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Yep, this has been a known problem of HD for years. They have an expensive, less performant product than other bike manufacturers, but their shrinking clientele

Yep, this has been a known problem of HD for years. They have an expensive, less performant product than other bike manufacturers, but their shrinking clientele demands they never change. Any time they try to introduce something new their customers lose their minds as if it is an act of betrayal. It also may be true that their new products are half hearted attempts at innovation and rarely any good. They mostly live off of brand name. The correct move 30 years ago would have been to create a different performance brand and poured R&D money into that, but they were too busy with their fat margins to worry about that.

toomuchtodo 11mo ago
Well, I mean, they did. They built Livewire and spun it off with a SPAC (similar playbook seen with legacy auto and new EV efforts). The unfortunate reality is that, similar to AOPA and general aviation, young people cannot afford the sport due to confounding economic factors around purchasing power, disposable income, forward looking interest rate environment, cultural and intellectual interest, etc. What do you do if you build the next generation brand and product and arrive at a future that has no place for it? You've built a cautionary tale and museum piece. "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future." - Niels Bohr From a citation in another one of my comments: > More troubling still is the industry’s struggle to attract younger generations. The percentage of motorcycle owners under eighteen has collapsed from eight percent in 1990 to just two percent today. Among the crucial eighteen to twenty-four age group, ownership has plummeted from sixteen percent to six percent over the same period. These figures suggest a fundamental breakdown in the traditional pathway into motorcycle ownership, where young people developed their passion for riding and carried it throughout their lives. Multiple barriers prevent younger Americans from entering the motorcycle market. The initial cost represents a significant hurdle for a generation burdened with student loan debt and facing challenges in achieving the same economic milestones their parents reached at similar ages. Insurance costs for young riders can equal or exceed the cost of the motorcycle itself, particularly for performance-oriented models. Many states have implemented graduated licensing systems that make it more difficult for young people to obtain motorcycle endorsements. Perhaps most significantly, the cultural transmission of motorcycle enthusiasm has been disrupted, as fewer parents and mentors ride motorcycles themselves or feel comfortable introducing young people to what is perceived as an increasingly dangerous activity.
mikestew 11mo ago
The correct move 30 years ago would have been to create a different performance brand and poured R&D money into that... They sort of did that when they bought Buell. I don't know that they put a whole lot of R&D into it, though.
krn1p4n1c 11mo ago
Erik Buell tried that but wasn’t competitive vs the Japanese brands and HDs heart wasn’t in it.

toomuchtodo 11mo ago

Well, I mean, they did. They built Livewire and spun it off with a SPAC (similar playbook seen with legacy auto and new EV efforts). The unfortunate reality is that, similar to AOPA and general aviation, young people cannot afford the sport due to confounding economic factors around purchasing power, disposable income, forward looking interest rate environment, cultural and intellectual interest, etc. What do you do if you build the next generation brand and product and arrive at a future that has no place for it? You've built a cautionary tale and museum piece. "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future." - Niels Bohr From a citation in another one of my comments: > More troubling still is the industry’s struggle to attract younger generations. The percentage of motorcycle owners under eighteen has collapsed from eight percent in 1990 to just two percent today. Among the crucial eighteen to twenty-four age group, ownership has plummeted from sixteen percent to six percent over the same period. These figures suggest a fundamental breakdown in the traditional pathway into motorcycle ownership, where young people developed their passion for riding and carried it throughout their lives. Multiple barriers prevent younger Americans from entering the motorcycle market. The initial cost represents a significant hurdle for a generation burdened with student loan debt and facing challenges in achieving the same economic milestones their parents reached at similar ages. Insurance costs for young riders can equal or exceed the cost of the motorcycle itself, particularly for performance-oriented models. Many states have implemented graduated licensing systems that make it more difficult for young people to obtain motorcycle endorsements. Perhaps most significantly, the cultural transmission of motorcycle enthusiasm has been disrupted, as fewer parents and mentors ride motorcycles themselves or feel comfortable introducing young people to what is perceived as an increasingly dangerous activity.

mikestew 11mo ago

The correct move 30 years ago would have been to create a different performance brand and poured R&D money into that... They sort of did that when they bought Buell. I don't know that they put a whole lot of R&D into it, though.

krn1p4n1c 11mo ago

Erik Buell tried that but wasn’t competitive vs the Japanese brands and HDs heart wasn’t in it.