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American IronHorse, Fort Worth’s high-end motorcycle maker, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in April. The tangible assets — mostly equipment and motorcycle parts — fetched $3 million, a fraction of the amount Textron Financial Services, its major secured creditor, has lost over the years. A former IronHorse chief executive, Buck Hendrickson, estimated the losses at more than $12 million.Textron forced the manufacturer into liquidation in August and is selling off what’s left, the intangible assets — brand name, designs and engineering innovations. Scott Meyers, who along with his wife was IronHorse’s last owner, has offered $1 for the company’s brand. But a Massachusetts firm hired by Textron to dispose of the intangible assets believe it’s worth considerably more.Meanwhile, Textron is in a legal battle against Meyers, who says Textron drove IronHorse out of business by abruptly canceling dealers’ floor-plan inventory lending, then hurt the company’s image by "dumping" hundreds of bikes at bargain-basement prices on an as-is basis with no warranties. This, Meyers alleges in court documents filed in August, amounts to unlawful interference and fraud.Textron countersued in federal bankruptcy court here, accusing Meyers of breach of contract and illegal interference in its business. The case is scheduled to be tried in July.Neither Meyers nor Textron spokeswoman Karen Papa responded to repeated requests for comment. This summer, Textron tried to sell bikes directly to the public at a Fort Worth event, until a local dealer alerted authorities, who stopped the sale, said the dealer, Charles Strand of Grand Prairie’s Renegade Motorcycles. Under Texas law, only franchised dealers can retail new bikes and vehicles. Textron’s bikes were shipped back to a Kentucky warehouse, then back again to North Texas after Strand negotiated to acquire 60 bikes the lender had taken from defaulting dealers, he said. In all, Strand says, he has gotten more than 100 of the 2008 model motorcycles and is selling the $35,000 list-priced choppers for as low as $20,000.Meyers is also suing Strand in bankruptcy court for buying bikes from Textron in alleged violation of his franchise agreement, which Meyers maintains restricts purchases only through IronHorse.Strand shrugs off the allegation and says that 600 to 700 more bikes will be coming on the market and that he’s interested in picking up a good number."We’re still buying them," said Strand, who also is chief executive of Sun Water Systems-Aquasana, a water purification company in Haltom City. "I am buying more this week. There are a few IronHorse dealers left. I doubt if they can make it through the winter, and Textron will be repossessing." He said he is also talking to a South Carolina bank and GE Money.In May 2008, Textron had lent IronHorse under Meyers $1.5 million and extended a $4.7 million line of credit to help the former accountant and aerospace executive acquire the company out of bankruptcy. Meyers beat out New York investor Lynn Tilton of Patriarch Partners, who stormed out of the federal courthouse visibly furious. Textron also had been lending to IronHorse’s dealer network since at least 2004, and in 2005 it was announced that Textron would provide $40 million in floor-plan financing.
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