Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

A report in the April 19 edition of Forbes magazine ranks Harley-Davidson among the top 25 corporate brands. No other motor vehicle brands made the list, which was topped by Procter & Gamble.

The list was assembled by Predictiv, a company the magazine described as a “valuation research firm.” The company assigned Harley-Davidson a corporate brand value of $15.7 billion. Other brands close to Harley-Davidson on the list include Kellogg at $16.2 billion, General Mills at $17.5 billion and Nike at $19.7 billion. List leader Procter & Gamble had an assigned brand value of $107.4 billion.

The report credited the 600,000-member Harley Owners Group (HOG) with helping keep the brand strong.


A report in the same issue of the magazine describes an international trade dispute involving Motion Systems, a manufacturer of electronically-controlled actuators and a long-time sponsor of Arclight Racing. The New Jersey company claims that a Chinese firm, CCL Industrial Motor, is selling actuators in the U.S. for less than the cost of the materials used to build the actuators; Motion Systems unsuccessfully sought tariffs on the Chinese actuators.

Former Arclight rider Chris Hughes and former Arclight crew member Mike Hughes are long-time Motion Systems employees.