Harley sales keep declining.....

Smilingreen

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HARLEY DAVIDSON SPEAKS TO "DECLINING BIKE SALES”

Apparently the Baby-Boomers all have motorcycles. Generation X is only buying a few, and the next generation isn't buying any at all.

A recent study was done to find out why Millennials don't ride motorcycles:

1. Pants won't pull up far enough for them to straddle the seat.

2. Can't get their phone to their ear with a helmet on.

3. Can't use 2 hands to eat while driving.

4. They don't get a trophy and a recognition plaque just for buying one.

5. Don't have enough muscle to hold the bike up when stopped.

6. Might have a bug hit them in the face and then they would need emergency care.

7. Motorcycles don't have air conditioning.

8. They can't afford one because they spent 12 years in college trying to get a degree in Humanities, Social Studies or Gender Studies for which no jobs are available.

9. They are allergic to fresh air.

10. Their pajamas get caught on the exhaust pipes.

11. They might get their hands dirty checking the oil.

12. The handle bars have buttons and levers and cannot be controlled by touch-screen.

13. You have to shift manually and use something called a clutch.

14. It's too hard to take selfies while riding.

15. They don't come with training wheels like their bicycles did.

16. Motorcycles don't have power steering or power brakes.

17. Their nose ring interferes with the face shield.

18. They would have to use leg muscle to back up.

19. When they stop, a light breeze might blow exhaust in their face.

20. It could rain on them and expose them to non-soft water.

21. It might scare their therapy dog, and then the dog would need therapy.

22. Can't get the motorcycle down the basement stairs of their parent's home.
 

BORIStheBLADE

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I think Harley also has taken very slow steps at evolving and keeping up with changes. You guys see the race series the AMA has now? I'm pretty certain is was created to help the sales of Harley.

 

jrbeddow

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Obviously, motorcycles are nowhere near as popular as they once were in America, for a wide variety of reasons (safety, comfort, general laziness), but it should be obvious why Harley sales in particular are down: they are overpriced, ancient technology relics compared to every other modern motorcycle. Sure, they have been somewhat updated, but fundamentally they are tied to their legacy, or "history" if you prefer. For better or worse, they cannot escape that legacy position, as any true modernization would alienate much of their sales base, further eroding the small number of sales that they still have left.
 

Smilingreen

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We have a large Harley dealer here, that still does a booming business.
LOTS of bikes on the road around here.
There is a big Harley dealership in Middle Tennessee. It is always busy. The bike crowd here is mixed. The crotch rocket is obviously the young generation. They keep their numbers in check, as 70% of them don't have a motorcycle license and they ride them in traffic like they stole them right off the showroom floor. Those eventually end up wrapping their bike and themselves either around a tree, a power pole, around another bike or play chicken with 80k pound semi's. Never fear, a new young generation replaces them.

The cruisers are still popular for the posers, who will trailer them in a covered trailer, unload them 2 blocks away from the bar that is having a bike event, ride them two blocks in full leathers and then spend the night, leaning against it in the parking lot, constantly polishing the chrome.

Then you have your die hard bikers, who ride plastic couches (Goldwings), Harleys, BMW's and other big road bikes. They spend most nice weather weekends out touring different states, checking out the scenery, etc.
 

garycrist

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I rode my Kawasaki LTD 1000 come rain or shine. Even camped out at 6700 ft in Sequoia one New Years.
Snow and ICE level started at 5000 Ft. When I went home, it rained all the way back home
San Diego! Rode it down a rock river-bed in Oregon that rattled my brains out, never again.
Split traffic in Southern Cali all the time.

I would like one again but the dummies all abound! All of them are Nascar drivers any way.
 
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Swampledge

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I rode a bagger for about 15 years, mostly commuting to work. One day there was a late work dinner. On the ride home on a dark, twisty road, I misjudged my entry speed into a turn (I actually thought I was further from that particular turn than I was) and thought I was gonna get hurt. But my MSF training kicked in, and I never strayed from my lane and negotiated the turn with only minor complaints from the floorboards as they scraped the pavement. The next day, a work friend who also rode (but pretty much never to work) told me that, on their way home from the dinner, they saw a big ass touring bike leaned over in a turn much more than it had a right to. I just grinned and asked if he saw sparks flying from my floorboards.
Quit riding about 12 years ago because I wasn’t enjoying it so much due to inattentive or malevolent drivers, and figured I could use the money from selling the bike towards purchase of an excavator. Still miss the scoot, but partially compensate by open-air motoring in a Model A roadster and Miata.
 
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