Harley-Davidson CEO Resigns

[2dogs]

My last Harley was a 04 low rider. A very sweet ride and very dependable.

[LeftCoast]

I'm neutral on Harley's not having grown up a biker but I hope they don't go under. They have a bit of a marketing problem that goes beyond price. Probably undeservedly they also have a rep for loud pipes (ok THAT one may be deserved) but also a bit of a "tough guy gang member" image that some of the clothing and riders personify. That just isn't the 20-30 yr old market the way it used to be but those are the folks you notice most on Harley's when you see one.

[Spyder Insyder]

I Have owned over 30 motorcycles in the 50+ years I been riding, starting with a Honda S-90. Most were Japanese bikes including several Goldwings. I sold the last Goldwing, a GL1800, about 4 years ago because I no longer felt confident touring with the wife on the 800+ pound bike. We sold the Wing and bought the Spyder RT which has been the perfect replacement touring machine for the Goldwing.
As a young rider, I always admired the looks of the H-D touring bikes but was put off by the outdated technology and reliability in those days. This was especially true during the AMF years. Then a few years ago as kind of a bucket list impulse thing I bought a used 2007 Peace Officer Edition Road King for solo rides. I found that the bike, while still over 700 lbs. handled very well, and the low end torque made it a blast to ride. Also the styling was very close to the Elecrtra Glides that I remember from my youth. I liked the bike so much that I bought a new one in 2017 when H-D came out with the 107 cu. in. Milwaukee 8 engine. I currently have almost 20k miles on the bike.
I think what attracted me to the bike, is what is partly responsible for the situation that H-D finds itself in today. For me the bike is a time machine, taking me back to 60's and the bikes I admired as a teenager. Young people in the 18 - 35 demographic just don't have the nostalgic connection to the bikes that my generation has.
I don't know what the answer is for H-D. If they try to move toward the sport bike market they will be competing with the well established metric brands, which have an extensive history in that market segment. Also, H-D would be hard pressed to compete on price with those bikes.
I did have the opportunity recently to test ride an H-D Livewire electric bike. They are crazy fast and handle well, but have limited range and lengthy charge times. Also, at $30k that is probably a deal breaker for most millennials.
Maybe the time has come for new management and new ideas. A large V-twin reverse trike?

[MRH]

I think HD is a bit too enamored with their image, which isn't anywhere near as appealing to a less brand conscious younger generation. They are going to need to compete on the merits with the other manufactures, and will have to offer something that makes sense to a less wealthy generation. "You meet the nicest people on a Honda" is going to be a more profitable direction than the image of outlaws and t-shirts with pinup girls.

That will be a difficult transition, if it is even possible, but I just have a hard time seeing millennials riding in large numbers, let alone flocking to HD. Maybe they should give up motorcycles altogether and just develop a really good ride simulation app.

[wifesspyder]

I stopped by the local HD shop today. As expected pretty dead. I gotta say that HD sure makes a great looking ride, lots of colors and the paint jobs are impeccable. I also gotta say that they are out of my price reach for sure.

[Tango]

I stopped by the local HD shop today. As expected pretty dead. I gotta say that HD sure makes a great looking ride, lots of colors and the paint jobs are impeccable. I also gotta say that they are out of my price reach for sure.

Their paint is second to none. But they have their problems there also. The factory just contacted my neighbors son to ask him to do their warranty paint work. Actually surprised they have paint warranty problems. Tom

[glennm]

I think HD is a bit too enamored with their image, which isn't anywhere near as appealing to a less brand conscious younger generation. They are going to need to compete on the merits with the other manufactures, and will have to offer something that makes sense to a less wealthy generation. "You meet the nicest people on a Honda" is going to be a more profitable direction than the image of outlaws and t-shirts with pinup girls.

That will be a difficult transition, if it is even possible, but I just have a hard time seeing millennials riding in large numbers, let alone flocking to HD. Maybe they should give up motorcycles altogether and just develop a really good ride simulation app.

Makes me wonder where the problem of change is. Maybe the CEO is banging his head against a brick wall that is the board. Wouldn't be the first time a CEO has had opposing opinions to the board and can't get his/her initiatives across the line.

