Private Equity is Killing Motorcycles

[Joe]

From someone who owns an Indian, the brand that just got sold to private equity 

 

[LowRyter]

Maybe Indian can get a bail out from Argentina?  

Edited 6 hours ago by LowRyter

[Joe]

1 hour ago, LowRyter said:

Maybe Indian can get a bail out from Argentina?  

There going to need it 

[Scud]

Interesting content. He basically explains Private Equity until 4:50, then starts talking about it in the motorcycle industry after that. I didn't know Dianese and Revzilla are PE owned.

The damage to companies caused by short-term profit seeking is not limited to PE-back organizations, but IMO there is perhaps a higher concentration there. While I don't think it's fair to call out PE as a category as bad, it is fair to speculate on whether the new PE owner will make good or bad decisions with the brand.

And then he says Indian is a "heritage" brand. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think today's Indian has much of heritage. Maybe they have some respect for the original company, but Indian has gone out of business several times. Today's Indian motorcycle company has nothing to do with the original company with the exception of having bought the intellectual property rights (name, etc.) after string of prior IP owners failed. That's not a legacy. Same with Triumph and other brands that have been rebooted by investors who acquired the brand name.

And another thing, I found this guys's video making style disturbing. Talking with his hands while controlling the motorcycle with one hand on the bars. Man, talk about distracted driving... Good on him if he can do it, but I would have a hard time paying attention to traffic and the road while narrating a video.