Nate Roth said ... Yes, this is of great concern to me too. There are so many employees walking around my dealership that they outnumber the customers. As a CPA, this screams OVERHEAD! to me. Nothing wrong with that, except that the dealer also shows all the bikes marked up $3000-$4000 above MSRP. Pretty easy to connect those two dots. Personally, I love the sense of community that you get when you are a Harley owner, and my dealer's service is great. But I really am not sure that I would buy my next Harley from them if they have to cover their overhead by charging so much extra for the bikes themselves. It seems like there could be a happy medium without quite so much headcount.

Younger buyers are price sensitive and yes, Amazon has conditioned everyone in that direction. Dealers swim against that current at their peril. I'm just not sure that the high-overhead high-prices business model makes sense in the 21st Century.

 

I, like you are one of the "new" riders HD should be looking to attract. I am 40 years old my wife is 36 and we do pretty well for our selves. I used to be a sport bike rider in my 20s then I took some time off from motorcycles and got back into it (and brought the wife with me) last year. We bought 2 Yamaha bolts last spring and rode them alot last year. The more we rode the more we wanted to ride. More often and more distance. This spring we decided we need bikes that were geared more towards what we wanted to do, touring and commuting. I was not set on HD at all. My wife was dead set on HD from the beginning. I looked a many bikes from BMW to Yamaha to HD and everything in between. We ended up with a Street Glide Special for her and a Road Glide Ultra for me. I too would have went with the RGS but I have an 8 year old daughter and the tour pack makes Momma more comfortable with her on the back seat. I ended up with the RGU because I had a very positive dealer experience (not high pressure), It is an American product (not my top priority but feels good none the less), and we liked doing the bike nights, ralleys, and group rides and always felt a bit "outside" on the Yamahas.

1) I already addressed this

2) I agree with you on the direction the HD went this year. I think they need to do more though. I think the Street platform is a great starting point and the could make some very cool models from that base. A flat tracker, a scrambler and/or a cafe racer would all work well on that platform. The Fat Bob is very cool and if I was looking for a bar hopper/commuter that would be on the list for sure.

3) I for one like the nice clean dealership with lots of inventory for bikes, parts, accessories, and even cloths. My biggest problem is how much they want for this stuff. $30-40 for a tee shirt? $30+ for a ball hat? $80 for a button down shirt? I could go on and on. I know it does not cost that much to produce this stuff.

4) I completely agree with you here and then some. I do however feel like this is starting to change. I see more and more guys and girls on bike (both HD and not) that are not dressed in the black leather pirate gear and I fell like this is going to dwindle in time. One thing that drives me crazy about the "traditional" Harley guys is their attitude towards change. I think one of the reasons that the V-Rod did not do that well and that the Street is not a great seller (here in the states) is the "traditional" HD guys spewing "the V-Rod is not a real Harley, the Street is ***** and is not a real Harley, the Sportster is a girls bike". It really turns new riders away and its just not true. HDs worst enemy to modernization and gaining younger buyers is there own customers and the culture that they curated.

 

We used to call it safety/rain/cold weather gear.



Well that culture was created long ago, mostly by the bikers themselves, being themselves in the 50's, 60's, 70's and early 80's. That culture is also what kept HD afloat in lean times for the factory.
Look at a recent year Heritage and look at a '57 Panhead....lots of similarities.


As far as the V-Rod and the Street models, they will live or die on their own merits.....not what the "traditional" guys have to say, good or bad.
The Sportster earned it's way into HD History long ago and has always been a big seller for good reasons.


One thing that drives me crazy is the guy who buys his first brand new Harley and thinks he knows it all......on second thought, doesn't really bother me, just think it's a damn shame.

 

I don't think his post came off that way. I think he was just giving his opinions as a first time new Harley buyer. He did mention that he rode a Road King previously. Harleys bring a lot of different types of people together.

While I would love to sit and have a beer with you and hear all of your stories of old, I wouldn't have many like them to share with you. Not my fault that the Shovel was out of production before I went to school. We don't have to be the same to be respectful to each other. I like variety, makes conversations more enjoyable and offers more opportunities to learn from each other.

 

I did not mean to make it sound like I think it is a new development. I know this has been a long time in the making.

The problem is many will never even give these bikes a fair shake and try they best they can to mock them and steer potential buyers in a different direction

I am only giving my opinion based on my experiences. I never protest to "knowing it all".

 

Welcome and great first post!

 

I am 41. I am a bit different than you in that I have been a Harley fan for as long as I can remember. As well my first bike was a Harley a couple of decades ago. But I am not brand loyal. In fact I ride a BMW most of the time. But I have a couple of older Harleys that amuse me.


I agree with the lifestyle comments. It is a huge turn off to me. It just isn't a style that guys our age typically would be drawn to. A leather jacket with a gigantic bar and shield...no way. But a Roland Sands with small attention to detail and little to no branding, now that is sexy. We will see the Harley clothing line evolve soon, mark my words.


The Harley groups I don't know about. I have taken a few group rides lately which I almost never do. I am typically the only one not on a Harley. No one cares. In fact there isn't even any of the usual good natured ribbing. I guess these guys just enjoy the riding and really though it sounds strange aren't bike fanatics like I am.


Culture. Now that is hard to pin down. I love the history of the bikes. As cheesy as it sounds it really is one of the few truly American brands and I love it. It is a company out to make money like we all are. But the history of something so iconic belongs to America.


Ultimately everything is cyclical. Guys our age are killing it in the chopper and custom scene right now. They are reviving the true underground culture. Putting together bikes anyway they can with their own hands. My busted knuckles make me smile when I am typing away at a day job. That group of guys and attitude is likely more appealing to folks our age than the Hog chapter.


Me? I don't worry about where I fit in. I just love bikes. All of them! I do what I want to do and ride what I want. That is the beauty of living in Podunk Appalachia, there is no group to belong to.

 

actually those guys pretty much want nothing to do with the HD "lifestyle"...there's more than a few on here and they may chime in on this...

 

Sorry OP, too damn long winded and being an old guy, I lost interest in reading it, better luck next time.

 

Guys thanks a bunch for all the feedback. It's really interesting to see all the experinces and perspectives. Ultimately we all would like to see the passion for riding motorcycles reamin strong and vital and we all want to see HD be as succesful as possible for a long time to come.