BREAKING NEWS: Harley-Davidson Builds Bikes for Men
In other news, the sky is blue and The Onion is a satire page.
It’s not really a big secret that Harley-Davidson has historically been a men’s brand. No offense to the many lovely lady riders out there, of course. While the number of female riders has steadily increased over the years, this is still a hobby dominated by men. And while we (and Harley-Davidson themselves) would love to see more lady riders, we’re far from full-on equality at this point.
So Harley-Davidson continues to build bikes that suit its biggest customer, as it always has. They don’t concern themselves too much with making motorcycles that fit everyone either because that would go against the very nature of their business. That is changing, ever so slowly, of course. The new Street Rod and its peg position, suitable only for vertically challenged folks, is one such example.
This fact might not be news to us but it was noteworthy enough for notorious satire site The Onion to mock it in a recent “news” piece. The article is titled “Harley-Davidson Releases New Motorcycle Designed For Men” and is chock full of typical Onion satire. We admit that we’re usually big fans of the site, but this one’s about as funny as a funeral.
Essentially, the article flips the script and pretends that every Harley-Davidson to date has catered to women. They proclaim that men “can’t imagine actually owning something so frilly and feminine themselves.” The piece caps off by joking that “many men found the idea of a Harley specifically aimed at them deeply patronizing.” Touche.
We admit that we’re usually big fans of The Onion,
but this one’s about as funny as a funeral.
We get it. It might not seem fair that Harley (seemingly) focuses on the male consumer so much. But this is a product rooted in history, and it’s a very specific kind of product. And in all fairness, they do have plans to build at least a few bikes that break with that tradition to appeal to customers outside of its existing demographic.
Plus, we have yet to hear any of our female rider friends remark that they wish Harley would build a bike just for them. They seem to be quite happy riding a “man’s” bike, surprisingly enough.
