Harley-Davidson Judgement Day II

[lakedaemonian]

Harley-Davidson Judgement Day II kicks off next week.......

We were very fortunate to earn the overall win last year.....and having 4 of the 6 Kiwi bikes placing in the top 10 out of 48 was the best part.

Here's a "spy photo" teaser of the Rolling Thunder entry this year:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=207425999330379&set=a.207425985997047.52095.207027252703587&type=1&theater

Kicks off in a week......

Looking forward to seeing the rest of the competition.

[cc rider]

It was interesting to watch last year. They (Peter Stevens M/C) kept emailing us to vote for company bikes. But I kept voting for the Kiwi ones. Hmmm! I wonder if they new I was using their 'puter. :shifty:


One of the bikes even had one of mine & the Ex's HD aftermarket parts on it. :woohoo:

[lakedaemonian]

It was interesting to watch last year. They (Peter Stevens M/C) kept emailing us to vote for company bikes. But I kept voting for the Kiwi ones. Hmmm! I wonder if they new I was using their 'puter. :shifty:


One of the bikes even had one of mine & the Ex's HD aftermarket parts on it. :woohoo:

Nice!

I suspect it's going to be pretty competitive.....but hopefully not as cut throat as last year...fingers crossed, hopefully the website doesn't allow anonymous posting like last year...some of the comments on a few of the bikes were getting quite brutal. :)

A few photos are out in the wild already...I have seen Fraser's Sydney and ANZA's so far.

We've been drip feeding soft focused "spy photos" for a few days with more stuff being loaded daily until the launch on Tuesday.

Biggest issue we've been having is "cat herding" and zero notice demolition going on all around our photo shoot location.

It's been good fun building it though.

[lakedaemonian]

Link to the Judgement Day Competition:

http://www.harleyjudgementday.com.au/Default.aspx

Link to the Rolling Thunder entry "The Boss":

The BOSS (http://harleyjudgementday.com.au/BuildOff.aspx?dealerID=18)

Youtube video of "The Boss":

The BOSS (http://www.youtube.com/user/rollingthunderNZ?feature=mhee)

We hope you folks like what ya see!

More photos to follow if there's interest.

[lakedaemonian]

Link to the Judgement Day Competition:

http://www.harleyjudgementday.com.au/Default.aspx

Link to the Rolling Thunder entry "The Boss":

The BOSS (http://www.harleyjudgementday.com.au/BuildOff.aspx?dealerID=18)

Youtube video of "The Boss":

The BOSS (http://www.youtube.com/user/rollingthunderNZ?feature=mhee)

We hope you folks like what ya see!

More photos to follow if there's interest.


Currently pulling 2nd place behind Perth HD :rolleyes:

[BIG DOUG]

It was a flawed comp last year and again this year.

[lakedaemonian]

It was a flawed comp last year and again this year.

While we would have preferred to have had a vetted voting competition(such as only thru a facebook account to avoid risk of counterfeit votes), a restriction on comments(positive or negative) only to those willing to stick their real names out there instead of hiding in anonymity, as well as only disclosing rank rather than total accumulated votes, our suggestions were not used this year.

So although we made some suggestions to improve the rules, we don't actually make the rules, we can only follow the rules.

We gave it our best effort last year achieving a good result and we are giving it our best effort again this year.

So far we have been offered two magazine articles scheduled for January/February publication so we are confident we built a bike that will be popular with the public.

Any real or perceived flaws in the competition are irrelevant to us putting forward our best effort in building/marketing a bike with our integrity intact.

[White trash]

It was interesting to watch last year. They (Peter Stevens M/C) kept emailing us to vote for company bikes. But I kept voting for the Kiwi ones. Hmmm! I wonder if they new I was using their 'puter. :shifty:


One of the bikes even had one of mine & the Ex's HD aftermarket parts on it. :woohoo:

Why wouldn't you vote for the bike you like best?

The Night Rider from Adelaide all the way for me this year. One of the better Bobber wannabes I've come accross.

Rolling Thunder will possibly win again by spamming the fuck outta KB and Facebook rather than building the best bike. That being said, I thought the Bomber was by far the best 48 last year and deserved to win.

[Paul in NZ]

Actually - none of them are 'really' doing it for me.... :no:

Not that I dont admire the efforts etc but just ... I dunno....

[lakedaemonian]

Why wouldn't you vote for the bike you like best?

The Night Rider from Adelaide all the way for me this year. One of the better Bobber wannabes I've come accross.

Rolling Thunder will possibly win again by spamming the fuck outta KB and Facebook rather than building the best bike. That being said, I thought the Bomber was by far the best 48 last year and deserved to win.

