy to turn around and, hopefully BDM will be there with us.

With that being said, after reading many of these posts it seems like the people who were in the trenches are taking most of the lumps for BDM’s apparent failure. I disagree with that. Most of the blame for this should be laid at the feet of Sheldon Coleman.

First, Sheldon should have known that a fad is not a business model unless you are only interested in a year’s worth of success. That was the first trap BDM fell into and, unfortunately, every chopper they sold reinforced this notion that the market for these niche bikes was unlimited.

Second, Sheldon was obsessed with expansion. For him it was more factory space, more models and more marketing. Any person who has any knowledge of business knows that over expansion is one of the biggest killers of start-up operations. Instead of a gradual and controlled expansion, he went wild and pushed for more models and style over substance. I think it pretty well known throughout the business that BDM were not the most reliable machines on the road. It would be hard to estimate the millions that were spent fixing bikes because of the rushed production and bad engineering practices. And this was due to Sheldon’s push to move more units out the door.

Third, Sheldon, for the time I knew him, was clearly convinced his opinion was beyond questioning. And his early success only fueled that trait. While he was “the boss,” and in many respects a good boss, there were many people who warned him about these issues for a long time. Sometimes a good idea is a good idea even if it is not yours.

There were a lot of good people who worked at BDM. They worked hard and did their best for the company. It is unfortunate that these issues were compounded with a severe recession that may end up with the company in bankruptcy. And for those who think it will be tough on the monied interests behind this private company, remember BDM is a limited liability company.

Congrats.

Conrad

Good Luck BDM. We are with you.

Sharpo

Big Dog shoppers are everyday people and common folk. People like us.

ok put down the crack pipe and step back from the keyboard or did Bigalyts bang you on the head with his crummy calculator??

Read this statement slowly a few times

Big Dog shoppers are everyday people and common folk Ok
Big Dog shoppers are everyday people and common folk

you tell me what sane everyday 9-5 hourly wage guy, is going to step up and buy a basic bar hopper for 25-30k and with that bar hopper how much of the real RIDING, trips ect is he really going to be able to do with a bar hopper?? There is more to life on bike than riding to Loli Pops or the Spearmint Rhino for a few lap dances

Bdm customers I saw during 01-07 were guys who had an hd and wanted something to show that they were anything but

we were on a 10,000 mile trip last summer and thru some states ( MN WI IL ID TN SC NC VA AL LA FL GA ect) some where u can ride year round pretty much and i can count on one hand the BDM AIM we passed or saw on the road. Even in strugis the number of these bikes on the wasn’t much and hey i know rallys #s are down, but still not many bdm’s

Sheldon was right dude, rich dudes, posers and guys that ride less than 3000 miles a year if that, were buying these bikes.

Personally i work too hard for my $$ and ride too many miles to have such a niche bike!

BDM rode a good wave and sad to say it, but it came crashing down real hard. Just ask HD what sales of their Rocker are like?? and HD has what 750 dealers?

Sure, …….. i didn’t question John’s credentials.
When you said “he has an amazing understanding of the motorcycle industry” i interpreted that in the context of this blog, which means “v-twin custom” industry.

My point was simply that a bunch-a very “iffy” stuff is gonna have to happen before any brilliance can be applied to save BD…… or any other production V-twin custom Mfg.

Moreover, as i see it, even with the return of economic stability, it’ll be a Looooong time before Joe-six-pack is gonna be able to (or want to) use a home equity loan to buy ANY $40K toy (bike, boat, etc.).

I think the market for production customs will fundamentally change.
To recover anything but a niche play, an MC company will have to open up a much larger portion of the consumer public.

When gas gets up to European prices, the market for small 2-wheelrer will really open up.
Perhaps BD could turn into a motor-scooter company…..

-nicker-

You need to figure again – 10,000 x 30,000 = $300,000,000.

RE:
“… it will take more than a shuffle in administration to save a company, but if anyone can do it, John Brock can….”

Well, John may be a great guy, but without a market no one can save a company.
Regardless of management issues, the problem is simply this:

- When will the “hay-day-market” for production customs come back…?
- “IF” it does come back, how robust will it be? (and if it doesn’t)…..
- Can an organization be restructured to target what ever niche markets are left? (and/or)…?
- Is management savvy enough to come up with a different product to target the new reality…?

Given the economy, boomer demographics, and how the financial markets are shaking out, it doesn’t take an economist to figure our that consumer spending will be way more constrained than it’s been.

-nicker-

whats the email addy iam a road warrior this weekend and dont want to go thru the whole login process right now

their shot at hi resolution so u can blow them up if you want

stephen

i like how you put it ….its a dog eat dog world lol so dont wear milk bone under wear

right after colemans’s money John Nasi is big dog!!

