Tandem Cycling - Is Burley in trouble?

I have my hunches...anyway, My LBS owner (and best freind) told me that he had some bean counters (auditors) call him twice about his accounts recievable/payable with Burley. They said they were independent auditors. ANother biker friend who is a financial guru said, "uh oh....Burley must be going to the bank" . Then the LBS owner said that his burley orders are about 3 times the wait compared to the past. He has been a dealer for a long time. The financial guru guy said that burley can make alot of frames but they cannot make components and the only way they can get components is if they have capital. Is burley having problems competing in the marketplace for components with the big manufacturers?

ANyone care to comment?

I have a burley fox hollow and a co-motion tandem. My Burley is the best bike I have ever owned. It is an absolute dream to ride. They make one Helluva product.

- i contacted burley more than a year ago for information on finding a local dealer for one of its bikes...

- i was promised by email by burley that i'd receive a catalog in the mail...

- NOTHING! NADA! ZIP!

- want to guess why i didn't (and won't) buy a burley?

Wow, that does not sound too good. We have been hearing of restructuring for the past few years, as most people know. Sad if it is true.

We still love our Aluminium Burley tandem. Bike trailer is still going strong after all these years. No regrets yet.

Burley makes one hell of a good product(s) and may be a victim of its own success and unable to keep up
with demand. They've restructured themselves from long-type co-op, which worked really well, to
a more standard company.
They certainly have expanded; from an outfit that initially made raingear and yurts, then added trailers, then tandems, then singles (uprights and bents). They do all of it very well, and at a decent price to the consumerTWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

I purchasesd a burley tandem last summer and their backlog was quite signifigant. Took me at least twice as long as I was told originally to get the bike. One hell of a bike though. I love it. I think they are not in trouble, but are trying to figure out how to make a "standard" business plan work insead of the co-op type of model. Just a guess though.

I hope you are right and I am wrong. But when it comes to buying derailers and other components from Shimano they have very little buying power...very little and I am almost certain that they pay for it in the pocket when they don't have the volume discount the big boys do. That and the fact they probably cannot make a purchase on credit.

Time will tell.... What appears to be a cash-flow problem at Burley -- and heavy debt -- has been nipping at their heels since well over a year ago.

Whatever is going on at Burley, you simply can't beat their prices. Way below what others charge for comparable bikes ... and there are plenty of manufacturers that take even longer to deliver. We sure hope they survive because, when we wear out the Burley we're riding now, we'd definitely like to get another!