BREAKING NEWS:Harley Davidson closing a plant due to declining sales.

Old N' Grumpy

Living Legend
Joined
Aug 8, 2015
Messages
3,809
Location
North Florida in the Deep South
Ride
2014 Triumph R3R & 2005 Harley FatBoy
Apparently the Baby-Boomers all have motorcycles, Generation X is only buying a few, and the next generation isn't buying any at all. A recent study was done to find out why. Here are the reasons why Millennials don't ride motorcycles:

1. Pants won't pull up far enough for them to straddle the seat.
2. Can't get their phone to their ear with a helmet on.
3. Can't use 2 hands to eat while driving.
4. They don't get a trophy and a recognition plaque just for buying one.
5. Don't have enough muscle to hold the bike up when stopped.
6. Might have a bug hit them in the face and then they would need emergency care.
7. Motorcycles don't have air conditioning.
8. They can't afford one because they spent 12 years in college trying to get educated in gender studies .
9. They are allergic to fresh air.
10. Their pajamas get caught on the exhaust pipes.
11. They might get their hands dirty checking the oil.
12. The handle bars have buttons and levers and cannot be controlled by touch-screen.
13. You have to shift manually and use something called a clutch.
14. It's too hard to take selfies while riding.
15. They don't come with training wheels like their bicycles did.
16. Motorcycles don't have power steering or power brakes.
17. Their nose ring interferes with the face shield.
18. They would have to use leg muscle to back up.
19. When they stop, a light breeze might blow exhaust in their face.
20. They would need to upgrade before the in-transit expired.
21. It could rain on them and expose them to non-soft water.
22. It might scare their therapy dog, and then the dog would need therapy.
 
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This bloke was in New Zealand a few years ago and did alright using the cell phone while riding. Lol
 
I had saved this to read later but your thread has prompted me to read it now.
Why America's Favorite Motorcycle Company Is In a Serious Slide
Nothing really new there.

Look - the answer is simple. And it's not just HD. Despite our obvious bias on here - Big cruisers are NOT selling well.
I am taken by the fact that almost all my mates here are downsizing.
And most were not riding HUGE bikes to start with. I don't know why but there it is.

I can't remember when I last saw a "wing" out and about. More and more it's "adventure" and "cafe-racer". HD had these in the form of Buell and killed them off.

The difference is that other marques have recognised it and aimed elsewhere HD seems (here anyway) very unwilling to do so.

And what always amuses me is that the press thinks we care. Nobody got so worried when Triumph nearly died, or Guzzi.
Actually I think a lot of bikers back then thought - That'll teach them to listen".
It's purely a "Made in USA" knee jerk. Make what we (the grand collective) need or die.
If Honda decided next week that they would make no more large bikes - would the world bleat? - Would Honda worry?

As of 2020 - I think large bike sales in Europe WILL slump. Most commuter type bikes will soon have to be electric (or hybrid) to be viable.

Edited - I do think sometimes - "OK, if the R3 is dead - what would I buy?". And the answer is pretty much always - "I don't know". But pretty strong likelihood it would be sub 1000cc. More sporty.
 
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Now an electric bike is in the works. The end is near. Polaris/Victory also went electric and even finished strong at the Isle of Mann races with an electric. The cost to engineer the electric bike, the purchase of the Indian name and development costs of that line, the Slingshot piece of s&#@ and fires on their ATV's combined to kill the Victory brand. Economics my friends. Norton, BSA, and even Triumph have succumbed over the years. The Rocket sadly will too. The millenials are so consumed by their pitiful electronic existances that they never experience wind or freedom. There are even helmets for millenials but its not helping Harley.
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This movement will not pass. Big bikes, freedom seekers, carnivores and the like are the modern mastadons. We lumber across the plains knowing that the ice age cometh and we too shall become extinct. The milenials shall inherit the earth and I'll be 62 this year so they probably cant destroy what we've struggled to build in what time I have left. Food trucks serving meat will be replaced with vegetarian affairs. We may be turned into Soylent Green eventually. Change is inevitable, resistance is futile. Ride your beasts and I'll ride mine like some scene from Mad Max until we are done. Smile at them, write in cursive (it's a secret code to them) and know that they are going to be the folks that will be paying the bills for us when we can't. Scary huh ? There are few folks left that think like we do. I've found the Victory crowd to be rather a dry bunch and not like the rabble rousers here. We are the few, the proud, the cowboys and cowgirls of our time. Ride out into your sunset, I'll be out there too.
 
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