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[DesertHOG]

i' got a cts v  600 hp and zr1 and a air plane i'm 70 yr old,..... and a 43 yr old babe ,...he he he, and getting older

At 43 I think they quit calling them babes and they become MILFs. If not a MILF then a cougar.

[Road Dad]

You are my new hero Sir!!  Enjoy life.

i' got a cts v  600 hp and zr1 and a air plane i'm 70 yr old,..... and a 43 yr old babe ,...he he he, and getting older

[Road Dad]

So if you read ALL the posts who started it??  I merely commented back on his comment b

People sure are sensitive on this forum. You guys should try ADV. I guess it's a big difference in riders between the two forums so the tone are different.

RWe have rules of posting on the site newbie. You need to read them and respect them.
Maybe after you've been here a few years and know people in person you've earned the right to be rude on occasion but with 42 posts under your belt, you're pushing it. Read the site dude. You won't find people with 10,000 posts going after me personally because I question a post they make.

B B

[J-Carr]

I see this as a problem H-D has had for many years.....They sell themselves as a part of history and tradition that the baby boomers can appreciate but not the younger people. There is no "early start" program to get the H-D make ingrained into the hearts and minds of non-riding youth.
They need to have H-D dirt/youth sized bikes along with youth "learn to ride" programs, maybe even a juvenile division to HOG. I also this may be sacrilege but maybe more family friendly events for kids and spouses as opposed to "beer and boobs"? How about junior classes at bike shows for kids and young adults.
I know the large antique/hot rod car shows will have things like model building classes and judging for kids too young to own or drive a car.
Until you sell someone on the idea that a motorcycle is more of a lifestyle then an expensive hobby that is only used part-time you may have trouble selling them on tying up so much of their income/savings on something as expensive as a Harley when they can buy something like an import bike for less money, more performance and less modification to "get it to run right" off the showroom floor. So once a young person buys another brand they may be hard to get to change to H-D.
As far as spending money on a truck, I bet most people would look at it as a practicality thing depending on their lifestyle and usage. I'm sure location/weather could come into play too. Assuming $50,000 spent on a truck that could be used more days a year for more purposes and more people vs. same money for a bike that is not as versatile and roomy and for most people wouldn't be used as many days a year. (I know there are some that use a bike for primary daily transportation but I bet it is a small percentage of motorcycle owners.)

Hit the nail on the head.  In our group, my son, who rides a V-Rod at 20 (Started at 16 on it - never bet your kid he can't make 12 years on honor roll) is the only one in his age range who does other than the dealers kid.  He can't afford anything new than a 2010 Escape.  He's in the Coast Guard so he does have a good job but just starting out its expensive to get everything else you need in life.  The Street series would be more affordable for him if I hadn't paid up and bought him the V-Rod.

Why has he always wanted a HD?  Because he starting riding on mine at 2.  He grew up with it.  It's his lifestyle because of it.  He actually got married at one of our HOG meetings.  Obviously that's pretty rare.  And even he didn't want an old led sled cruiser, hence the V-Rod (Porsche). Why don't any of his friends want HD?  Cause they grew up on Honda and Yamahas.  The rich kids got KTMs.  Then they got sport bikes.  And their dads who are now too old for sport bikes got Vulcans and Boulevards because they either had no brand loyalty and just wanted a bike, not a lifestyle, or they wanted a better quality machine for less money.

Many progress from Dirt, to Crotch Rocket, to Cruiser.  You need to have a viable alternative through all those markets to attract enough young people to stay viable yourself.  Either that or you go back to 1990 and only make half the bikes that people want and become a boutique brand.

And painting everything black is just becoming a joke, not an attraction for young people.  You ever see a crotch rocket crowd?  There's more color there than at a modern art gallery.

[iski]

The MOCO's marketing department needs to hire more women to flash Harley riders.

Yes.

[Para Bellum]

The Street models are HD's way of trying to catch 'em young and build some brand loyalty.  They're cheap(er) than Twin Cams and made for the shorter rides the in-city millennials do.

At 2014 Sturgis I test rode the Indian Scout and compared it to the Street 750.  Not a direct comparo, since the Scout is several $thou more, but disregarding the $ and engine difference (69 ci Indian, 46 ci HD), several things are obvious just when looked at in the showroom:  The Scout is top-notch in fit, finish, and design, and comes in 4 colors for the same price.  The Street  wants $300 extra for color paint, wiring harness at the neck is fugly, and the horn looks like someone forgot to include one on the original design, so they just threw it on at the last minute.  Looks like cr@p.

My point is that HD isn't going to win any brand loyalty with poor quality, nickel-and-dime philosophy, and poor service after the sale.  A legacy of resting on their past glory might not bring people in or back.  And when some of HD's most avid customers are switching to an entirely after-market crate engine, or dumping everything in the engine except the cases, or buying multi-$thousand extended service plans on a $40 K bike because it's a good bet the stock engine won't last 40K miles (who would accept that from a $10K car?), it tells you their stock price won't hold its value in the coming years.

[VaEagle]

In early articles there was talk of the Street line being more for overseas sales in countries that have growing economies yet they are aren't used to large displacement bikes in their congested cities, places like India and China. With talks of assembly plants in those countries to boost presence and sales too. If the MOCO does make it into those countries firmly then I would think the stock price will be fine. Maybe they are thinking on a global level and not just U.S.A. to survive?
I also wonder if us site members and those on other boards might be getting an altered image of things because of all the posting of problems so that is all we see....
Face it, how often does someone post and say " I rode my bike today and nothing broke!" so maybe we don't read about all the happy riders? It would be nice to read an independent poll about total number of bikes and how many actually break down. Maybe to balance things we need posts like those with many miles on their bike without problems etc.?

[grandpadoc]

I'm proud to say that my son has most of my former toys and cherishes them. He and his friends ride old used Harleys and can't see the point of buying new ones when there are so many used, low mile, prestine bikes around in SoCal. Us old Boomers just buy, consume, and discard premium stuff like its disposable and there is a whole generation of kids that recycle, repurpose, and thrive on our bad habits.
We live in a destination recreation area and what I see is young guys with prestine 60K trucks that they paid 20K for used. 90K boats they paid 15-25K for used and 60K custome used bikes the pay 10K for. There were two boats on my beach last night with a swarm of young guys and babes and the boats were late 70's big block river boats. So I guess the mind set these days for youngsters is buy quality, buy cheap, and enjoy.   

[Chains]

My son went to a Harley after grinding his butt into the ground on his ninja.  Finally got smart, like Lou's son he rides older bikes that he builds in his body shop.  Seriously doubt if he would ever buy a new one unless it was wrecked then he would rebuild it to his style.  Does the same with cars and trucks.

[Streetglide1]

The Hd dealers have a lot of young riders in this area. The CTS Caddy purty popular also.

[RGlideKid]

The world today is a rapidly changing environment for any business, much less one that sells high-end products.  Harley said they saw hard times ahead so they came out with the Rushmore program.  I don't know if it was more hype than real change, but I do like many of the "new" things I've seen incorporated into their bikes.  I am fearful that now that they've come out with Rushmore, they will sit back and relax again, hoping for the revenue to just rush right on in.  I think that would be a huge mistake for them.  I think Rushmore just scratched the surface, and that if they let it die, it will go worse for them than if they were to admit they "still had a long way to go" and were still yearning for advice from owners.
I also think they could do better with listening to both the drivers and riders of their bikes, and I think they would do much better business if they would work harder with the dealers to where they would become special places where owners and potential customers want to be, want to visit, and want to spend money at.
There are some dealers that are like that, but there are many more who just don't seem to get it - for whatever the reason.
I think Victory went overboard with their plastic spaceship bikes, but then were they just being smart?  Were they trying to capture a market niche that Harley didn't "own"? 
I don't know if crotch rockets are the answer for Harley, or something that looks more modern or young, but one thing's for certain.  The baby boomers are going to fade away eventually to be replaced by whatever comes after us.  And the economic situation in this country will be even more challenging to stay afloat in without us.

[HUBBARD]

So if you read ALL the posts who started it??  I merely commented back on his comment b

People sure are sensitive on this forum. You guys should try ADV. I guess it's a big difference in riders between the two forums so the tone are different.

Hehehe.  Not the ones that are still here!  Better eat plenty of Trout before getting into a battle of the minds with BB, there Sarge.     Later--HUBBARD

[Dr.D]

I got it! The MoCo needs to market the new bikes as mobile extensions of a smart phone and have all the new cool apps that keep these young-uns texting and playing phone all the time. Maybe they could play video games about riding while riding.

[J-Carr]

That's just it.  For the current HD Demographic and the idiots who run the place trying to navigate the new menu system while figuring out what you can do on the bars vs what you need to touch the screen for is a video game.  They just don't understand why the kids aren't playing.

I scored 53 points on my buddies street glide.  Or I routed myself 53 miles out of the way on a ride.... I'm still not exactly sure.     

[Mach]

At 35 I'm classified as a white collar worker.  I find 2% of motorcycling women attractive excluding PAID talent.  My GF nor NONE of the women I hang out with find Harleys guys attractive.  Yeah they might think it's badass but you will NEVER catch them at a rally or bike night regularly.

If you attract women, they will come.

I'm not throwing stones this is just reality for me and most of the other white collar workers I'm with.  Seriously guys, my friend was showing me his new Honda Fit.  I just said looks nice.  What am I suppose to say, I have and F-250 and a Harley.