That's a bit harsh.......

I wouldn't call what we're doing spamming.

Last year there was a Judgement Day thread on KB with a bit of interest....so we figured we'd put one up this year....what's wrong with that?

We've built close to an audience of 4000 on Facebook and 2500+ on email....all of whom volunteered to receive coms from us.....so we'd be stupid not to try and leverage the marketing platforms we have available to us....afterall, on KB it's often mentioned how dealers seem locked in the stone age, we're certainly trying to find ways to engage with our customers in new ways and try to have some fun with it....like our current "Win a Harley" competition with free online entry.

We also put a hell of a lot of effort into our bike build....it's definitely not just slapping a couple catalog parts together...there's a fair bit of one-off custom work done to stock parts....so we think we've genuinely earned a spot amongst the shops/bikes that put forward the extra effort.

I agree with you on the Night Rider.....the Sporty tank kinda works on that..and they've lowered the shit out of it...I'd like to see that bike and the Capital Harley Main Force Patrol bike do a YouTube piss-take re-enactment of Mad Max.

[lakedaemonian]

Actually - none of them are 'really' doing it for me.... :no:

Not that I dont admire the efforts etc but just ... I dunno....

As I understand it....a couple of dealers didn't have and/or couldn't get a Softail Standard in time to build/compete, and a few were otherwise busy...so the number of competitors is down from last year.

I was also hoping to see a few more standouts this year as well.

While a core goal of the competition would surely be to push HD bikes and bits(for obvious reasons).....in the past year I've seen a number of outstanding ultra low budget bobber builds all around the world.

I wouldn't mind seeing some sort of competition that includes customers...hubbed by dealers...that puts forward the best customer built Harley per dealer into a regional/global competition with a focus on low cost(hey, it suits the challenging economic climate) and originality/creativity/innovation......with all these insanely popular amateur chef cooking shows on.....you'd think there might be room for a motorcycle version.

[White trash]

That's a bit harsh.......

I wouldn't call what we're doing spamming.

Last year there was a Judgement Day thread on KB with a bit of interest....so we figured we'd put one up this year....what's wrong with that?

We've built close to an audience of 4000 on Facebook and 2500+ on email....all of whom volunteered to receive coms from us.....so we'd be stupid not to try and leverage the marketing platforms we have available to us....afterall, on KB it's often mentioned how dealers seem locked in the stone age, we're certainly trying to find ways to engage with our customers in new ways and try to have some fun with it....like our current "Win a Harley" competition with free online entry.

We also put a hell of a lot of effort into our bike build....it's definitely not just slapping a couple catalog parts together...there's a fair bit of one-off custom work done to stock parts....so we think we've genuinely earned a spot amongst the shops/bikes that put forward the extra effort.

I agree with you on the Night Rider.....the Sporty tank kinda works on that..and they've lowered the shit out of it...I'd like to see that bike and the Capital Harley Main Force Patrol bike do a YouTube piss-take re-enactment of Mad Max.


Fair enough.

For the record, your bike got my vote for "Best Paint" in the weekly tasks.

Possibly my choice of words wasn't great, but personally I'd prefer to see the competition promoted by the various builders, then let the voters simply choose their favourite. That's just my opinion of course, but I reckon it's the fairest way to get an accurate result.

[Paul in NZ]

As I understand it....a couple of dealers didn't have and/or couldn't get a Softail Standard in time to build/compete, and a few were otherwise busy...so the number of competitors is down from last year.

I was also hoping to see a few more standouts this year as well.

While a core goal of the competition would surely be to push HD bikes and bits(for obvious reasons).....in the past year I've seen a number of outstanding ultra low budget bobber builds all around the world.

I wouldn't mind seeing some sort of competition that includes customers...hubbed by dealers...that puts forward the best customer built Harley per dealer into a regional/global competition with a focus on low cost(hey, it suits the challenging economic climate) and originality/creativity/innovation......with all these insanely popular amateur chef cooking shows on.....you'd think there might be room for a motorcycle version.

Thats a great idea.

Start with a std bike. X $ worth of accessories only (pre ordered) allowed with each team (customers + 2 shop techs) allowed to work on it for 24 hours only

[lakedaemonian]

Fair enough.

For the record, your bike got my vote for "Best Paint" in the weekly tasks.

Possibly my choice of words wasn't great, but personally I'd prefer to see the competition promoted by the various builders, then let the voters simply choose their favourite. That's just my opinion of course, but I reckon it's the fairest way to get an accurate result.

Cheers mate!

I agree.....there's a lot of potential in competitions like this(for brands, dealers, and riders), but correcting faults and tweaking it a bit could certainly result in some BIG improvements.

