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[iski]

But no training wheels.

Ok. We get to point & say Lookit! when they fall over.   Maybe a Vroooom! sound generator for the new Energizer Bunny bikes?

While we are having fun spending the MoCo & Dealer money - another good idea would be a "Loyalty Discount".  Repeat buyers get $x,xxx off their next bike purchase.  Could stop some of the bleed off to Indian & other brands. 

Seriously, MoCo needs a better handle on costs.  Their assembly process could be streamlined, a good guess there is too much cost in overhead (administration) as well as manufacturing.  Finding that waste, eliminating it, and producing a reliable product at a more affordable price point goes further than anything toward long term viability.   

[J.D.]

Loyalty discount is a good idea.  I know alot of car brands offer this.

[SDCVO]

I think the MoCo needs to read this thread!

[kevin_n]

Not sure if I missed it in the article, but I think the price for the course is high. When I went to a class for my liscense 14 years ago the class was $250 or more at the local dealers. I ended up taking a course through the state that cost $50. I think it's good that dealers offer the class but if people are complaining about the cost of a bike why would they pay $250 plus to take a course? Not sure if any other state has a course but I know Wisconsin does.

[kojak]

Its not a Harley issue, its affecting all motorcycle manufacturers. I did my part over the past 40+ years by bringing in 12 people into riding and teaching them how to ride, lol!

[Ironhorse]

I did my part over the past 40+ years by bringing in 12 people into riding and teaching them how to ride.

That's all we can do, nurture their love of it, and they will come along. We need to make it a pyramid scheme. If everybody brought in two new riders, (don't care what kind of bike), the numbers will grow and we all benefit.

[VaEagle]

The trick would be to get to the kids at a very young age with dirt bikes and mini-bikes as well as creating good family memories on trips riding on the back of street bikes to foster a love of riding so it will stick with them.
They will need to love to ride and experience the sights,sounds and smells of riding to enjoy it for a lifetime to keep the sport alive.
I know members of a local riding organization who get their kids involved as much as possible on rides (not to the extent of forcing them to participate though). But one thing they encourage is to get all their kids when they get to the age of learner's permits, have their kids take a motorcycle learn to ride course so they will learn the dangers and vulnerability of bikes on the road and even if they never ride a bike they will be more aware of bikes and hopefully become better car drivers.

[Twolanerider]

I'd still suggest the MoCo incentivize dealership activity within their communities.  Make it free to high school students of age for a driving license or driving permit if they have a 3.0 GPA or better.  Discounted for 2.0 and 2.5.  Free for the kids of all first responders, veterans and active duty personnel.  Basically make it free or cheap for many.  Get the families in the door bringing in the kids.  Regularly turn over the training bikes at cost to keep the training fleet in better shape and have cheap first bikes to offer the new riders.  Set up trail courses with HD branding on every tree and curve and hole.  Go...... well.... it's asking HD to spend money now to make riders later.  So never mind.  HD still expects consumers to pay for the privilege of walking in the door.

[scottt]

Considering that I moved to BMW after 28 years on Harleys, I would recommend Harley does the following:

- Make reverse a option or standard feature on touring models. As riders age, it gets tough backing up a 900lb bike with passenger and gear. Once you've had reverse you'll never go back.

- Make quality job one. Drivetrain components should be engineered and built to the highest industry standard. Stop using Chinese crankshaft, use quality American made components whenever possible. Never outsource unless your doing it for a superior product vs cost savings.

-introduce completely new models vs changing one major component at a time. Better to redesign a complete motorcycle from scratch. As it stands today a 2018 touring bike could be obsolete in a year or two when the next frame is introduced. A new frame should have been introduced in 2017 with the M8 motor. The change should have featured the new M8, a new frame and suspension. A vastly improved total package.

-A power windshield on the fairing style touring bike.

-Stop charging your customers for features other manufacturers include. Example would be xm satellite radio. Should be standard if bike has a stereo. Include 1 year trial service vs 3 mos. GPS should have free upgrades like my BMW.

These are just some suggestions that would in my opinion really help. Doing business like it was 1995 will not work. Too much competition.  Most of today's consumers buy what's best for them, not just to be loyal.

Sent from my SM-J327T using Tapatalk

[J.D.]

For starters how bout:

1. When they inevitably f-up a component design admit it is THEIR fault and not the customer's, and then fix it right (preferably the first design change)
2. Stop introducing ridiculous caveats to void the factory warranty
3. Treat people buying $20k+ toys with some level of respect and not as idiots
4. Stop responding to any question or warranty claim as "that's normal, they all do/sound like that"

[DesertHOG]

I'd still suggest the MoCo incentivize dealership activity within their communities.  Make it free to high school students of age for a driving license or driving permit if they have a 3.0 GPA or better.  Discounted for 2.0 and 2.5.  Free for the kids of all first responders, veterans and active duty personnel.  Basically make it free or cheap for many.  Get the families in the door bringing in the kids.  Regularly turn over the training bikes at cost to keep the training fleet in better shape and have cheap first bikes to offer the new riders.  Set up trail courses with HD branding on every tree and curve and hole.  Go...... well.... it's asking HD to spend money now to make riders later.  So never mind.  HD still expects consumers to pay for the privilege of walking in the door.

