Corporate Needs Your Help In Product Development

[Cobrafast1]

I'm in. Survey sent.

 

[Gas Man]

Its really fuckin stupid honestly. If they just want to know what the people want... become a member here. Read the 45,000 threads on the topic and stop wasting money on survey companies... spend it on userfull things that you can offer the people looking at spending some cash.

 

[BBChopper]

Its really fuckin stupid honestly. If they just want to know what the people want... become a member here. Read the 45,000 threads on the topic and stop wasting money on survey companies... spend it on userfull things that you can offer the people looking at spending some cash.

Huh that wont work it's too simple Gas

They should pay someone full time to watch are look for this shit.!!!

Oh BDM I am avaiable!!!

 

[Vegas]

Its really fuckin stupid honestly. If they just want to know what the people want... become a member here. Read the 45,000 threads on the topic and stop wasting money on survey companies... spend it on userfull things that you can offer the people looking at spending some cash.

I disagree....they want to know what their target buyer thinks. The economy has changed and honestly I bet there are plenty that couldn't buy the same bike today.

 

[Sparks]

As I live in the UK and have been told by BDM before that they cannot help me with anything because I don't live in the US I'm guessing I would not be eligible for this survey. Its a shame because the few of us who do live outside the USA have to pay more for our bikes, more for our parts, wait longer for our parts and have zero dealer support. That to me shows a dcent level of commitment to BDM. If you are interested in me completing the survey let me know and I will take a look at it.

Having said all that my overriding view is that you absolutely must produce a bike that the owner of that bike can trust - it must be reliable. I think Big Dogs are fantastic bikes and I love mine but there seem to be the same reliability issues cropping up far too often.

In my opinion you must take note of these issues and correct them before looking at expanding the range. There is every type of bike in terms of style and performance out there and I guess a lot of them, particularly custom builds / manufactured customs are unreliable. I understand the current electrical system is being changed and that is a great start.

Reliability is what will differentiate your product from the rest and attract a loyal customer base. If that means losing some of the BDM proprietary parts then so be it.

Apologies if this sounds like a rant but neither I nor anyone else on this forum will be less than honest with you.

Good luck
Lee

I Think lee has said it quite well! Electrical problems as well as proprietary parts have been an issue. I have been very lucky with my 2003 chopper that I can modify most parts with minor effort to work/fit. The inferior wheel bearings need to be upgraded to U.S. or German bearings, it isn't that big of a savings for the corp in the grander scope of things. The Baker six speed was of a good design before it was changed for the Big Dog corp. The high tourque of these bikes demands a transmision that has been time proven, not a test product. I can't stop myself from re-visiting the electric/EHC issue. Several members have opted to dump the whole system and hard wire the bike for RELIABILITY. I may have spent a lot of money for one of your bikes, but that was because you used nearly all of the parts I would have used to build my own custom. I trusted the judgment of your company to to do the R&D required to put up a rideable/reliable bike. Just because I had the money for the initial purchase doesn't mean I want to spend a lot of extra money to fix design flaws to make this a bike I can ride for 30 years like the 1969 shovel-head I had with minimum up-grades/ design changes to make it work right within the first 5 years of ownership. I don't want to rant but I am honest to a fault and like an umpire, I call em like I see em. I will look at the link and if it's not too personal I will give my check the box input! Thanks for listening, Sparks

 

[Mutt]

Bring on the "bobber". If you build it, I will buy it!!! S&S Panhead please. Survey in, by the way.

 

[Gas Man]

I disagree....they want to know what their target buyer thinks. The economy has changed and honestly I bet there are plenty that couldn't buy the same bike today.

Yeah but they are already behind the buck on getting out the next hottest thing.

 

[Chopper Dave]

Sent and hoping I get selected.

Ray....you shouldn't have to do a survey.........they should automatically pick you balling out over 60,000 miles!! :2thumbs:

 

[Irish Chad]

im in, i want the bagger!

 

[Chopper Dave]

just sent in mine......

 

[goofy]

Just sent the survey. And Tim, thanks for the heads-up!

 

[Vegas]

Yeah but they are already behind the buck on getting out the next hottest thing.

Ya because it's not affordable. I want it but can't take my paws off the money in my account. It's as simple as market depreciation. You can't trade up anymore.

 

[Dead Stroke]

welcome paul. we all love our big dogs and it is nice to see the interest from you and the company. hope everybody is still around in a year or two.

for what it is worth, i bought my big dog after finding this site and reading the posts from the folks who know what they are talking about. not sure i would have made the leap without it.

hope we can be helpful, chuck

I second this.
I bought one only after being educated on this site and knowing I can rely and trust its members for answers and info.

you have a unique product with the potential to make a giant impact on the bike market. but on the same token you have some quirky policies that are not friendly to the owners.

Also this would be some of the best feed back you'll ever get to make your bikes better and more owner friendly.

thx mark stevens

 

[showdog]

Sent and hoping I get selected.

Do you really think there's any question about the likelyhood of you being selected Ray??

