Asked about that after his talk, Haney summed up the choice as being between bringing in people from the outside, such as consultants, or training his IT staff to work on the integration.

"Who is passionate about the brand other than the employees who work for the company?" Haney said. He didn't have much time to answer other questions. Saying he had to get to a meeting, he picked up his black leather jacket from a chair and headed off.

But before Haney spoke at the conference, attended by some 5,000 people, the audience was primed for his presentation with a Harley-Davidson film titled "Live by It,"which offered a lyrical, fuguelike salute to the biker lifestyle, showing ever-increasing numbers of Harley riders zooming along highways while a voice-over explained what bikers are about. The film included this line: "We believe in wearing black because it doesn't show any dirt or weakness."

While this expression of a biker's creed may fit a company like Harley, it's almost a certain bet it's not what Haney's previous employer would have said. Haney joined Harley last summer, leaving a company that works hard at keeping things clean -- Whirlpool Corp., which is well known for its clothes washers and driers.

Best-of-breed not always best of price