Harley-Davidson CEO Resigns

[JayBros]

Matt Levatich, CEO of Harley-Davidson resigned Friday, 2/28 after declining sales and limited success attracting younger riders. Harley sales were down 5.2% in 2019. Source, WSJ.

[carbonation]

No surprise HD is not attracting younger riders.
They all want to be Ricky Racer, riding wheelies down the highway, and weaving through traffic.
The entry level 750 and Street Rod are not going to appeal to a young crowd unless Young Blood is following in Daddy's footsteps.
Once you get into HD territory, you've been doing this for a while, have developed a taste, and a discretionary income.
Maybe they could get a cartoon character or Amine to appeal to the youngn's. Worked for the tobacco industry.

[fatboy]

his name is Matt

[ARtraveler]

Interesting. The sales decline has been noticed by many. HD has a true following. But most are in their 60's and 70's now. The "new" offerings a 750 and a 500 are to little, to late. I do not see either appealing to the crotch rocket crowd. I already have a Kawi Vulcan 900...so I don't need one of those.

[Tango]

Sayonara! They have been losing sales year after year. Clothing is what keeps them a float. Having lived in PA., got tired of them squeezing the city year after year for lower taxes. And from the state, incentives to stay in PA.. They were real proud of their product when dealers were selling them for $3,000-$5,000 over retail. Screw HD! Let them go under IMO... Tom

[fatboy]

really tango tell how u really feel

[AVBIZ]

No surprise HD is not attracting younger riders.
They all want to be Ricky Racer, riding wheelies down the highway, and weaving through traffic.
The entry level 750 and Street Rod are not going to appeal to a young crowd unless Young Blood is following in Daddy's footsteps.
Once you get into HD territory, you've been doing this for a while, have developed a taste, and a discretionary income.
Maybe they could get a cartoon character or Amine to appeal to the youngn's. Worked for the tobacco industry.

I agree- Descretionary income and perceived value are key. Honda can get you rolling down the road for as little as $2500 (albeit a scooter) up to a $30k Goldwing. Harleys seem to live in the $20k-$30k rarified air - cant sell to the masses like that. Most OEMs are building 300cc-500cc bikes for younger crowd.

[ARtraveler]

$40K plus is where a lot of the Harleys are these days.

The Honda dealer here has a nice used Road Glide for $4,500.

[fatboy]

29 for a limited 44 for a cvo limited

[Navydad]

Sales are down for all manufacturers. Side by sides and dirt toys are what is keeping all the dealerships afloat around here. Can't swing a dead cat around my area without hitting a guy that is offering a great deal on his low mileage Harley and they still aren't selling so it's isn't just the price that's affecting sales. The same situation applies to all makes including Spyders. Nationally motorcycle registrations are up so someone is buying something somewhere, but not in my neck of the woods.

[Tango]

$40K plus is where a lot of the Harleys are these days.

The Honda dealer here has a nice used Road Glide for $4,500.

Harley trikes are $40,000! Not for me. Tom

[Tango]

really tango tell how u really feel

HD can go themselves! I had 2 different dealers screw me out of a bike when you had to get on a waiting list. One was a dealer in town where I worked that was taking care of the PD. The other, where I lived. They suck! I made a ton of money with their stock which was nice. But that sucks now also. Tom

[fatboy]

there 35000 for a trike

[Tango]

there 35000 for a trike

If you like black, ya. Add $1750 for a color like the 2020 RTL. And another $1000 for F+A. $37750. Then all the HD clothing you have to buy to fit in Tom

[JayBros]

his name is Matt

Yes, Matt. Thanks very much for the correction.

[troop]

Love em/hate em, they are still a 117 year motoring icon. H-D didn't/doesn't make anyone buy their bikes. And true, clothing/accessories are keeping many dealer's lights on, but NO company does it better. Hopefully, this tariff schitt gets straightened out, as H-D fought off foreign production as long as possible (and yes I am fully aware of foreign content).Hopefully, the upcoming Pan America and Bronx can enliven some younger millennial's, but most seem to be not interested.

[wifesspyder]

I think all the big bikes are hurting. Years ago the Goldwing was the main ride that you would see on the hiway when traveling. The local GW club here had over 200 members and was VERY active. Now down to a few old timers and and they go to meetings in cars. Two years ago when I took a long trip, the main bikes on the road were HD's. When it warms up here, they are thick as fleas and run up and down my road all weekend. I would hate to see them go under, and to wish them so is.......well. That would put thousands of workers out of work plus all the companies that support them with parts and so forth would dry up. It happened here when Honda moved the Goldwing back to Japan. I am seeing more spyders around and hope they can hang in there too. They attract a lot of old riders like me, who have gotten too weebly wobbly to ride a two wheeler. Price a GW trike sometime. Right up there with the rest.

[Stephen]

Way too expensive,

[BajaRon]

Never owned a Harley. Never wanted one. Some, if not many, of their riders are arrogant. But I still don't want to see them go under. I hope they can figure out a way to stay afloat without losing their identity. We'll see.

[carbonation]

I would hate to see them go under, and to wish them so is.......well. That would put thousands of workers out of work plus all the companies that support them with parts and so forth would dry up.

I don't want to see HD go under, or Honda, Yamaha, Suzy, KTM, Can Am, anyone really. Everyone needs to stay in business, it's an indicator of health of economy, and feeds the market with used vehicles for more to afford. But it is not the first, or second time HD business has slowed. When you limit your audience, you limit your revenue stream.
Go get the book "More Than a Motorcycle" and give it a read. A very interesting take on HD and one of their comebacks.

[HankD]

I rode HD Fat Boy models for many years when I was younger and loved them. I now ride a Spyder and love it. However, I did have the opportunity to ride a HD Tri Glide Ultra Classic about a year after getting my Spyder and absolutely hated it. It felt like one of the rear wheels was going to come up off the ground every time I went thru a turn. I'm guessing the Gold Wing trike is the same way.

[ARtraveler]

When HD introduced the Tri-Glide in 2010, I went to the HD dealer and looked at one. It was going to be either the HD or the new RT. RT won.

They tried to add an administrative fee onto the HD. $5,000...because they were in such demand. I walked...fast. I also did not like the ergos.

[Tango]

The one thing that are are still doing well is paint. Their paint is the best of the manufacturers. And when they were doing custom paints, awesome. Back in the day, Yamaha had a custom paint option. But they farmed it out to Bushtec. Tom

[trikermutha]

They seem to be lacking Quality control as the same issues with there parts keep coming up every year I noticed.

Take a look at there CVO Trike if you have 50K laying around it can be yours.

I know when I had my TRI the dam compensator never got oiled correctly even thou it was in a oil bath. Even after replacing it with there new and improved part it still didn't get oiled correctly.

Got tired of driving the tank anyway and that's when I came over to the Spyder.

[spyderwing57]

IMHO I kind of think Harley and Honda are looking at their Touring motorcycle crowd all wrong. Look at all of us that came from two wheels. We are older can't hold up the thousand pound motorcycles due to health reasons. we want to tour the country. All they had to do back in 2008 is look at all the hype the Can-Am Spyder created. I have spoken to riders that came off two wheels would have jumped at the chance to ride a Honda or Harley reverse trike. That being said Harley going after the younger crowd with the live wire is going to prove to not be what the younger people want. Honda is streamlining the Goldwing that helps some. But like I started with they would have done much better if they built a reverse trike.IMHO Can-am is much better for what Harley and Honda have done.