Motley Fool article features Brammo and Polaris

[Brammofan]

Very positive write up by the investment experts at The Motley Fool:
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/03/25/is-this-where-polaris-industries-inc-really-beats.aspx

[Richard230]

I agree. Not only is it a positive article, but it doesn't appear to contain any EV hot air, which is a refreshing breeze.

I sure hope H-D doesn't decide to buy out Zero as a means to jump-start their EV production.  They have a very poor record of buying out small companies and then closing them down after a short period of time.   

[ttxgpfan]

Yes it was a positive article, and I found it an interesting contrast to Dillard's article on the subject and comments on said article. The InsideEV article and comments pointed at a poorly lead, and hence basically failed Brammo had its  motorcycle production arm effectively repo'd. This Mottly article points at a Polaris that instead is gunning to be a leader in the future. But I can't help but feel the article's scope was a bit narrow. When(if?) Polaris starts producing "proper" electric motorcycles they aren't just just beating the other North American juggernaut H-D to the punch, they are beating EVERY OTHER major motorcycle manufacturer in the world; i.e. Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Ducati, Aprillia, Bimota, MotoGuzzi, Triumph, and EBR. Plus a bunch of main land Asian manufacturers I don't know about. They just beat every single one of their competitors to the punch.

Of course both could be true. Brammo could very well be poorly managed and it is playing straight into a win-win for Polaris as they go on to beat everyone to the punch.

[roma258]

My issue with the article is that it doesn't really bring any new information to the table. It's speculative market analysis, which is obviously what that website does, but it doesn't really move the needle as far as giving hints about Polaris's intentions beyond what we already know.

Having finally put a few miles on my Empulse R, I'm pretty convinced that it's a credible platform that could be developed into something special. I just want to know if Polaris will continue that, or veer in a completely different (read, cruiser-ish) direction. Or just sit on it, since it's such small peanuts for them in the grand scheme of things.

[EmpulseRider]

I agree, no new information. I enjoyed reading the article though considering the dearth of new information... even repackaged information is better than nothing.
They would be crazy not to complete development on the RR. I got some pretty strong vibes from Brammo that the RR was going to happen soon. I guess we will have to wait and see.

[Ted Dillard]

... an interesting contrast to Dillard's article on the subject and comments ...

Curious which of the 10 or so recent stories I've done you're referring to.   

http://insideevs.com/?s=brammo

...but yeah, I pretty much first, think the jury is still out on the Polaris strategy and plan, which, since there's no information except crumbs like the trademark registration, and second, I can only report on the facts of the continuing Brammo saga as I can find them.  I hope I'm pretty clear when I'm drawing inferences from those, and especially in the case of Brammo, have tried really hard not to make guesses. 

So, for now, I can only talk about one side of the story.  When the Polaris story is available, I'll be talking about them, and probably a lot more than Brammo since Polaris will be makin' the bikes.   

Bottom line, though, whether you feel Brammo was mismanaged or not, I do agree with the Fool that the Polaris move was smart, and timely as well.  It's almost like they let HD do their (very expensive) market research for them, then pulled the trigger, isn't it? 

And yes, on top of everything, it seems pretty clear they got what they got for a bargain-basement price.