Nickname: IronButt

Review: Iron Butt Rider to visit Beijing Harley-Davidson Dealership in September 2006. In November 1998: Nov 3, 1998-Nov 5, 1998, Will Lee, the first Harley-Davison rider, rode his 1996 Road King from Los Angeles, California to St. Augustine, Florida and back to San Diego, California. Will Lee accomplished a documented Iron Butt Association, 100ccc Insanity Gold. Will Lee was the fifth Iron Butt Association rider to accomplish riding across the continental USA back and forth. The others did it on luxury and faster moving Gold Wings, BMW K1200LT, FJR1100. Will Lee was the first to take a Harley on the 100ccc, 4950 mile ride in under 100 hours. Will Lee will be visiting Beijing in September 2006, and will drop in on the Harley-Davidson dealership. Will Lee has also completed and finished the 1999 and 2001 Iron Butt Rally, 11 days, 11,000 mile event across the USA. Will Lee is of Chinese ancestry, works in HR Managment and currently resides in San Francisco, CA.

Date reviewed: Sep 5, 2006 9:43 PM

Nickname: chris

Review: Some 20 years ago it was a bicycle. Some 15 years ago it was a scooter. Some 10 years ago it was a motorcycle. Some 5 years ago it was a car. Five years from now, it will be a second car for the wife(and/or Prada bag) and a Harley for him( at least for the affluent). Harley-Davidson is the Mercedes/BMW/Rolls Royce of motorcycling. Harley-Davidson screams success in a country scrambling to purchase overt symbols of it and a huge pool of people who began their successful journey on a motorcycle/scooter. If Harley can even just match Ferrari's modest success thus far, in say 5-ish years time, that would equate to over 5000 units. China certainly has the potential and, in my opinion, will certainly exceed Japan's current HD sales of 10k+ within 10 years. Leveraging the HOG( Harley Owners Group) marketing concept, and tailoring it to the Chinese within affluent communities and networks, is a no-brainer for long-term success.

Date reviewed: May 26, 2006 4:49 AM

Nickname: Shanghai Simon

Review: H-D's (mis)treatment of enthusiastic supporters of the brand such as Mr. Qin Huan is indicative of the kind of ignorant corporate attitude that has tripped up many global industry leaders who have tried to enter China. The Chinese have a term for relationship building here, guanxi, which can mean the difference between being welcomed and being blocked at the great wall of consumers' commercial acceptance. American brashness is not as endearing a quality in China as many American companies might think. Do a little cultural research before coming here, or you might find that instead of welcoming it, the Chinese may become quickly annoyed at the trademarked loud exhaust of Harley's V-twins.

Date reviewed: Apr 1, 2006 5:11 AM

Nickname: Not in Shanghai

Review: Someone might want to tell Harley that any new motorbike over 250cc is not able to be registered in Shanghai.

Date reviewed: Mar 31, 2006 5:37 AM

Nickname: In-Beijing-for-ten-years

Review: Yes, $1200 is the yearly income for most Chinese. But you have to remember that in China 0.0001% is still a hell of a lot of people and some of these people drive $150,000 (after tax) Hummers, million dollar Maybach and Bentleys, etc. Harleys will cost double here than in the States, and still enough people will buy them. The problem will be that you cannot (legally) ride motorcycles on most major roads inside of Beijing, the challenge will be to make authorities see why the laws should change.

Date reviewed: Mar 30, 2006 11:34 PM

Nickname: Answer to Harleydave

Review: Don't worry about the money. With a population of 1.2 billion, China has no fewer people earning $83,000 than those in the States now, even though the average is only $1,200. The key is how Harley would sell.

Date reviewed: Mar 30, 2006 7:16 PM

Nickname: Harleydave

Review: With income of $1200 per year I agree that sales growth will be slow. Will HD retain its resale value as well as it has in the USA?

Date reviewed: Mar 30, 2006 6:43 PM

Nickname: Volgo

Review: Brand it as status symbols, and it will sell in China.

Date reviewed: Mar 30, 2006 4:04 PM