It was a Dark Sky Film made in 1970.
The film also appeared under the title Nam’s Angels. The plot included a biker gang, the Devil’s Advocates who were recruited by the CIA to execute a daring rescue behind enemy lines in Cambodia. After customizing their Yamahas into combat-ready death machines, the gang roars into action on this unlikely suicide mission. Heavy casualties ensue. I kid you not.
I’m not sure if the movie did much if anything to propel Yamaha sales, but this week there are reports the Japanese motorcycle maker (Yamaha Motor) has plans to close seven factories globally with a loss of 1,000 jobs. This is all in an effort to bounce back from a Y216.1 billion ($2.7 billion) annual loss in 2009. Yamaha is the world’s second biggest motorcycle manufacturer after Honda and this streamlining is in addition to a previously announced 10% reduction in the company’s global workforce of 17,000 which is underway. This is Yamaha’s first loss in 26 years.
Specific plant closure include 5 of its 12 domestic factories by 2012, all in Shizuoka prefecture (central Japan) who now produce parts for motorcycles, marine products and buggies. In addition, Yamaha will close a motorcycle factory in Italy and a marine products plant in Florida.
It looks like the only motorcycle manufacture beating down the 2009 slowing motorcycle trend was BMW Motorrad. New products like the K1300GT, S1000 RR Superbike along with the opening of 8 new dealers in the past 5 months has them bullish on the future.
An interesting side bar on The Losers — it’s playing on a television in the background of a motel-room scene between Bruce Willis and Maria de Medeiros in Pulp Fiction. Clearly Quentin Tarantino is one of its fans.
Photo courtesy of Dark Sky.
All Rights Reserved © Northwest Harley Blog
No comments:
Post a Comment