"Harley-Davidson Inc. HOG +1.28% is facing a particularly tough competitor for new riders: its own used motorcycles.

Three used Harleys are sold in the U.S. for every new one. A decade ago, it was the other way around. New motorcycle sales in the U.S. are down by half from a 2006 peak, while used sales are up 13%.

Milwaukee-based Harley in 2018 is heading for its fourth straight year of declining sales as the company’s core older customers scale back purchases while younger riders fail to pick up the slack. A glut of used Harley-Davidsons has emerged after years of strong sales growth and production volumes, and offers a variety of choices for those unwilling to splurge on pricey new models.

Rough Ride
Harley’s sales have fallen in the U.S., while sales of used motorcycles have climbed in the past decade.
“It comes down to price, always,” said Jim McMahan, co-owner of a Harley dealership in Greensburg, Pa. “There are people who just don’t want to spend $18,000 to $25,000 on a new motorcycle.” Used Harleys in good condition can cost less than $15,000, dealers say.

Harley wants to reverse its sales slump by drawing new riders with 16 middleweight bikesit plans to roll out by 2022. Among them will be the company’s first electric model, debuting next year.

Harley hasn’t released prices for the new bikes, but dealers expect many of the models will be cheaper than the big bikes that make up the core of the current lineup. Offering more motorcycle choices at lower prices could lure younger riders to the Harley brand for the first time and help offset slumping sales of traditional models.

Heather Malenshek, Harley’s vice president of marketing, said used Hogs aren’t the company’s biggest problem. “The greatest challenge is to bring younger people into the sport,” she said. “Our used motorcycle base is a great way to get them in.”

But some Harley fans—including one Harley salesman—say the price of a new Harley deterred them from buying one. John Call, 31 years old, has sold Harleys at a dealership outside of Cleveland since 2016. In buying his first Hog last year, he chose a used 2009 Dyna Fat Bob for just under $10,000.

“A new Harley isn’t really practical for me,” he said. “I’ve got a growing family.”

Harley-Davidson motorcycles tend to have long lives. They don’t wear out easily or go out of style quickly and owners tend to take care of them, making the bikes appealing in the used-motorcycle market.

Harley has struggled to lessen its reliance on baby boomers, whose growing discretionary income and passion for hobbies including motorcycle riding brought the company back from the brink of bankruptcy in the early 1980s. Now, those riders are aging and buying motorcycles less frequently. But younger riders often can’t afford as many bikes as their parents or don’t see themselves living the Harley free-spirit lifestyle.

In response, the company is pursuing younger people who don’t fit the profile of a typical Harley fan: male and clad in a black T-shirt and leather vest. On Monday, Harley said it would start selling its popular branded apparel through Amazon.com Inc. Currently, Harley apparel is sold through the company’s website or at dealerships.

Two of Harley’s new models will be dual-purpose bikes for riding on both paved and unpaved roads, a motorcycle category that is growing in popularity in the U.S. Nine will be sports bikes with racing-style body features and seating to reduce wind drag. Harley doesn’t currently compete in either of these categories.

Some dealers said they doubt customers for those kinds of bikes will one day trade up for a new, expensive Hog. Ms. Malenshek acknowledged some might not, but said Harley also needs to accommodate riders who aren’t interested in its traditional models.

“The point of all of this is bringing new customers into the brand that weren’t there before,” she said. “They don’t all want to be in the lifestyle. You can have Harley on your terms.”

The new models are also designed to attract riders overseas, where Harley wants to generate half its sales a decade from now, up from about 39% currently. Harley in June said it would shift production of motorcycles bound for Europe out of the U.S., after the European Union imposed what would have amounted to a roughly $2,200 tariff on each Hog imported from the U.S.

President Trump and unions representing Harley workers said Harley was using the trade fight to justify existing plans to move production overseas. Harley said that assertion was false.

Many foreign markets are dominated by Harley’s competitors. Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries , Suzuki Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. make popular utilitarian bikes, while Germany’s BMW AG and Italy’s Ducati, owned by Volkswagen AG , make higher-priced models.

Harley faces those same competitors in the U.S., too, along with a resurgent U.S-based competitor in Indian Motorcycles, owned by Polaris Industries Inc.

Harley still accounts for about half of sales of U.S. motorcycles built for riding on highways. That share has held steady in recent years even as its own sales stalled because the market for new motorcycles overall has shrunk since the 2008-2009 recession.

