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[Twolanerider]

It is nye on to 3pm Friday August 3, 2018 and not one post has been made thus far this month in the CVO Motorcycle Discussions...

I've spent the whole month trying to imagine Hubbard on a big new electric Harley just like Slim Pickens at the end of Doctor Strangelove.  All whooping and hollering at all the sudden torque.  Right until he hits the end of the extension cord....

[SHRADER]

....bored?.....

I might be a trifle bored H, reckon I need to go back to fishing forums or start a thread on something...

[SHRADER]

I've spent the whole month trying to imagine Hubbard on a big new electric Harley just like Slim Pickens at the end of Doctor Strangelove.  All whooping and hollering at all the sudden torque.  Right until he hits the end of the extension cord....

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_k-bigpic/18n3toe8cshnkjpg.jpg

That's a sight to imagine ain't it...

Reckon by the time Harley goes full electric Hubbard will be hot rodding his Hoveround.

[VaEagle]

Ha that image looks more like they served burritos at the senior center and this was one of the tragic results! 

[SHRADER]

Ha that image looks more like they served burritos at the senior center and this was one of the tragic results! 

I never really thought about it when I posted that but Hubbard has been known to rip a goodun every now and then

[DesertHOG]

Maybe this would wake the millennials. Acquisition bait for Harley? How do you get a V-Twin on that thing?

[Rooster]

The second one reminds me of The Chair. But you had to pull it with a boat. Kind of like a wakeboard but up out of the water like this one. Anyway pretty cool.

[Cat Eye]

All

I just saw this thread and like you guys have noticed a trend with regard to participation, as well as the general attitude of the forum membership compared to the past.

I have ridden Harleys, as well as some other makes, for 45 of my 54 years on this rock. I even had a stint working for a dealer, who was a total a$$hole but that's another story. I think you hit the perverbial nail on the head with the thought that this general malaise is tied to the apparent attitude of Harley Corporate as well as a great many of the dealers.

I can't speak for anyone but me but I will sum up how I feel in one word "alienated". I would think that a 54 year old male would be right smack in the wheelhouse of Harleys demographic, and for a great many years I think I was. I remember back in 1991 when the Dynas came out thinking man if they would slap a wide glide on one if these I would trade this Softtail in in a minute. They did and I did. I was really excited every time I rode that sickle and as soon as they came out with a Twin Cam I got one of them too. Fast forward a few years and the triple red RoadGlide tripped my trigger again. Then in 2004, when I worked as a GM at a dealership, the Huckleberry came out and wow, had to have one. It took 10 years before I saw another bike that I wanted.

Now I look at the current offerings and think what in the wide world of sports is Harley thinking. I'm not talking just about the colors because I realize not everyone likes the same thing, but in general they are de-contenting the bikes and charging even more for them. I mean my Road King doesn't have chrome switch housings, bars etc, things that before had generally been virtually guaranteed on a CVO, and if I had not gotten a significant discount I would not have bought it...

Then low and behold the HD Factory guys show up at a MVGTG, in 2016 I believe, and the group, in a very polite and constructive discussion, points out some of the things that they would like to see change. The Reps agree that there has been a trend towards less is more with regard to CVO bikes and then low and behold 2018 rolls around and you can't hardly tell a Street Glide Special from a CVO Street Glide except for the 13K more missing from you bank account. It's ridiculous!!

So if Harley is still monitoring the site, and I hope they are, you guys better get your head out of your butts and start making bikes that fire the passion within your riders, and while you are at it stop this trend of corporate dealership types in favor of good honest owners that have a passion for the brand equal to the riders. At the end of the day, passion, or lack of it, will ultimately decide the fate of HD.

MoCo hears you loud and clear. But with over a hundred years worth of legacy bikes, parts and services, Changes happen in small steps. The M8 could have been a big step change but given the legacy design constrains, compromises had to be made. This was a evolution instead of a revolution!

Perhap, after we drop the Sportster line....more resources will be devoted to the other product lines in hopes to enrich the HD experience.

[Ironhorse]

Perhap, after we drop the Sportster line....more resources will be devoted to the other product lines in hopes to enrich the HD experience.

They should take the V-Rod engine and put it in a touring bike.

[phato1]

They should take the V-Rod engine and put it in a touring bike.

I said the very same thing back when there was a V-Rod. liquid cooled and seemed to be a reliable platform. Not to mention the fact the V-Rod was an acceleration monster right out of the box, handling...well it went fast  - in a straight line. I liked the night rod version with the slightly rearward foot controls.

[grc]

The V-Rod engine was designed for a lighter bike and for people who would normally be customers of the sportier Japanese brands that ran at higher rpm.  The existing engine would not have been a good match for a nearly 1000 pound Touring rig, where good low end torque is more important than high rpm power.  That's not to say they couldn't have increased displacement, up to a point, and gone with a torque cam and tune.  But it still wouldn't look or sound like what the majority of Harley customers wanted, and I assume that's why they never tried that approach.  With new sportier models on the drawing boards, perhaps there will be something they can use the Revolution engine in.  However, that engine wasn't cheap to make, and odds are they will find a less expensive option for the new bikes they plan to bring to market.

JMHO - Jerry