Valid comments all, jfgilbert, and, aside from your comments about H-D's racing history, I agree with your assessment of H-D's business situation and the fact that their management has a responsibility to its shareholders. However, I would submit that the crux of the VR1000 debacle was not a matter of H-D "continuing down a path that (did) not create value for the company." Rather, it was a matter of their making a decision to embark on said path, then not exercising the due diligence necessary to have a reasonable chance of success.
For many reasons, I followed the VR1000 effort very closely over its trajectory. The nature of that effort has been pretty thoroughly chronicled, so you don't have take my word for the fact the it was poorly conceived, poorly executed, under funded, and pretty much doomed from the start. How's that for fiduciary responsibility? I'm no business executive, but I feel confident in my belief that, once a business decision is made, every reasonable step should be taken to ensure its success. H-D management took no such steps and, in fact, left the effort to whither on the vine for at least its last three years in the intense glare of media scrutiny. Not too smart, but perhaps to be expected given the current management's basic ignorance of the demands and nuances of roadracing competition.
Anyway, some here have characterized the decision to race as somehow not a valid business decision for H-D, a mere "executive ego trip." I disagree. I feel that there is a vast and growing untapped market for a competent, modern American sportbike (and, please, don't get me started on Buell). The beauty of the situation for H-D is that entry into that market would in no way damage their position in the market they currently enjoy and, if they priced the bike correctly, would mean a younger customer base for H-D, something that would probably serve it well in the future. But a successful racing effort is essential to success in that market, a fact to which Ducati and the Japanese can attest.
Finally, aside from all the business and management talk, wouldn't it be great to see an American motorcycle compete successfully against the World's best, even if only on its home turf? Why should we not be able to achieve that success? We have some of the best engineers in the World, right? Harley Davidson makes a ton of money, right? They just published their quarterly report. Apparently, they're flush with market success, a virtually unstoppable juggernaut of leather-tasseled, assless-chapped business acumen. Maybe they could use some of that cash to launch a campaign, both to restore some pride to a tarnished name and to open up a new market for their business.
