Milennials are killing HD

Costs are certainly a deterrent. A stock $10,000 bike used to be unheard of and now that's the average price of a used one that was "dropped once in the garage". Lol.

 

I just saw the commercial for the HD street rod. Might have even been during the X games.
That commercial seemed to appeal to the street hooligans with the rider weaving in and out of traffic. Always used his blinkers though, you know to be legal and all.
Seemed like they were trying to appeal to a different audience and until I saw it was HD I was interested.

 

Nothing to worry about. It's just "increased conviction that motorcycle demand in the US is in the throes of secular erosion, combined with weakened conviction in the materialization of near-term catalysts,". Kno'm sayin'?

 

Uhhmmmm...no.

 

Hell with HD, weren't we waiting on some lawyers to get themselves perished?

 

is harley really in finantial trouble? weak spelling today.

 

I have to admit, I'm amazed at the number of people on what is basically a sport bike racing forum who worry about Harley-Davidson. We would never buy one, old low tech, they suck, yada yada , and so on. I'm a boomer, and have seen motorcycle manufacturers come and go. It bothers me every time it happens btw. I try and appreciate what each manufacturer brings to the table. I don't want cookie cutter bikes where all manufacturers make the same stuff as the car manufacturers seem to do. I still believe the old 70s Yamaha slogan "different strokes for different folks".

 

Well im real happy for you.

 

Holy mixed metaphors!

IIRC, the brown acid was the bad acid at Woodstock. It was announced from the stage.

And I have no idea why that factoid is stuck in my head. SMH

 

The brown was the bad stuff and yeah they announced it. I bet they still ran out though... crazy hippies

 

This was us

 

Are you related to Jim Race?

 

Okay dude.

HD has better fit and finish and a better overall aesthetic than any other cruiser out there, except for maybe Indian. This is all subjective anyway, but keep on stating your opinions as fact. The performance is far from terrible for a street going cruiser. It's not a fucking GSXR and isn't meant to compete with that segment. Fashion accessory? I ride the shit out of mine. I haven't started my truck in at least two weeks. I own one HD shirt and that was a gift from a well meaning- but misguided relative. I haven't washed the fucking thing since probably May. Yeah, fashion accessory.

Spewing that stupid shit is every fucking bit as dumb as the fat asshole talking shit about 'rice-rockets'. Motorcycling is a small enough community, but yeah - let's marginalize each other and make it even smaller. Somebody link this fucking thread to 'the motorcycle industry is dying' one. Just stupid.

 

I do think they are tying to expand their demographic with bikes like the new all-black model mentioned earlier, but I don't think it is enough. Most "kids" aren't going to get out of high school or college, put down their cell phone, and think "I want a Harley".

The younger generation is either into sport bikes, or tree hugging electric shit, or skinny jeans and uber so they don't have to stop texting.

In addition to less people riding bikes in general, Harley's primary demographic is getting older and they haven't put out anything to appeal to the newer generation.

 

This.

Want to sell stuff? Gotta make stuff people want and can afford.

 

I'm not a fan of Harley, but I can see why people might want one. They're not bad bikes for their purpose. I think HD dying would be bad for the community overall. Whatever you think about them, they do get people out on motorcycles who might not otherwise buy one. Not to mention the death of a manufacturer with political sway. Motorcycles and riding are already under assault from the nanny state, texting drivers, fucking kids playing. video games and not riding dirt bikes, changing demographics and a bunch of other shit. Once those damned robot cars start arriving in droves they might ban motorcycles from the road altogether. I don't know what it'll take for them to continue on but I hope they can find their way and survive.

 

the rest of everything you said is subjective and personal experience is what you make it so if you like it, you like it, but THIS line i have to take disagreement with. I spent a week at the Harley dealership outside of Rapid City when i worked Sturgis one year so i did a fair amount of climbing onto various ones. the bikes have terrible fit and finish. we got loaned 2 brand new bikes for our booth, and one had oil leaking from the case, the other had a throttle that would stick open when you twisted it. 0 mile showroom bikes man. the welds are garbage, the exhaust designs are garbage... i just can't agree. for something that costs that much money, those are minimal things i'd expect to be better. my bicycle frames have better and prettier welds on them, and never in my life have i seen an exhaust where the collector for 2 cylinders was a T where gas pulses slammed into the wall/flow of the other cylinder and thought, hey... that seems efficient and cool.

 

I'll grant you the exhaust thing, but the stock stuff doesn't stick around for long. The welds, well I dunno. My 98 Bandit has abysmal factory robot welds. There are 1" pieces of wire tacked to the ends of some of the beads, among other flaws. I guess I can't quantify it exactly, but every Japanese cruiser I've spent time on just felt cheap and plasticy. I'll agree the welds on a modern sportbike are very nice, when they aren't cracking.

I may have gone a little overboard, but I really hate the way we demean the 'other side' and their bikes. I say the same shit to HD idiots who make 'crotch rocket' and 'ricer' comments. Our community, and by that I mean the broader motorcycling community, doesn't need to split itself in half over dumb shit and misconceptions.

I've got a Road King, a hotrodded Bandit, an old XS650 and even a Sportster. Yep, I even love that turd. ALL motorcycles have good points and bad.

 

millenials are your spawns so good job raising them you grouchy coots

Hipsters in nashville love the shit ass old Harley's. I have an open trailer and I think my number must be on speed dial because I'm always picking friends of friends up on the side of the road because their choppers broke. Riding a bike with no rear suspension is dumb as hell