You know, if Harley sold some off-road bikes they could have summer bike camps and get kids learning to play in the dirt. Get dad to buy that first 50cc to 125cc scooter and get them active. Unfortunately, Harley doesn't participate in that market. Maybe, Yamaha, Kawasaki or Suzuki will do it and HD can get them when they turn 40. Oh, that won't work. They'll already be spoiled by high performance, reliable equipment at a fair price.

[Robmay]

I don’t get the whole Harley needs to tap into the younger generation thing. A lot of folks, probably most, don’t start getting into Harley’s until they are older. For me it was after the kids were pretty much grown and we had a little more “disposable” income. The younger folks will do the same when they hit that era in their lives.

I bought my first new bike in 1991. A Virago 750 I think it was. Mama was not happy because the kids were all small and she was concerned they could lose both parents at any given time due to a bike accident. Kept it about a year and sold it.

In 2003 we bought our first Harley. It was an 03 Electra glide standard but it was used. Less than 3k miles on it and had Vance and Hines mufflers. We had been riding a new Suzuki Intruder 1500 for about a year. I still remember that first test ride! I blurted out “ Oh my god!” and my wife leaned up immediately and shouted “ what’s wrong??!” My replie was “it's so smooth!!”.

I remember how solid it felt compared to the Intruder. The absence of the metric buzz from my hands, butt and feet. It’s nostalgic for me.

I’ve tried other bikes along the way. A new Goldwing in 2006 and a BMW 1600 GTL in 2015. Neither gave me (especially my wife) the feeling we get when riding our Harley’s. Lucky for me the deal was we had to keep our Harley when we tried out one of these other bikes. 

I also don’t get why everyone buys a Harley and then wants it to be something it is not. If they did all the things everyone wanted, it wouldn’t be a Harley. And then we’d bitch about that (notice I said WE). Plain and simple.

I get the frustration as I’ve been there many times over the course of the years with many of my bikes. But...at the end of the day I wouldn’t hesitate to ride it across the country. Could it break down? Sure. But there’s more than likely a dealership pretty close by AND they either have the parts or can get them next day from another dealership close by as well. The guy that bought my BMW waited 9 weeks on lifters. Are there some horror stories out there about bad dealerships? Absolutely. But at the end of the day I appreciate and enjoy the look, sound and feel of my Harley’s.

I keep saying I won’t buy another new one and then I do. And so far I’m still glad I continue to do so. I say I won’t keep chasing the Tq and hp rabbit down the hole but I do. And I’m usually rewarded each time. I know you all feel mostly the same way or we wouldn’t be here, together on this site. That’s another thing. Because of the type of bike I ride I have met and become very close with a lot of you here. Even if I don’t see you a lot, you’re always considered family.

Rob 

[VaEagle]

Robmay I understand what you are saying and in many cases it is true about the progression of motorcycle ownership eventually leading to a Harley.
I look at the issue as sales are down due the aging of the Baby Boomers and the newer generations as not only being smaller but they have less disposable income to spend on high dollar toys and it's mods. So they do look for cheap ways to have fun and to some extent want a turnkey bike that they don't have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to get it to run right.
The reason for H-D to get involved in the youth is to help create the warm fuzzy feelings about the brand such as rides with their parents or the exhilaration of learning to ride and how it builds brand loyalty attachments. Otherwise if kids start with Honda or Yamaha etc. all they will learn about Harley is they are noisy and leak and built on old technology. Think of it as in the car/truck markets and how some people will only drive Chevy or Ford owners only drive Fords and those Prius owners who will only drive Toyota or another type of import because they are convinced American cars are junk etc......
I guess we all can ask ourselves "why do you ride?" and if you asked 1,000 riders you could get 1,000 different answers. Such as riding for the love of riding in general and they can see things they like in all brands of bikes and wish they could build an "ultimate dream bike" with those other features or they are happy with what they have now.
 

[Robmay]

When my son was home on leave this past November he took the riders course and got his MC endorsement. Once that was done we did some training here at the house for a couple of days going over controls, gearing etc on my 2017 CVO street glide.

Then we went for a ride. He on the SG me on my RG. He absolutely loved it and kept saying I ruined him lol.  Once he got to his new base in Hawaii he started looking for a bike to buy. He narrowed it down to a Victory Vegas that was for sale for around $4k. He went and looked at it, took it for a short ride and decided against it.

Then he rented a SG and rode it for 2 days. He couldn’t afford the a SG at the dealership but rode a couple of other models and finally decided on a Nighttrain for around $10k.

So for him at 27, the Harley was worth paying the extra money based on the look, feel and experience. He just purchased it yesterday. 



Rob

[iski]

When my son was home on leave this past November he took the riders course and got his MC endorsement. Once that was done we did some training here at the house for a couple of days going over controls, gearing etc on my 2017 CVO street glide.

Then we went for a ride. He on the SG me on my RG. He absolutely loved it and kept saying I ruined him lol.  Once he got to his new base in Hawaii he started looking for a bike to buy. He narrowed it down to a Victory Vegas that was for sale for around $4k. He went and looked at it, took it for a short ride and decided against it.

Then he rented a SG and rode it for 2 days. He couldn’t afford the a SG at the dealership but rode a couple of other models and finally decided on a Nighttrain for around $10k.

So for him at 27, the Harley was worth paying the extra money based on the look, feel and experience. He just purchased it yesterday. 



Rob

   Plus, he gets to ride in Hawaii!