Word: harley
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Harvard's most precious historical documents are secured two floors underground behind a steel door with a combination lock. There, they are regularly inspected by Harley P. Holden, the archives' curator. "I like to check these every few days," Holden says, as he opens up the large red folder that contains Harvard's original charter, drafted in 1650 but now stained and nearly illegible...
...Milwaukee famous, was no longer brewed in town. The company shut the brewery in 1981 because of falling demand. Then Schlitz left town for good when the Stroh Brewery Co. of Detroit acquired it. The loss of the hometown brewery was a severe psychological blow. Another Milwaukee tradition, the Harley-Davidson motorcycle company, has been outgunned by Japanese competition. Until this recession, Milwaukee (pop. 636,000) had prospered through fair economic times and foul. Its unemployment rate, along with Wisconsin's, was historically lower than the national average. Now it is higher: 13.4% for the city...
...Harley-Davidson Motor Co., the sole surviving U.S.-born and -bred motorcycle maker, is feeling wobbly. Last week H-D officials pleaded with the U.S. International Trade Commission hi Washington for import protection against Japanese-made bikes. Since 1978, argued H-D Chairman Vaughn Beals, Harley has lost more than a third of the so-called big-bike market (engines of more than 700 cc displacement), chiefly to Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Honda...
...many cases, the Japanese machines cost less than the well-crafted but expensive Harleys. Since 1977 Harley's prices have gone up about 60%, those for Japanese bikes only 40%. Barley's list price for its top-of-the-tine touring model is $8,655; the comparable Honda Aspencade is $6,998. Prices are being kept down artificially, charges Beals, "to dominate foreign markets." What is more, says Beals, the Japanese have glutted the U.S. market, which is sensitive to unemployment among young males, by exporting far more bikes than dealers could sell during the recession...
...result of the two-wheeled skid: H-D's work force has been chopped 40%. The company has asked the International Trade Commission for an average tariff of 40% on Japanese bikes for five years. That, contends HD, would narrow the price gap between Harleys and Japanese bikes to what it was in 1977 before the Japanese began holding down prices. A favorable ITC ruling would not give Harley an open road. President Reagan, a foe of import controls, must decide what relief, if any, Harley gets...