The Problem Facing Harley-Davidson

If i had the coin to own a second bike it'd definitely be a Harley , always liked the look of the FatBoy models

Never seen or felt the fascination with this brand. Maybe my stiff upper lip is just too stiff??

I’m still yearning for an 08 Road King. Maybe one day I’ll be able to take a Harley for a spin and keep it. So far I’ve been pretty loyal to Triumph though.

The video is spot-on, regarding the challenge of attracting new buyers. It is one of the contributing factors as to why the industry hasn't recovered from the most-recent recession when many sold their bikes to overcome budget challenges; and there aren't enough motorcycles in garages today for kids to see.

My son doesn't want a motorcycle, he dreams about Camaro and Lamborghini. Even as his realism matures in the coming years, the deciding factor will be if he wants to share a motorcycle experience on a social networking site (which would taking a selfie).

Why would he do that with older riders that don't share his comfort level with technology and desire to share it?

This concern is influencing future strategies across many retail industries right now. Why go to a quick-service restaurant if there isn't something to share, or the means to share it? Theaters that come up with a way for customers to share cool movie experiences will win the future customer. I go to several nifty coffee shops today, but when I'm gone the only ones that will survive are those who enable social/connected customer experience; otherwise their former customers will do fine making their own coffee. When I entertain clients at fine-dining, even the older participants have started pulling out their phones and sharing pics of their meals on text or social-networking.

Picture a shop that sells a very cool high-end Cruiser for $25k and a dependable attractive-alternative that sells for $9k; either bike can carry two people comfortably to a state park or attraction. Both bikes support a nifty new real-time sharing technology that can snap a pic or take a video clip while your riding with a touch of a button and auto-share it with text spoken from a mic in your helmet. Which bike would the buyer of the future go for?

eLLWOODgLEN said:

I’m still yearning for an 08 Road King. Maybe one day I’ll be able to take a Harley for a spin and keep it. So far I’ve been pretty loyal to Triumph though.

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Funny, a customer I did some work for has an 08 RK sitting in his garage he can't ride anymore, he put it up for sale last spring with no bites, I told him if finances permit I may make an offer in the spring.

Tripps said:

Funny, a customer I did some work for has an 08 RK sitting in his garage he can't ride anymore, he put it up for sale last spring with no bites, I told him if finances permit I may make an offer in the spring.

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Anniv Edition?
I’m favorable to the leather saddlebags. Them painted fiberglass bags don’t do much for me.

I totally agree that to most people bikes are a commodity item. When I got back into bikes a few years ago I stumbled across my 2005 America with 2800 miles on it for $3500.00. We will not talk about how much I have put it.

Anyway when Ema told me she wanted a bigger bike I walked into the Indian shop and decided I liked the Springfield. Around $24,500.00. I then went to the Harley store and to be honest I was so turned off by all the do not sit on and do not touch signs and the corporate attitude I walked out. (The Indian store asked to see my motorcycle endorsement then offered me the keys to whatever I wanted to ride.

Then i went up the Chicago to check out the Triumph Thunderbird LT and ended up with my 2015 R3T for $14,500.00 out the door.

Not lonely do I think I got the most technology for the kind of bike I was looking for. I also got the best price.

I think Triumph's new line is well placed for new riders. I think they would be wise to put the 900cc in a cruiser and bring it in at a price point of $9,500.00. The Street Twin is an awesome ride.

If they only had a marketing department.

eLLWOODgLEN said:

Anniv Edition?
I’m favorable to the leather saddlebags. Them painted fiberglass bags don’t do much for me.

Click to expand...

I don't recall seeing anniversary anywhere on it, but it was a dark garage. Hard bags

I was drunk on Harley cool aide for years. I don’t even own one right now. I traded my last one away for this R3. I’m not worried about HD , they’ll be here for quite a while. Right now Indian is a better bike with a much larger cool factor. They ride better too.

None are all that powerful after you experience a Rocket. Now if Indian comes out with an in line four at 2500 cc I’m all in on that.

I'm afraid that Harleys never appealed to me at all, I like to have some performance, even these days when I rarely venture over 100MPH.