And some riders of used Harleys do eventually buy a new one. Sarah Pellatiro of New Kensington, Pa., bought a new Harley Sportster this year for just under $12,000 after riding a used version for three years. Ms. Pellatiro said she chose the middleweight bike over a larger, more expensive model because she was confident she could handle it in traffic after gaining experience with a used Sportster.

“I got that bike right when I was still learning how to ride,” said the 32-year-old photographer and silversmith. “I don’t think I’ll ever ride any brand other than Harley from here on.”"


https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-glut-...son-1538391600

I was talking with the owner of my local Harley shop this past weekend. He told me that back during the boom...05 to 07...they were selling close to 100 bikes per month. When the bottom fell out of the market they were lucky to sell 15 to 20 per month.
Right now, they are selling about 50 per month. I asked him about credit scores as I had read that we are at an all-time high nationwide. He said they still have trouble getting folks approved for loans even though they will give a loan with a score of 525.
One sticky point, if you have ever screwed Harley in the past...they will not give you a loan. He was cautiously optimistic on the future....he bemoaned the lack of real mom and pop Harley dealers. I guess a lot of them are owned by groups or and just focused on the bottom line.

Anyway...looking forward to seeing what Harley brings out in the next few years. I think it is an exciting time.

 

Price and dealer attitudes seem to be big contributing factors for the reduced sales of Harleys (although the entire motorcycle market is down).

 

The majority of each new generation the past decade. of riding age people, is also mostly a bunch of wussy, metrosexual wimps who worry more about getting a suit of armor before even sitting on a motorcycle or worrying about a 'vibration' or learning at all to do at least *some* of their own work on the bike...at the very least to change the fluids on their own... than just having a bike and riding to feel what it is to just ride and go with no direction other than 'forward'. That's, Harley's problem (and pretty much most any bike manufacturer's problem, of course).

I mean hell, when a metal police barrier falls over - a standard, 4 foot high and 6 foot long wimpy barrier that a 6 year old kid can knock over if they tried hard enough - scares the **** out of *thousands* of these metrosexual men and women aged 16 and up the other day, enough to make them panic and almost kill one another trying to stampede away, what could they possibly think about getting a 'dengerous motorcycle'.

 

I think consumers are getting smarter. Why buy something new when the moment you drive it off the lot, it has lost thousands in value?

Also, could H-D be to blame as well? Think about it, we ALL have seen guys that live with barely two nickels to rub together yet they ride a 30K bike? Guess who financed them, H-D. The rumor is that H-D will literally almost finance anyone. I bet there are a lot of riders out there who just fell in love with that new H-D, the dealership gave them a great deal at 72 months, 20% interest rate and a monthly payment of $400.00 a month that they KNEW they couldn't afford. That bike is going get repossessed and back on a sales floor somewhere.

 

The consensus from the high school age kids is that motorcycles are dangerous....i have a feeling the clutch intimidates them since about 99 percent of them dont even know what a clutch is.

 

This isn't just Harley's problem...I just read an article that said the same thing is happening in the car markets. People are opting for slightly used instead of paying the hefty new prices. Harley has produced a lot of bikes the last 10 years...they are going to have to buy up all the used bikes and send them overseas.

Of course Indian doesn't have this problem...because there just aren't that many used Indians out there...they never made that many!

Heck...I have been looking for a used truck for my son and I was shocked at the used prices!

 

The only reason I bought my Street Glide new is because the Rushmore models had just come out.
Its not hard to find a super clean practically unused bike down here.

 

Quote:

Harley said it would start selling its popular branded apparel through Amazon.com Inc. Currently, Harley apparel is sold through the company’s website or at dealerships.

I bet dealers who have a few hundred thousand in clothing inventory are going to love this.

Quote:

Two of Harley’s new models will be dual-purpose bikes for riding on both paved and unpaved roads, a motorcycle category that is growing in popularity in the U.S.

Adventure bike riders have spoken on the concept: https://advrider.com/f/threads/900-l...oming.1330748/

Quote:

Nine will be sports bikes with racing-style body features and seating to reduce wind drag.

If they seriously want to attract sports bike riders they've absolutely got to drastically increase horsepower and eliminate forward controls on any such bike.

 

I just search cycle trader. There are 251 NEW '17 model year bikes still available just within 150 miles me. If there are 251 just within 150 miles of me how many new '17s are still out there total, not just listed on cycle trader? Glut of used bikes? There are a glut of new bikes that nobody is going to buy.

 

I am loving the glut of used bikes on the market, for selfish reasons. I know it is an issue for the "sport" long-term, but damn, there are some great deals to be had out there!