Cheers,
Speed

By Jim Nash

It is safe to bet that a flying motorcycle will never be a practical transportation option, but that has not stopped Samson Motorworks, a small engineering firm in northern California’s Sierra Nevada foothills, from playing the long odds.

The company is building a prototype of its Switchblade Multi Mode Vehicle, or flying motorcycle, and hopes to sell a $60,000 do-it-yourself kit as early as 2011 (engine and avionics are sold separately, for about $25,000 total).

Occupants would sit in the aerodynamic Switchblade side by side in leather seats and climate-controlled luxury, behind an aggressively angled nose and canard. Samson is working with a third-party avionics-maker to create an instrument display that switches from air to ground readings on landing.

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Eugene (KMTR) – Today dozens gathered at the Eugene Airport to honor a soldier killed in Afghanistan.

Sergeant Joshua Lengstorf’s body arrived from Delaware this afternoon. Snow on the east coast caused a delay in the flight – which was supposed to arrive at noon.

Just after 1:30 p.m. – his plane arrived.

An American flag covered the casket as it was slowly lowered and carefully place inside a waiting hearse.

Family and friends – including Lengstorf’s wife and child – watched from just a few feet away.

Members of the Patriot Guard lined up, waiting to honor and escort home the fallen ….

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The moves would reduce the number of workers at the York operations regardless of whether the company decides to keep any of its operations in York County.

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Maybe yes
In a couple of respects, yes, the banker was right on the money. In one move to turn the proverbial corner, Harley promised to cease production of Buell motorcycles and sell off its MV Agusta subsidiary. Freed of these distractions, management will be “focusing on the Harley-Davidson brand” and trying to get it moving in the right direction.

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The motorcycle company says it’s consolidating its test operations from Talladega, Naples, Fla., and Mesa, Ariz. to the Arizona Proving Grounds in Yucca, Ariz.

Pat Sweeney, a spokesman for Harley-Davidson, could not provide a date when the facility would close, but did say it would be sometime next year.

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The motorcycle manufacturer also plans to stop making Buell motorcycle products and will sell its MV Agusta division.

Its shares fell 76 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $25.50 in electronic premarket trading.

Harley-Davidson — which has implemented production and job cuts this year — earned $26.5 million, or 11 cents per share, for the period ended Sept. 27. That’s down from $166.5 million, or 71 cents per share, a year ago.

Sales dropped 21 percent to $1.12 billion from $1.42 billion, but its retail motorcycle sales decline of 21.3 percent was not as steep as the previous quarter’s 30.1 percent dropoff.

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Company and union officials toured locations in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Shelbyville, Ind., Shelbyville, Ky., and Kansas City, Mo., over the last week as the company assesses a possible move, Bob Klein said. No other locations are being considered, he added.

Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson announced in May it was exploring a relocation of its motorcycle assembly facility in York, Pa., which employs 2,300 people. Though the company’s preferred path is to stay in York, Klein said, the factory is inefficient and has too much capacity. A decision is expected later this year.

Pennsylvania officials are fighting to keep the plant in York. Earlier this month, Gov. Ed Rendell said the state was developing an economic package that includes job training and infrastructure, low-interest loans and $15 million for plant upgrades to induce Harley to stay.

The plant opened in 1973, but some of the buildings date back to World War II. In addition, the large number of job classifications in the union contract makes it difficult to shift workers into different duties, the company has said.

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The next few weeks may be a little tense around the corridors of legendary motorcycle manufacturer, Harley-Davidson.

On Thursday the Milwaukee-based company will announced its third quarter results even as executives prepare for negotiations with union workers in York, Pennsylvania to decide how and where it make it’s iconic motorcycles.

And there’s that small matter about the struggling economy.

Even as everyone from Wall Street to motorcycle enthusiasts look to Harley-Davidson’s financial performance over the last quarter, a leading index has consumer spending hitting its highest level in two years.

Consumer spending is a key indicator of how well motorcycles, considered a luxury item by many financial experts, sell. The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index rising again in September, to a recent record high can generally be considered good news for motorcycle manufacturers, including Harley-Davidson.

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