[lakedaemonian]

Thats a great idea.

Start with a std bike. X $ worth of accessories only (pre ordered) allowed with each team (customers + 2 shop techs) allowed to work on it for 24 hours only

Those amateur cooking shows my wife likes so much clearly have a huge audience.....hey, we all like to eat, and lots of folks like to cook.

But with so many TV channels(as well as other outlets like Facebook/YouTube) catering to specific demographics.....the potential to do something like it for a smaller targeted audience is real.

The LAST thing I'd want to see is another American Choppers production with a whole bunch of melodrama and cookie cutting.

Like you said....a mash up.....some industry technical talent mixed with some passionate customers with a strict $$/time budget.

Like the 48 hour film festival here in NZ.....but with bikes. :)

[Paul in NZ]

Like the 48 hour film festival here in NZ.....but with bikes. :)

Yup - chuck in a few street kids with attitude for a different take as well.

Its a lot more 'real' if the bikes are not perfect show pieces but rather reflect what people ride. Or would like to ride. The danger is over egging the pudding by tons of super special stuff (for its own sake) that very few people can aspire to. ie try and get a tasteful result simply.

[lakedaemonian]

Yup - chuck in a few street kids with attitude for a different take as well.

Its a lot more 'real' if the bikes are not perfect show pieces but rather reflect what people ride. Or would like to ride. The danger is over egging the pudding by tons of super special stuff (for its own sake) that very few people can aspire to. ie try and get a tasteful result simply.

Agreed...sometimes that "little bit extra" times 3 or 4 can actually take away from the main effort substantially.

I also like the idea of something like that being done from actual Man Sheds :)

Because I think a lot of folks would be even more interested if they knew if was genuinely possible to be done in their own Man Shed.

We have a big video project on in 2012 next year...if it works, we might look at extending ourselves a bit further with video and try to do something like that hubbed around our shop.

I really like the idea of a couple skate rat kids thrown into the teams as well......from a business stand point we don't want to keep getting older....good to throw some youth into the mix.

[Paul in NZ]

Get some graffiti artist to do the tank for you. You might be amazed what they can do! :msn-wink:

But seriously a Pacifika flavoured bike?

What about a KB team? Social media is a valid 'family of interest' grouping.

High school bike? Let a shop class loose on one....

You guys might do a 'Quake' bike (thats a bit OCC though)

One build might happen at the Bert Munroe or HOG rally?

Definately grass roots simple is the thing.

[lakedaemonian]

Get some graffiti artist to do the tank for you. You might be amazed what they can do! :msn-wink:

But seriously a Pacifika flavoured bike?

What about a KB team? Social media is a valid 'family of interest' grouping.

High school bike? Let a shop class loose on one....

You guys might do a 'Quake' bike (thats a bit OCC though)

One build might happen at the Bert Munroe or HOG rally?

Definately grass roots simple is the thing.

Some solid ideas.....we seriously considered a Quake themed bike for the Judgement Day 2 Comp....but dumped it to avoid being accused of milking sympathy votes.

A couple lessons we learned from doing these two bikes is that a good team is key......being decisive(at times) can be better than managing by consensus...and when time gets tight, the "good idea fairy" has to be shot on sight. :)

I like the idea of a "real time" build......say if it's 48 hours......and you have a bunch of teams.....run live webcam streams....

[The Lone Rider]

I like the idea of a "real time" build......say if it's 48 hours......and you have a bunch of teams.....run live webcam streams....

I expect to be doing a 1 hour live stream of an assembly in about 6 months to a years time, depending on how long it takes the rest of the fabrication. Just got the rear fender tacked on this evening but a lot more to do.

Everything will already be fabricated and painted however. But it will be a full assembly from a roller, streamed off one camera, with several others running at the same time.

There's no way I could get all the welding, grinding, machining and finishing done in 48 hours.

But the 1 hour assembly on camera will be interesting; and will release a tube version with original music and some decent editing. Probably will take longer than an hour. :eek:

Edit --

And depends if I can get a team together to do the video shoot. 'be fucked if I'm gonna assemble an entire bike in an hour on my own!

[lakedaemonian]

I expect to be doing a 1 hour live stream of an assembly in about 6 months to a years time, depending on how long it takes the rest of the fabrication. Just got the rear fender tacked on this evening but a lot more to do.

Everything will already be fabricated and painted however. But it will be a full assembly from a roller, streamed off one camera, with several others running at the same time.

There's no way I could get all the welding, grinding, machining and finishing done in 48 hours.

