What Would Life Be like Without Harley-Davidson?
It’s a scary thought, but what if the motorcycle industry takes a hit and Harley-Davidson stops making bikes? What would we ride?
What if the unthinkable should happen? We know, it is unthinkable, but we need to give it some thought. Bike sales are on a downward trend, and the average age of a Harley rider is just getting older, which points to the problem continuing to get worse. What will we do if Harley-Davidson stops making bikes, or even goes out of business altogether? What comes first: Are we Harley-Davidson riders, or are we riders who prefer Harley-Davidsons?
We know some of you are probably already in the comments section or ripping this apart in the forums, but bear with us. We really don’t mean to be alarmist. However, fans of quirky Swedish sports sedans never thought Saab would stop making cars. Drivers of the Firebird, GTO, and G8 will still tell you Pontiac will be back making cars any day now. The history books are full of companies that once made great products but failed anyway after decades of success.
And remember, Harley-Davidson has flirted with bankruptcy in the past. When AMF bought H-D in 1969 it was because Harley was circling the drain. And that continued until strong sales of the Evo in 1984 clawed them back from the edge. In 2009, when the bottom dropped out of the bike market following the recession, Warren Buffet lent Harley-Davidson over $300 million at 15% interest (which was only half of what they borrowed that year) because no bank would finance the motorcycle company. Luckily, bike sales bounced back in time to repay it.
As we look toward the future, we must consider what our options might be.
LiveWire
What if the LiveWire really is the future of cruisers? Is it a Harley in name only, without the true sound and the fury?
No, we all know that any electric bike Harley makes is aimed mostly at new markets, and not the motorcycle company’s faithful riders. Not that the prototype, or the Alta electric dirt bikes they also now own, are bad bikes, per se, but they’re a different kind of bike for a different kind of rider. Granted, even if we aren’t too interested in these bikes, attracting younger off-road and urban riders is exactly what the company needs to do. Maybe those riders will mature and want a big touring bike eventually, just like many of us who had Trail 70s and mopeds as kids did when we grew up.
We’re sure some riders will enjoy the effortless scooting around that the LiveWire offers, but it just isn’t going to be embraced by the majority of Harley diehards. No matter what it looks like and how much torque it has, it just can’t be a true Harley-Davidson without an engine.
Continued….