Paul is who he says he is, I walk through his office on a regular basis. In fact I seen him unloading a bunch of posters into my truck yesterday morning about the same time he made the post.

I don't get to participate in the survey since I don't actually own one but I do get to participate in the discussions about new products because I get to talk to hundreds of current owners every year at the rally's.

 

[Cruise-Mate]

Inexpensive improvement

Hey bigdogbiker.com members, what do you think of adding Cruise-Mate as an OEM item.

If the rumors I've heard are correct, BDM removed the throttle lock because someone was injured or killed while the lock was on and couldn't back off the throttle. As many of you know, with Cruise-Mate installed you can still easily turn your throttle in an emergency.

Personally I always thought it was very bad engineering to use metal on metal as a throttle lock, would leave a burr and, whereas people are involved it was only a matter of time before someone would over tighten it and not be able to operate the throttle when necessary.

Paul, it's the mindset of most manufacturers that a throttle lock is a liability and don't want them on their bikes, however, most real riders find a way to install one and use it anyway so why not use one that's safe, easy to operate and looks kick-ass good on the bike.

We have Cruise-Mate installed on thousands of bikes with virtually nothing but rave reviews and zero problems.

You may want to ask Showdog what he thinks of the product, he and I have attended many of the same events and he's seen me install Cruise-Mate on many Big Dog's as well as other bikes.

 

[BubbleHead]

Welcome Paul. I am very glad to see you finally joined this group as I suggested in our phone conversation a while back. We all here hope that you will act as a pipeline to Sheldon on the issues written here with our beloved Big Dogs. For in the end, only he can make the true efforts to keep BDM alive and understand that his customers are very devoted to his product and expect to be treated as the company's lifes blood which they are. We as loyal BDM owners can only hope that Sheldon himself would join and communicate directly with the largest group of owners of his product which would in turn create a devoted and loyal customer base unlike any other in this market. Knowing that we as owners could communicate directly with Mr. Coleman himself thru this fourm would be a tremendous marketing tool. The strenghting of a manufacturers customer base is vital to any business with out a doubt. You already know my level of dedication to the BDM product line. I will swear by it to the end. I live and breathe it. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say welcome and it is a true pleasure to have you here as a member. Give my best to Jason (he's the man!), Scott and of course to Sheldon himself and may BDM live long and well.
Ed Mili

 

[BubbleHead]

Do you really think there's any question about the likelyhood of you being selected Ray??

Paul is who he says he is, I walk through his office on a regular basis. In fact I seen him unloading a bunch of posters into my truck yesterday morning about the same time he made the post.

I don't get to participate in the survey since I don't actually own one but I do get to participate in the discussions about new products because I get to talk to hundreds of current owners every year at the rally's.

:2thumbs: :roll: :roll: :roll: That's funny Scott. Yea there is NO doubt Ray ( the Mileage Master) would be the number 1 pick in this survey. NO DOUBT. I'm trying to catch him ( 17000 miles in one year) but I'm still way behind. :roll: :roll: Take good care Scott, we all miss you back here on the east coast. Hope to see you real soon .:2thumbs:

 

[Big Ron]

Paul, thank you for looking in our direction. When you sift through this forum as you probably have done you will hear the experiences that BDM must take into consideration when researching design improvements on existing and future models.

BDM must provide to the end user (us, the customer) improvements to design on models we currently hold. And might I add at a zero to minimum charge to that customer. We bought these motorcycle for their looks, performance, reliability and company reputation in the first place and improvements on design should not be wasted only on the newest model offered.

We all know times are tough right now for everybody but I will tell you this. There are few things I can think of better for stress than to hope on my Big Dog K-9 and point it in the opposite direction of life troubles and not look back at least for a little while.

This is another good step, feeling the pulse so to speak. Thanks for asking and my survey is sent. Now I expect a call

Ron Harris
2007 K-9 Limited Edition #37

 

[showdog]

Take good care Scott, we all miss you back here on the east coast. Hope to see you real soon .:2thumbs:

I'm leaving in the morning (Sunday) heading East again. (Southeast towards Daytona Beach) I'll be there Tuesday morning, Steve, the Eastern half of the US Sales Rep, will be there sometime Wednesday afternoon and Ohmster (Jason) should be there Wednesday evening.

We will be at the speedway right next door to Tonya and BDM Tampa.

Hope to see some of you through the display over the weekend and let me know that your BDB members and I might be able to come up with some posters for you to take home.

See you all soon:
Showdog (Scott)

 

[K9_salsa1jim]

First I want to say I have the best response on my K9, my hats off to your paint job department, never seem to stop turning heads, it didn't take long to sold me! Sure I have my share of electrical issues, dash, blinkers, charging systems, let not leave the foot pegs that didn't even last a year, but one of my biggest gripe about Bigdog is their passenger seat, yes, I think we all know about the damn suction cup that don't work worth a crap, such a cheap idea for such a cool bike, I almost bought the Thunder Mountain Custom just for this very reason alone, feel free to look up their link.
So anytime now, before my paint job on my rear fender looking any worst then they do.