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A bank has foreclosed on Wichita, Kansas-based Big Dog Motorcycles, ending the run of a 17-year-old company that specialized in custom heavy cruisers and had 100 U.S. dealers.

The Wichita Eagle says founder Sheldon Coleman Jr., heir and former CEO of camping and outdoor equipment maker Coleman Co., dissolved the corporation.

New company president Mike Simmons says Coleman formed BDM Performance Products to supply parts, accessories and gear for more than 25,000 Big Dog Motorcycles currently on the road.

Big Dog Motorcycles boomed when the housing market was strong and many of its customers were builders. At the height of popularity in 2005, the company built more than 5,000 bikes, had more than 300 employees and more than $120 million in revenue.

Layoffs began in 2007. Today, 22 employees remain.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/04/09/27 ... z1JC2xvjIJ

I feel for the people who are losing their jobs but after seeing a couple of their bikes in action I have to wonder how they made it this long. They made better living room ornaments than real world motorcycles.

I didn't even know they were still in business. I'm surprised they lasted this long, especially with the economy the way it's been for the last few years. I figured the custom bike building scene reached it's zenith a few years back and most of them are already gone.

That is a shame indeed to see Big Dog motorcycles gone.

I think they are a victim of their own success, building custom bikes. I remember the "boom" in the custom bike business around 2003-2006 at the motorcycle shows I was attending, seemed everyone started building them. And with the economy of the USA heating up so fast on real estate and too easy to get loans $40-80,000k motorcycles didn't seem unrealistic, but it was in the end.

As the economy continues to sputter for the average Joe, material consumption should continue to slow down, thus I don't think we have seen the last of the closures.