[Raprider]

I'm neutral on Harley's not having grown up a biker but I hope they don't go under. They have a bit of a marketing problem that goes beyond price. Probably undeservedly they also have a rep for loud pipes (ok THAT one may be deserved) but also a bit of a "tough guy gang member" image that some of the clothing and riders personify. That just isn't the 20-30 yr old market the way it used to be but those are the folks you notice most on Harley's when you see one.

A related problem I see on the Right Coast is "colors"...as in "if you don't allow our colors, we won't be customers in your business (read Bars and Restaurants).

That being said, a lot of comments in this thread reference cost, e.g. $30k-$40k...seriously? When the newest RTL costs $27k, you're quibbling about 7-10 grand as though that is the differentiator? In a week there will be some post about the 3-5k worth of farkles someone added. It's not like it's stratospheric in comparison!

I'm truly loving my 2016 ST-S, but at 18k plus 1-2k in adds, it wasn't "cheap", nor did I expect it to be, nor did I buy it to be.

[MRH]

A related problem I see on the Right Coast is "colors"...as in "if you don't allow our colors, we won't be customers in your business (read Bars and Restaurants).

I'm not getting this, what are you taking about?

[ARtraveler]

I'm not getting this, what are you taking about?

You have seen many bikers wearing the leather vests. Usually a big patch or two on the back, the front having smaller patches and assorted pins. These are referred to as "colors."

There is a whole protocol among the biker gangs about them. Will not go into it here. Be careful where you go if you wear them. Us non-gang members sometimes get referred to as "posers" if we dress that way. One of my vests (my "colors") is in the Avatar picture.

[Geep]

I once read (not vouching for truth) that HD could quit selling bikes and would still be profitable on merchandise/licensing etc....that said nobody makes better looking bikes (chrome and paint) IMO....but i would never own one cause I like to be different....hence RT

[MRH]

No idea how I missed that. Thank you.

[krakum1967]

They have also consistently failed to attract, address, or contend with new riders, and their affordability? Yea. I have owned four, lost major money on all four, all four were performance disappointments, and I stopped wasting money on them, pushed one once a little too far, and I will never go back to that brand. I have to agree on the paint though, theirs is second to none. And I will admit the Softail Deluxe in Corral and Creme used to break my neck whenever I saw one in the shop or on the street. That was a pretty model.

[Tango]

All of their chrome is now Chinese, Taiwan. Shocks, forks, made by Showa which is owned by Honda. Cast wheels are made in Australia by a co. owned by Honda. Brakes are first class Brembo's. It's now a world bike not meeting USA made minimums. FI was Mitsubishi, but now made by a GM offshoot. Gorgeous bikes, expensive and heavy. Tom

[WisconsinDavid]

I'm a Wisconsin guy, a pastor, and a former parish was near the Harley factories in Menomonee Falls, WI. Half of my church rode them, many worked for them, so I would have been run out if I rode a Honda from my youth (not really, church people are forgiving, right?!). Back in the day, the guys and gals who worked at Harley could buy a bike cheaply and then resell it after a year, making money on it and rolling it over to purchase the new model to do the same with... over and over. That all changed around the Harley 100th. The 100th birthday was amazing - a sea of bikes - a parade downtown Milwaukee that had to limit riders. Everyone was crazy for Harley. It was a big party. I even got the privilege of marrying a couple on a Harley stage the weekend of the Harley 100th. Here was the problem: People who never should have bought big bikes without experience, bought them, tried to ride them and there were a lot of dead folks because of it. The next year following the 100th, most of those bikes bought on a whim to be part of the party, were up for sale... and the resale value on a used Harley dropped from a flooded market and has never recovered. A friend is an engineer there and I was telling him way back in the day that the HD nameplate needed to have an entry, cool bike at a pricepoint that the young folks could afford and wanted. Without that, with an aging customer base, bad clouds were on the horizon. So far that seems to be playing out as I suspected. Again, I sure hope some new vision can breath life into a declining company... there are lots of folks in WI and friends here, whose financial futures currently are staked on it.