Here's the deal: I think Harley's are over-priced - SE bikes are really over-priced. Has that stopped me from buying them........No!
The truth of the matter is that beancounters, corporate suits, or what ever you want to call them with HD apparently don't know their customers very well. Even though my SEUC was over-priced, I would have felt better about spending a few extra $$$$ to get a more durable & dependable scooter. No Joke!.....When you spend $35K on what is for most (if not all) of us a recreational vehicle, what is a few thousand more, if you are getting quality that you can feel good about
Sorry, we got a bit distracted there.
I would propose that HD knows their customers VERY well. The vast majority of the people on this site, don't represent HD's average customers. We are above average.

We ride our bikes, we work on our bikes, and we hang out with people who do the same. We know more about these bikes than all most everyone working at the local dealerships.
I'd guess that the average Harley owner puts about 2k miles a year on their bike. Almost all of those miles being local trips and sunday rides. How many bikes do you see on ebay that are 5 years old and have 4k miles or less on them. And they proudly announce that the bike "has never seen rain." WTF

Harley realized years ago that even their touring bikes don't need to be touring bikes, just bar hoppers. Thus we get bikes filled with parts not designed to hold up to the wear and tear people like us put on them. CVO bikes aren't more expensive because they are more durable or dependable. They just have a bigger engine and more shinny stuff.
I get more surveys from Harley than any other company I have ever dealt with. They know their customers, we're just not the customer they are building bikes for. We're the 5% of customers that they are willing to put up with, only because they are making so damn much money on the other 95%.
JMO. I could be wrong. I am not yet a Yoda Master of Sarcasm.