But the 1 hour assembly on camera will be interesting; and will release a tube version with original music and some decent editing. Probably will take longer than an hour. :eek:


Edit --

And depends if I can get a team together to do the video shoot. 'be fucked if I'm gonna assemble an entire bike in an hour on my own!

That sounds pretty cool.

When you get closer to the date I can fill you in on what we've got planned.

We might be able to help each other out :)

[White trash]

And depends if I can get a team together to do the video shoot. 'be fucked if I'm gonna assemble an entire bike in an hour on my own!


Put me down as a starter if you need a hand mate.

[The Lone Rider]

Put me down as a starter if you need a hand mate.

All Blacks joke with the 4 million backing reserves? lol :nya:

Theres only room in my workshop for one or two people to work on a bike, unless I push the tool and service trolleys out. A few of the "team" will be errand boys to go out and grab things or grab the next piece to go on.

[lakedaemonian]

Added some YouTube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_H7IB_UQ0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnoziX5mCt4&feature=related

[lakedaemonian]

Looks like we won it.

The Boss, overall winner:

#1 with a Bullitt(Mustang)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150491691436140.423059.13971816139&type=3

Harley-Davidson is quite receptive to the idea we presented for having a customer centric focused bike build competition......customer(s) teams hubbed around and supported by each dealership...I reckon that has far more scope to build an audience across a more level playing field....as well as eliminating systemic flaws we saw these past two years.

[BIG DOUG]

Gee you won again, how predictable and boring

[lakedaemonian]

Gee you won again, how predictable and boring

It's a shame you feel that way......

We put a lot of time and effort into bringing our "A game" into this competition....some felt the same as you....the results show more than enough didn't.

As stated, we have also been working hard to offer solutions that might provide a broader appeal and a more level customer(rather than dealer) centric playing field down the track that engage Harley riders/buyers with HD dealers taking a secondary role/back seat...so we are listening to feedback and assertively putting it forward to The Motor Co.

[White trash]

Congratulations to Rolling Thunder once again doing the business.

It's a great competition that could be made a little better but good all the same.

[ellipsis]

....bloody good result for your shop to win again...congratulations to you and your team...boring and predictable?

[lakedaemonian]

Cheers guys.......personally, I think there is definitely some serious room for improvement, such as:

*Requiring vetted voting(to eliminate counterfeit voting which has to be investigated/wiped by Harley after the fact, rather than before).

*Making the competition more about the bike competition and focused less on dealer popularity and dealer marketing horsepower...a more level playing field.

*Expand customer involvement as much as possible.....including the option of customer-led bikes/teams.

*Keep comments(positive and negative) to vetted users using genuine names....no anonymous slagging.

I'm sure there's more good ideas as well.....those are the key ones we've put forward.

I think there's a LOT of scope in this space...especially if you chuck in a requirement for webcams or video updates or something like that.

[BIG DOUG]

This is the problem,most people wouldn't know what they are looking at "ooh thats a nice colour I'll vote for that" and miss the hard work of other competitor's bikes .I have judged bike shows including the national motorcyle expo for the last ten years and it takes me and two other judges 4 day's over easter to sort it out ,why do I do it ,because it allows me to get close to the bikes and see the craftmanship and skill that went into there bikes we have had bikes that cost $3000.00 win major catergories and bikes that cost well over a 100k win as well.And I think the blackline should have been the bike used for this year not some left over 11 softails. Sorry if I offended you that was really not my intention it was the contest was just so predictable.

[lakedaemonian]

This is the problem,most people wouldn't know what they are looking at "ooh thats a nice colour I'll vote for that" and miss the hard work of other competitor's bikes .I have judged bike shows including the national motorcyle expo for the last ten years and it takes me and two other judges 4 day's over easter to sort it out ,why do I do it ,because it allows me to get close to the bikes and see the craftmanship and skill that went into there bikes we have had bikes that cost $3000.00 win major catergories and bikes that cost well over a 100k win as well.And I think the blackline should have been the bike used for this year not some left over 11 softails. Sorry if I offended you that was really not my intention it was the contest was just so predictable.

No worries mate.....and I agree...it would be cool to put in place control measures for online bike building competitions that can help better ensure the competitions are about the bikes themselves.

And it can be really hard to accurately convey a bike build effectively through photos(as you clearly understand).

We noticed it last year when we failed to convince everyone that The Bomber rivets were real and not painted on and this year when some thought the tank scallops were painted on as well.....it's NOT easy...even when you try really hard to genuinely focus specifically on those details.

The part I enjoy the most is being part of real world conversations where people have clearly invested a good bit of time into learning about all the bikes and you can see the gears turning in people's heads about what they can apply to their current bikes and/or their next bike.