Okay guys, I have some rare insight into the problem. I ride with millinials.

Most millinials don’t even know they could love Harley. You also have to issue with how we have raised them. Both parenting and society have made a mark on them most don’t think about.

Helicopter parenting didn’t let them do things like climb trees. Other “high risk activity” was outlawed before they were even born. (Like rides in a truck bed or fighting). They were also raised the be sensitive and in touch with their feelings.

We also raised them to be on top of math, science, and technology. They are always on the lookout for cutting edge tech and performance above all else as a result.

We raised the risk taking, danger loving, red blooded Americanisim out of most of them. So most of them would not dream of doing something preceived as so potentially dangerous as to ride ANY motorcycle!

Now let’s talk about the small percentage of potential buyers left...

The ones not raised to enjoy “real biker culture” are looking for “performance”. They look at the numbers, compare bikes, and Harley “sucks”. They also hear others of their peers say how slow Harley is, and how cruisers “plow” in the corners. Harley is an “old man’s bike”. Harley hasn’t come out with any inovations that haven’t been out on other bikes for decades. Harley is “outdated”.

the numbers and their peers couldn’t possibly be wrong! All these YouTube vids showing young riders hooting and hollering as their sport bike rockets faster and faster at speeds faster than 140 mph while talking about how bad “cruisers suck” couldn’t possibly be misguided or uninformed...

What they see of Harley riders makes all of this worse. Middle aged+ men putting along at a snail’s pace with the ever present perpetual scowl has a bad impact. They see him as a “bully” who just goes around intimidating people. It’s just wrong in their eyes! They don’t want to be lumped in with that type. His bike doesn’t give him enough sense of joy to be worth their time... they also heard that bikers are racist, bar brawling, woman beaters, that’s what their single mothers led them to believe...

Harley did themselves no favors with the street line up! Once on it you learn that it is every negative of Harley without any of the fun. They don’t make torque worth a damn, my dyna is about as nimble, they don’t rev high enough making them slow, and the ride position doesn’t give the comfort of a Harley. If any of the target demographic had riden this bike they would walk out without a word and buy a jap bike way more impressive for way less money! The reviews by their age group all agree with my test ride impressions.


Now, how does Harley fix this? Aside from killing the street in its current form, I don’t know. The millinials I have allowed to ride my dyna love it. Most plan to buy a Softail low rider in the near future! But it only happened because I rode with them and showed them my bike can keep up with them in the turns and can be loads of fun. Their bike can dust me on a straight away with wide open throttle, but I am riding for hours after they have had enough and headed home. Once I showed them these things, they noticed how people, even women, would approach to talk about my bike sitting next to theirs’. No one cared about their transformer looking bike. Mine got attention from more people than the nerdy young guy who looked at the numbers. After they saw all of this, I insisted they hop on it while I followed on theirs. They finally got it! One said,” I hate you for letting me ride your bike! I had to learn you don’t ride while watching a stopwatch. I hate your bike gives me a feeling I can’t get from mine without going more than twice as fast.”

These kids can learn to love Harley. They just don’t know it. I don’t know how to show them any way other than the way I did it. The problem is, most guys won’t show a young guy the way that I will. Without that type of experience, they will never see that it doesn’t have to be an old man’s bike. The price tag doesn’t help, especially when most are paying for children.

I don’t know how the MC gets through to these kids. But this is the real problem. I know they have a warped perception. They don’t know that bikers are just regular guys. They don’t know you don’t have to kick off your mid life crisis to enjoy what Harley offers. They don’t know that Harley offers a bike you can have a little less fun on but do it for ten hours strait compared to three hours tops on a sport bike. They do know they can buy two jap bikes and still not pay for a Harley!