An honest opinion? Everyones opinion is honest and while we do not always agree with other opinions, it is not right to say one opinion carries any more weight than another. In this case, your opinion carries equal weight to mine.
orangeskulz, that is your opinion and everyone has one.
Here is mine.
I also think of Sheldon in a positive way and know he did more for the industry than many will ever know. I respect Sheldon Coleman and all he has done. Many MANY companies are failing and they do not admit it up front for many reasons. GM, AIG, Fabtech rails, 800 trucking companies out of business in last 14 months, roadway freight denied business was bad untill one day gates were locked and deputies were on site and notices telling employees they had no work, DeLorean Motor Company denied the rumors for a long time, Eastern Air Lines/Pan Am/Pay 'n Save/Ernst Home Centers (I lost money on their stock)/Napster/Bethlehem Steel/Montgomery Ward/Global Crossing (denied all the way to court)/ ATA Airlines/Circuit City/Levitz Furniture/Madoff Investment Securities/Washington Mutual/Borders/Hollywood Video/bank failures, all denied rumors of financial issues or that anything was wrong yill after they got caught, were govt seized, sold out, bankrupted, re organized or a multitude of other endings.
Sheldon made it known he was losing money, was seeking outside investors, would sell the co in part or wholly, this was not a secret, Sheldon made numerous announcements via media outlets and thru interviews. This has been going on for prolly 18 months or more.
Does it suck?yes.
Point is, thousands and thousands of companies are failing in this economy and most will not admit it in any way shape or form. These are the times we are living in and while it is not always fair, at this point in history, we may not be able to expect more.
Sheldon was up front and forthcoming and in the last few months, weeks and days, odds are Sheldon faced some seriously tough decisions and was very busy. Sheldon Coleman has kept as many ppl as he could working since bike sales and bank money has dried up. The man took good care of his employees. Sheldon had to have been putting money into the company to meet payroll where he could have laid off everyone like many companies will at the first sign of trouble. Sheldon did not do this. Even while sales plummeted, BDM designed new scoots the ppl were asking for, that BigDogBiker.com forum members were asking for, and many of the new scoots were incorporating ideas from tese discussions on this forum. Sheldon was still listening to his customers, still designing cutting edge motorcycles even though he was burning thru his own money and keeping great employees employed. Sheldon Coleman brough extreme customer service to an industry not known for "after the sale" customer service. Even when he was burning thru cash without bike sales to fund the company, the man and his team of skilled employees still took excellent care of future customers (factory tours for those that dropped in, and without an appt), current customers could come and interact with the painters and those building their scoot (any other manufacturer do this?) a 2 year warranty, and even took great care with a lot of scoots out of warranty. All this while burning cashola of his own, Sheldon, if nothing else, understood loyalty, and how best to treat customers.
I do not own a business, yet the co I work for expects me to at the least not go over budget and in fact I save the co a lot of money. We also bid low to keep our workers working and like many companies we are struggling. We spent 15 months bidding so low we were losing money with the idea that when the economy turns, many companies will have failed and we will do very well long term. That has happened, and we are starting to do better. The companies that are no longer competitors, are gone and we are stronger as a result. Sheldon was doing a similar thing, but a co can only lose so much before they need to finalize a decision. In BDM's case, it appears they could see dismal sales for a time period in the future and had to make a decision. That time came and we are watching the results unfold.
Step up to the plate, be a fucking man
Shelton Coleman has done more than you will, and has never berated or spoken of others as you do on every subject and in fact you sound jealous.
So, your opinion that Sheldon is a cocksuker matters little.
Again, every company going into bankruptcy, insolvency, being bought out, closing, or whatever, all deny it up to a point. This is not unique to BDM. What would be the "right" way to go thru something like this? It is probably a very painfull decision on the part of the co owner.
Do I greatly enjoy my Big Dog? Hell yes, far better than any other bike i have had, and many here feel the same way.
I paid damn near full price for my Mastiff with the S&S 117 and am still paying on it with absolutly no issues as I bought this to ride and not as an investment. No issues whatsoever. I damn near went bankrupt with this purchase and for many, buying a Big Dog is a struggle and if anyone can get into one for a 1/3 of what I paid, man, go for it. When I bought, used ones were still in the 20K range and not going down at all. The warranty was not foremost on my mind and I did turn down the wheel warranty and the extended warranties, but the 2 year warranty was nice as I had the ext warranty on the Harley and had to use it. Peace of mind yes, but i was gonna get the scoot regardless.
MIAMIVICE, a deal has been penned out with the bank last week for the parts business.
but BDM should have changed years ago when they laid off the first employee.
. Should have changed what? I would bet that management was going thru a lot of changes to attempt to stay in business. Look around, many custom shops went out of business very quickly even before the economy went south. For BDM to stay in business this long is a testiment to a management working hard to stay afloat.
Resale value is down, but it is also down for everything, hell my house is down 155K, others have put 200K down on their homes, made payments for years and have lost it all and are without a home. Homes are about 1/2 price in many places. 100's of 1,000's of homes cannot even be sold at any price. Everything is down, so it is reasonable to expect our motorcycles will follow suit.
Check this out:
Banks are loaning money for these bikes and rv's and boats, to those with good credit history and steady income. Pre approvals are being issued. Money is available. Not as easy as it used to be, but what is?
Now, if BDM is going out of business, then that is the way it is. Bike under warranty and losing it? Man, I really feel bad about it and can say that there are many MANY forum members with great wrenching skills that will be more than happy to help you out. The warranty brought peace of mind and many in the past never had to use the warranty, so you may not have needed it. Just saying that even if the warranty is not there, we are and we will help you get your scoot up and back in the wind.
Orangeskulz, Calling anyone a cocksucker is lame, seriously F'ed up. Worse yet, I doubt you have even met the man. Now, take a look around, rarely do you see anyone acting this way and doing the name calling.
Miamivice, good topic.
My rant? When I first got my hound I could ride to an event and be the only one there without a cookie cutter look alike. P8riot and I rode over to a biker event in Silverdale in 2007, parked in the lot filled with prolly 1500 bikes of all kinds and went inside. When we went outside there were about 40 ppl standing around our bikes, so we went over and some of the comments were "glad these guys did not enter the bike show" Honey, can we get a nice looking bike like these next time?", "see the size of that motor?". We walked away smiling. Later, we went back out and there was still a crowd and when we walked up the questions started by some and others just walked away.
Nowadays, you will see another one or two at most events.
We rode to the Redwood run a few years ago and there were several more big dogs there. Too many hounds out there.
Thats my rant and while I do wish BDM could stay in business, it is not to be. The warranty thing sucks, and when this all shakes out, the warranty may still be available in some form. Your dealer may also work something out with you
Some will voice their opinion and if it works out the way they "predicted" then we will have to endure more of their highly opinionated negitive opinions.
I choose not to worry about what I cannot change, so I will enjoy my Mastiff with the lil 117 any chance I can get.
All: Lets keep the ranting respectable and avoid the name calling and attacks.
I bought my bikes for the ride. Not what I might get for it at resale. If I sold it right now I would go find another BD. :2thumbs:
