Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[FLSTFI Dave]

Average age of a Cadillac buyer is 59.5 years of age. (I believe that was a 2016 stat)

True, and its dropped four years since 2012 when the average age was 64. 

Not disputing Caddy buyers are on the older side of demographics, but they have been moving the age group down with the CTS and the ATS while the XTS, has a average buyer age of 65.

Harley has not been very successful in moving the buyers age down.

But the most important fact, Cadillac quality and reliability is going up while Harley's is going down.

[CVODON]

You guys that think the young guys don't want a Cadillac have not been to a Friday night street drags, either at the local track or on a highway. They ALL want a CTS-V (or a GTR). A lot of the local young dudes have one, most still driving a Honda or Nissan but they want  a V.
Cadillac is by substantiated numbers lowering its average buyers age and I agree HD is not. But HD's are a luxury and Cadillac is not (totally), you can use that Cad every day and all is good whether going to the store or taking kids to grandma's. Not so with the bike. Just saying we are comparing apples to oranges here. And I bought my first Cadillac when I was 52 so I assume I had some minor affect on that survey.

[Road Dad]

Not sure Hd quality is going down, it has never been good. Their claim to financial success is old guys that want to look like a biker. Younger crowd seem less interested in the Pirate look.

[FLSTFI Dave]

You guys that think the young guys don't want a Cadillac have not been to a Friday night street drags, either at the local track or on a highway. They ALL want a CTS-V (or a GTR). A lot of the local young dudes have one, most still driving a Honda or Nissan but they want  a V.
Cadillac is by substantiated numbers lowering its average buyers age and I agree HD is not. But HD's are a luxury and Cadillac is not (totally), you can use that Cad every day and all is good whether going to the store or taking kids to grandma's. Not so with the bike. Just saying we are comparing apples to oranges here. And I bought my first Cadillac when I was 52 so I assume I had some minor affect on that survey.

Bought my first Cadillac in 78, a 1964 one owner Sedan DeVille with 17,540 miles on it, I was 16.  It started my love of Cadillacs.  Drove the car for five years, had a 429 in it with a 4 speed auto, automatic dimming head lights.  Traded it in at the Cadillac dealer where it was first sold.  Was not my plan, the plan was just to buy a Firebird.  However Owner of dealership wanted my car, bad as it was the first one he sold.  I got a new 83 Transam for my Cadillac.  Dealer still has the car.  I have had a few since.

I debated for 3 months between the 14 Stingray and the 14 CST-V, ended up with the Stingray.  Either are a luxury item, neither are needed.

My bikes get used far more than my car or truck.  My 14 Stingray has 14650 miles on it, my 17 CVO has 18300 miles on it.  I had a 15 SERGU that I had 44,000 miles on when it was traded.  Put about 14K on my 12 SERG while I had the stingray.  So, I have put more than 76K miles on Harleys in the time I have owned my Stingray, and that not counting the miles on my 03 Fatboy or my 13 SERK which also get ridden. 

[moscooter]

 

"
My bikes get used far more than my car or truck.  My 14 Stingray has 146500 miles on it, my 17 CVO has 18300 miles on it"

 

[coloradotom]

When I started riding, it was on a POS AMF. And in those days if you didn't know how to wrench, you were screwed. There was no such thing as a cell phone. Nowadays new/young riders mostly don't wrench and even if they did, these bikes today are space-ships compared to bikes back then, plus there is a LOT more than can go wrong that will strand you. Back then if the battery went dead you just kicked it and went home, heck you can't even push start em anymore.

Now that we're back to AMF quality, and with a 1,000 more things that can go wrong, this doesn't look like it will end well for HD.

100 new models is on their roadmap? They can't even get things they've been doing for 100 years to work right and they're gonna send 100 totally new chitboxes out into the world? That's a stupid move.

[Toofast_28]

"
My bikes get used far more than my car or truck.  My 14 Stingray has 146500 miles on it, my 17 CVO has 18300 miles on it"

 

I believe there's an extra zero on the end there.  14650 would make it true.

[SBB]

I believe there's an extra zero on the end there.  14650 would make it true.

Dave gets excited sometimes.
I bet you are correct about the extra zero!


SBB

[FLSTFI Dave]

"
My bikes get used far more than my car or truck.  My 14 Stingray has 146500 miles on it, my 17 CVO has 18300 miles on it"

 

I put an extra zero on it.     Corrected my post

I believe there's an extra zero on the end there.  14650 would make it true.

Yep, and that is the milage, 14650.  Would be less but did a 1100 mile round trip for work last month.  Planned on riding but rain all three days stopped that.

Dave gets excited sometimes.
I bet you are correct about the extra zero!


SBB

You are correct.  Much prefer to ride over drive.  It fun to ride a slow bike fast, like my harley's.  Not as much fun to drive a very fast car slow....

[TN]

I'm sure Mr Levatich is taking credit for this. https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2017-07-20/doj-seeks-to-waive-harley-davidson-air-pollution-punishment

Still says the 12 mil must be paid, wonder what the real terms on that is?


I'm waiting for an electric bagger 


TN

[grc]

Typical CEO/politician BS, not worth the time it took to watch it.  Noted he made no mention of the number one thing he should be doing, which is to realign the corporation to make the customer the focus of everything they do.  In fact, he never mentioned customer service, quality, affordability, or any of the stuff that real customers and potential customers might actually care about, and seems to be focused almost exclusively on shareholders and short term results, like most CEO's these days.  And btw, isn't this the same guy who did such a fine job with the MV Agusta acquisition? 

I'd still like to know how a company that hasn't come out with anything truly new in a decade or two, other than the 500 and 750 no one in this country wants, plans to introduce 100 new models.  Obviously he's counting models the same way Willy G. did, every little styling change was a new model.  Sorry, but that's not a legitimate measure of new models.

Jerry

[Road Dad]

You gotta love how everyone on here seem to know how to run HD better that the current CEO.

[Toofast_28]

You gotta love how everyone on here seem to know how to run HD better that the current CEO.

Most believe (probably correctly) that it's not that difficult to do better than the current situation.