Why him and Jim dont team up is ???? to me.

I dont know their personalities BUT if Jim, John and micheal Prugh and Shawna could all work together under 1 roof or 4 laptops LOL………..they could make and have one heck of company in the industry!!

Yes, Paul Hansen was removed as Marketing Manager, something that also should have happened 2 years ago. Paul is a very nice guy, but he was also in over his head. He wasn’t educated or experienced enough to lead a marketing department for a company of Big Dog’s size.

John Nasi is still at BDM. It was the “Sales Manager”, Tim O’Laughlin, that was furloughed. Again, a very nice guy but not a real sales manager.

The problem with BDM is two-fold. First, Sheldon Coleman does not know who his customers are. He builds motorcycles for people like himself, rich people. He thinks his customers are CEO’s, attorneys, doctors, etc. They are not. Big Dog shoppers are everyday people and common folk. People like us. People like us are not going out and spending $40k – $50k on motorcycles right now. The new Bulldog bagger is a good looking bike, but it costs $50k fully loaded. Very few people are buying that bike. The Pitbull, though it has great classic looks, did not sell well and the company produced way too many of them. Both of those bikes were built because the dealers said they could sell them. Sheldon needs to quit listening to what BDM’s dealers have to say and start listening to what the customers have to say. The Wolf is another example of a great looking bike that was built at the wrong time.

The second major problem at the company is that they do not go out and hire people who understand the motorcycle industry, nor do they hire “professionals”. People are promoted to their level of incompetency, but then they are allowed to remain in those positions for far too long. There are plenty of examples of other companies that have failed because of this very same reason. Sales and marketing are crucial for any company to survive so you must have people leading those divisions who know what they are doing. Big Dog did not, nor did it have anyone leading the entire company who knew what they were doing.

Another problem is that Sheldon does not like to have people on his team who disagree with him. Conflict is what drives progress, if you do not at least consider other people’s opinions than you had better be an accomplished expert yourself. Sheldon is not. All of the decisions are Sheldon’s decisions and we’ve all watched over the years as the company has made one bad decision after another. Most of the times there were dissenting voices and plenty of people can today say “I told you so”. Of course, those people no longer work at Big Dog.

Word on the street is that it is bankers now making the decisions as to how the money is spent. If that is true than it is very possible that the company has already filed Chapter 11. It is a private company so that news does not have to be released to the public by the company. I would think, however, that someone at a local news agency would have already broke that story, as all bankruptcy filings are public record and printed in the local newspaper. Surely news agencies pay someone to look through those records for this type of information. Just in case they do not, I am going to look through them myself and see if the truth is out there.

My source tells me the company is still open for business but is not currently producing new motorcycles. He says that a lot of the employees have been told to remain confident about the company’s future, but that the people telling them to do that are not themselves confident. There are now around 65 people working there including both production and non-production. The new “President” is John Brock. He is at least a rider but has no experience running a company. Since the “furlough” was announced a few other employees have resigned and moved on. From all indications it appears that management is lying to the employees and has already begun preparations to close the company. Smart employees are going to start jumping ship. Eventually paychecks will start bouncing and that will be the end of it. That’s just my opinion, but we’ve all seen this happen before and this company is following the same path that others have. It’s unfortunate. The economy has certainly been the catalyst for the downfall of Big Dog, but they need only look internally to figure out why things did not work.

Over and out.

Would love that.
Michael Lichter’s work is so awesome and as for my riding buddy – Sugar Bear gotta have that!

thanks!

http://www.womenmotorcyclist.com

I was going thru some files/pictures and came across a few of you

Can i thru your website email you a picture of Micheal L taking your picture in sturgis back in 07 or ??? and i also had one of you and Sugar Bear…….the one Micheal is cool as it shows him doing what he does so good, i felt like the student photgraphing the teacher

As we would say here in Australia it is the little guys that keep the bastards honest. The industry needs the Big Dog, AIH, Desperado, Ness and others not only to push the envelope but to drive innovation. In turn the smaller manufacturers get pushed by the one off custom builders and in turn they are kept honest.

Can you post a link to Tamburini’s open letter re: his departure from H-D owned MV? I’d love to hear his side of the story.

Thanks

…..”I have no clue who there 15year sales guy is/was – but not to fret, John’s not gone yet.”…..

SHITTTT, I thought I had won that battle for a minute too. Well I would say best bet is on the next set of lay offs that “name” will no longer be on the employment list.

Jim Nasi is awesome though, if that helps cool the other brother down when he reads this.

Have a great weekend everyone lol

Nasi boys are awesome.
I have no clue who there 15year sales guy is/was – but not to fret, John’s not gone yet.

a 15 year salesman, ok is this John Nasi

i was asking if it was John and thank you for the reply