Unfortunately, I think a large number of us know first hand the truth concerning the "hand built by a small team" quality versus the regular assembly line. As in all the loose parts and all the maladjusted parts that come with a CVO. I personally spent an entire weekend checking and tightening fasteners on my bike shortly after purchase, after I accidentally found a couple loose fasteners, and what I found didn't make me happy.
In my opinion, stated previously on this site, the so-called CVO's should become another model in the Harley lineup and should be built entirely within the normal system. That includes the paint, which the outside vendors can't seem to consistently handle without major screwups. By doing this, the rapid price escalation in the CVO's could be contained (assuming H-D really wanted to control the price, which won't be true until they find they can't sell what they currently build due to pricing). You would also get more consistent build quality from the regular assembly line; that's an absolute fact that can't be argued against by anyone with experience in special "off line" assembly operations. I've been there and done that in the auto business, and the reality isn't what the advertising folks would like you to believe.
BTW, Gecko is absolutely correct. Calling it a "custom" vehicle, or "hand built", and charging premium prices, does not automatically make for a quality vehicle. Junk parts, whether assembled by robots, conscientious humans, or hung-over druggies on a Monday morning, result in a bad vehicle. Bad parts is bad parts, and piss poor engineering is piss poor engineering. Hanging a fancy name and some extra chrome on bad parts just makes it a more expensive collection of bad parts.
Jerry