I would not have a Harley Davidson were it not for a friend who needed a truck and had a Harley while I had a truck I did not need. We traded.


I thought I would ride the Harley for a little while, check it off my been there did that list, sell it and go back to my rice burners. But much to my surprise, my Harley has become my favorite bike to ride.


I have been to a few Harley Owners Group events. They are nice people, but they are not into what I am into.


I have spoken to a Harley salesperson who talks about Harley's as a "lifestyle choice". Not for me.


I just like riding my softail. I get on it and I do not want to get off it. I have a white full face helmet. I wear a full mesh armored jacket, sportbike motorcycle boots, armored gloves and usually armored pants. I look decidedly uncool on a softail. I look like I should be on a Ninja.


Harley should definitely hang on to the HOG / lifestyle / loud pipe people. I am sure they are very profitable. But to move to the next level, they need to attract a different demographic as well.


I read the other day that Honda sells over 10 million motorcycles worldwide. Yamaha sell over 5 million. Harley sell less than 300,000. Admittedly that is not a fair comparison since most of Honda's and Yamaha's sales are under 250cc. That is not a market Harley is ever going to address.


Harley seems to understand this and they are trying to address it with new 500 and 750 bikes. But they do not do anything for me. They seem to only address the cost issue. But in addressing the cost issue, they made bikes that are not very Harleyish. And they seem to still market them to the image crowd.


So the challenge for the CEO of Harley is to figure out how to attract people who are not going to join the owners group, are not going to Bike Week (I life in Orlando and did not go) and are not into the lifestyle. How do they attract people who just like to ride Harley's because they like the bikes not because they are Harley's.


If you were the CEO of Harley, what would you do?

 

Retire and ride

 

Yup...the damn prices are insane. But if people are going to pay them to ride a Harley, might as well "retire and ride".

OP, good question. I'd like to think that I would lower the prices of the bikes a smidge to attract more buyers. The metrics you mentioned are affordable bikes to ride, and for the most part are tailored to the younger crowd (sport bike riders, and crotch rockets). But...it's a business, and the point is to make money hand over fist for the share holders. Good question...interested to see where this goes.

 

Damn it! I was going to say that.

 

One of my ideas is to build an urban commuter bike on the Sportster platform. Set it up with lockable side cases and a top case. Give it good suspension, comfortable seat, a good windshield and a narrow profile for the California lane splitters.


It would look a bit like an adventure bike, but heavier and strictly on road.


It would have the rugged quality feel I like about my Softail. But it would clearly be targeted to a different crowd.

 

Create a couple new divisions... HD Sport, & HD Adventure. Big market for both, and a V-twin motor fits perfectly into those arenas. I'm not talking about putting a sporty motor in either of those types of bikes... something more along the lines of the V-Rod engine cranked up (sport) or down (adventure).

Harley seems to make more selling clothing than bikes. They can come out with a line for both of these divisions and make a killing.

However, they need to make both of these bikes competitive ($$). For sport bikes they need to compete against the Japanese and Europeans. For Adventure models they need only compete with the Europeans as they seem to have a lock on it.

If I were CEO...

 

Design and build a couple bikes in the 750 and smaller size that kick ***. Build a touring bike that sits like a current Harley for the most part many be a touch lower but put a Vrod type engine in it. With about 150-160 HP. keeping the HD style.

 

I read the other day that Honda sells over 10 million motorcycles worldwide. Yamaha sell over 5 million. Harley sell less than 300,000. Admittedly that is not a fair comparison since most of Honda's and Yamaha's sales are under 250cc. That is not a market Harley is ever going to address.

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And yet, with all those sales, HD has 51% of all motorcycle sales in the US over 600cc.

HD doesn't build scooters that most of Pac Rim uses and they never will. HD doesn't need to be as big as Honda.

If I were CEO - I think I'd put more riders in charge. I was looking at a Fat Bob last year - had 18 miles on it as an "executive turn in" and was 3 years old - sorta like car companies. Some exec got the use of the bike and turned it in. I don't know who, what department or whatever but 18 miles tells me that's an executive that doesn't ride. Were I CEO - I'd be looking for riders or someone who will become a rider.

 

Go back to Timken bearings.

 

Sounds like Buell's old offerings and we know what happen to them.