Colin, one would have to be blind not to see the influence that advertising has played in so many areas of our lives to the extent that whole sections of society can be sold on this that or the other idea, be it make America great again Get Brexit Done or that a handbag or pair of shoes could ever be worth over £2K. Seems we are suckers for it, and none more so that the baby boomers with cash to spend or homes to remortgage to buy all the stuff they "deserve"... Sorry beginning to rant..again.
For sure HD made a killing out of selling Screaming Eagle stuff, the likes of which the requirement for would never have been imagined on a Brit bike when I was a yoof... Selling a machine with close to useless brakes that looked like they should halt progress rapidly but did not, just did not compute well in my kind of m/cycling logic, but then I was never greatly impressed with marketing, less so since my brother made his fortune in sales... I remember him practising his techniques in selling the family a different TV channel from the one they wanted to watch and them agreeing, much to my frustration, from that time on I was ever resistant to sales tactics...Which has served me well enough over the years... I think..!
It was interesting to see old m/cycle names being bought and sold in the hope of capturing a degree of market share for nostalgia which we baby boomers have been proven to be suckers for Matchless seems to be the latest name which seems to have appeared from nowhere..? Best not look too closely at Norton and all the baby boomers that lost so much in the shenanigans that went on there...?
Yup marketing is all, I remember well typing loads of stuff on eMog suggesting Morgan were perhaps following in HD`s footsteps in that regard, perhaps even trying to dissuade Lorne from continuing to provide information on all things Morgan on GoMoG both good and suggesting that there might be foibles worth considering..? I seem to remember chat relative to the outline of a Trad being mentioned as perhaps being the subject of copyright..? Well I guess if watches and clothing can be perceived as having more value if they carry a particular brand, then there is money to be made somewhere..and protecting that brand name and associated logo`s can become very important..?
Those who have been around Morgans long enough will have seen the design changes to the age old wings Logo for whatever reason, I remember a similar thing with the BM club using the BM Logo, whereby BM presented the club with suggested alternatives to that which they had used for years.... Yup marketing the BRAND can be worth more than the object from which it originated.
Your story of the HD exec and the language used caused me to remember the then chairman of RR aero engine division being asked why it was he only ever flew in kites with four engines, and the reply was "Because they don`t make aircraft with five engined dear boy... (-: Of course that could just be urban myth or as the Donald determines "fake news".... (-:
John V6, good story, thanks for sharing, yup riding a bike you are very much part of the machine in terms of weight distribution by the smallest of margins and more so the slower the rate of progress, which is a world away from the levels of isolation that the modern car driver experiences.
Graham, kickback.? Experienced many of those as a 14 year old, when us kids fell into ownership of an AJS 350 that we used to ride around in the local woods, it was ever a case of which one of us lightweight kids drew the short straw to try to kick start it, ever fearful of the dreaded kickback, until we got the hang of operating the advance and retard lever...(-: Of course kickback is perhaps more of a political necessity these days as opposed to a m//cyclists dread... (-: The last Trumpet I rode was an American import 650, think it was designated a TR650 which seemed a tad confusing..? It was a single carb oil in frame job with drum brakes if I remember correctly, I thought it a nice bike.
Rambled on as ever..
Stay safe folks.
