I think I did a very poor job in an earlier post explaining exactly what I think H-D should do. When I mentioned the things the auto industry did to improve comfort and ergonomics for their customers, I was just trying to illustrate the point that some manufacturer's actually think about and act on those things. I didn't really expect Harley to offer eight way adjustable seats. On the other hand, adjustable windshields are offered by more than one motorcycle company, so I can't understand why Harley can't do that. And I had a Honda back in the 1980's that had individually adjustable handlebars, so I would think that even the engineering school dropouts in Milwaukee could have come up with something in the intervening thirty years if management actually cared about such things.
As for the seat issues, I have a very simple answer that Harley could use to let customers chose seats that fit them. They currently offer Reach seats, Tallboy seats, and of course the standard seats. So if we assume they could never figure out how to make an adjustable seat, perhaps they could offer a simple option to have the dealer install one of the three available seats at the time of delivery at no additional charge. This would help eliminate the huge inventory of seats collecting dust in basements and garages and sheds all across the country, and would save the average Harley rider about $300-$400. Once again, this is not a new concept, it's been used in my old industry for things like audio systems. We offered what was called the radio prep package, whereby we built the car or truck with all the wiring and speakers installed but didn't install a head unit. The dealerships had an inventory of all the optional choices on hand, and at the time of sale the customer could choose the radio he wanted and the dealership would just connect the wires and slip it in place. There is absolutely no reason why a company like Harley couldn't do the same thing with something like a seat.
Anyhow, I haven't seen any evidence so far that management at Harley really cares about making things easier and less expensive for the customers. But if they have a change of heart, and if they happen to read this post, they are welcome to use my idea.
I apologize if my many mentions of how we did it in the auto industry bothers anyone. I just figure they are somewhat related industries, and Harley has already borrowed many components and production/marketing ideas from the auto industry, so why not look at a few of the other customer friendly things as well.
Jerry