Well “Trickle Down Economics” is starting to hit the motorcycle industry, hard. Just recently Harley-Davidson announced that it was laying off because of slumping sales. Well when the big boy starts slumping you know that sooner or later everyone else is going to feel it. And so it is at S&S Cycle. They’re downsizing.

S&S is one of the oldest Harley “after-market” parts producers. As you know they just recently celebrated their 50th anniversary. Just think of it, for almost half of Harley-Davidsons lifetime riders have been able to buy S&Ss high quality performance parts. In recent years S&S has offered retro looking motors for custom bike builders.

Make no bones about it I’m a big fan of the Harley-Davidson Cross Bones. They take me back to those thrilling days of yesteryear when bike riders would make their bike like this. Every time I see one I have to look at it. I had one follow me the other day and when he finally pulled up alongside at a stop light I told him how much I liked the bike. He said he took one look at it in the dealership and had to have it. I told him I had a bike like that thirty-some years ago but it had a Panhead motor in it.

Bonjourno Americanos!
By now I’m sure that you’ve heard that Harley-Davidson is in the process of buying the Italian motorcycle company MV Agusta for a reported 108 million dollars. I’m sure that makes the couple hundred employees that Harley just laid off feel real good. I have empathy for them because someone in China, Brazil or Mexico is now doing the jobs I did for Eljer Industies for the last twenty-one years.