I have a lot of feelings about this. If you decide to read this garbage that I’m spewing, keep this in mind: 40 years ago the average age for a motorcycle owner was 27. Today it’s 50.
Harley Davidson was trying to reach out to a new generation because old angry people are the majority of their customers right now and their growth rate is absolute garbage. They haven’t hit on something that the under-50 crowd wants and their bikes underperform pretty much everyone else both dollar for dollar and power for size/weight. I like the way they look because I like cruisers, but Honda, Indian, Yamaha, and Triumph make cruisers as well. Of those, everyone makes them cheaper except for Indian who makes a better quality and better performing bike.
I don’t hear people making fun of other people’s motorcycles often, but every single time I do it’s some guy who rides a fucking Dyna Glide a thousand miles a year into town and back home. Those older bikers are terrified of anyone who is different from them.
So the company is trying things like redesigning motorcycles to be sportier, adding new features to their bikes, and addressing the concerns of a new generation. Every time they do it they alienate the old ass hate squad who actually buys their stuff new from dealerships. When they walk it back they alienate anyone who was looking at them because they were attempting to change with the times. For one example, they were shit on so hard about their electric motorcycle that they spun it off to its own brand.
They’re in a bad place. They still sell plenty of motorcycles for now, but they’re sliding and have become synonymous with the “my dick is bigger than yours” baby boomer crowd rather than people who are genuinely inclusive of other riders. When you think of a Harley Rider the image is an old hobbiest or a criminal. On top of that, a new one costs as much as a low end new car with less utility.
If they don’t change something they’re fucked in the long run.
Edit: a word
They’ve always been good at shooting themselves in the dick, and this just shows that they are just as cowardly as the “men” they sell masculinity reinforcement devices to. Not every Harley rider is one of those types, but when you only cater to a shrinking, bitter in-group, you eventually stop bringing in people who aren’t part of that group.
Killing the Nova right before the import revolution, then crying to Reagan to get their tariff passed, canning Buell, CEO who didn’t ride, overpriced and underbuilt bikes, axing affordable modern models that appeal to new riders, failing to follow through with the Livewire, etc…
The only thing they’ve really done right lately is the Pan-America actually having real ADV touring chops, but it’s still too much money. It used to be that if you failed to innovate, you went out of business, but now they are letting themselves be bullied into a corner with no way out. Nevermind the fact that capitulating to the death cult that is the Conservative party just emboldens them to further attack other businesses, and eventually directly attack the groups that they are targeting.
The youngest bike I own is 40 years old (all of my bikes are Honda’s) and I’ve put nearly 30K miles on it in 5 years. The stereotypical Harley rider makes me embarrassed to call myself a rider sometimes.
I agree with every single point you’ve made. Full disclosure, I do own a 20 year old Sportster 1200. I’ve upgraded the absolute hell out of it because it’s fun and if I’m not hauling people or stuff it’s my primary mode of transportation. I rode that sumbitch more last week than a lot of the guys who use it as a masculinity reinforcement device rode last year. I’ve put more miles on it than I’ve put on my old ass Goldwing in the last year and I take the latter all around the country.
The stereotypical Harley rider, much like the parking lot princess pickup driver and the guns are my whole personality gun nut, are giving me a bad name. They’ve gotten most of the money they can out of the bitter old guys because their riding years are coming to a close. What they need to do is suck up a few years of shitty sales (which they could but it would make their stock prices tank) and start building towards those 27 year olds who would currently like to ride. But that won’t help them next quarter so we all know that’s not happening.
Not garbage you’re spewing — thanks. I’m not a motorcycle guy, and you’ve helped me understand WTF is going on with Harley-Davidson.
Honestly, Curiousfur described the current situation with them incredibly succinctly with this line:
Not every Harley rider is one of those types, but when you only cater to a shrinking, bitter in-group, you eventually stop bringing in people who aren’t part of that group.
I could have said something similar but this topic always makes me ramble because it pisses me off so badly. I hate it.
Is it really an initiate if it’s half-hearted?
