They were building that with Buell were they not?

 

They sure were! And to think they got rid of Erik just when he was about to hit one out of the park with the 1125R. Erik was so close to "race on Sunday, sell on Monday" before Harley pulled the plug.

And don't forget the Ulysses for the adventure touring crowd. I had a X1 back in the day and even though the motor was still basically a sporty motor, the bike was incredibly fun to ride on twisty roads.

Let's not forget MV Agusta. They bought the Ferrari of sportsbikes and then sold them off.

I suspect that one thing that hurt the sales of either of those was that they were sold out of a traditional H-D dealership. I understand the reasons (or I think I do) for doing that, but it's those same reasons that kept many of the sportsbike riders out of the dealerships.

 

there is something I am not following

for those of you who said that Harley sales are down and they need to venture into other markets, like sport bikes, I am not sure I understand why

Harley makes road bikes, will making sport bikes help them sell road bikes?

does anyone have stats on how other road bike sales have been.

if the sales overall of road bikes is down, then that would not be a problem for Harley really.

making more lines of bikes will only offer more lines. why is it important for Harley to sell a dual sport. what overall difference will it make to Harley. Harley still has a household name. people see a road bike and still think Harley. I think putting money into off roads, smaller bikes, dual sports, might be wasting money that could go into R&D, etc.

I think another issue that Harley has is the 'harley' look. Harley is a v twin. yes I know they did make a single cylinder. but the look of a Harley is v twin. I can't think of any other motorcycle that is so linked to that look. it could be a bad marketing thing to starting to make a bike that doesn't look like a Harley.

when you see another bike most people don't go, wow look at that Honda, wow look at the suziki. but they will often mistake one of those other brands for a Harley.

point being, I just don't see that Harley trying to be something it is not would really help it out

that being said......................I wish buell had stayed around and I wish Harley would get back into racing.

 

BMW sells far fewer motorcycles here than Harley but nevertheless their sales have been increasing since they added sportier motorcycles to their mix.

"BMW Motorrad marked its fifth consecutive year of record-breaking sales in 2015, moving 136,963 units worldwide. That’s a 10.9% improvement over sales of motorcycles and maxi-scooters in 2014....."
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/2016/0...sales-in-2015/

 

Nope. But it will help them sell sport bikes. For money. And nobody who would have bought an Ultra something-or-other is going to buy a sport bike instead. Which is the entire point. HD needs to start selling something that does NOT just appeal to their existing customers. Everything they sell appeals to their existing customers. If they want to bring in new customers, they have to start selling something that appeals to new customers, and then to understand that just because they're selling something for new customers, that does NOT mean that the existing customers will start buying Indians.

Bingo.

 

If you check you'll see that 2015 was a record year for motorcycle sales yet harley sales dropped. If you dropped during a record year, imagine where they'd be in an off year.

And you need diversity. Right now the hottest segment is adventure bikes. So when the demand for big touring bikes may be soft, you can sell the adventure bikes.

Harley has one kind of bike - the v-twin. Everything they make is a slight variation on that theme. I'm not complaining about the bikes they make - I bought a $28k limited - they need to make more kinds to appeal to a larger number of people.

I'm glad to hear so many other people voice the same concerns about how the Sons-of-Anarchy model of marketing is hurting Harley. They're really between a rock and a hard place. They have to keep the old guard happy while attracting wholly new demographics to the brand. As we're seen, some of the old guard aren't too keen on change. They had to create a "Rushmore" forum because folks were flaming every rushmore thread in the touring forum.

 

IMO The problem is the pricing and to many models in a platform. They have tried what you are referring to several times with a strike out. Buell=bust and the new street is looking like a bust as well. the majority riders i talk to and read about say HD is to high priced and have the bad boy image. The metrics being Kawi Honda Suzuki and Star have cut the cruiser models down with some success.

 

Lots of interesting discussion and thoughts here.
I had no idea when I made the original post that it would attract so much interest.

Change is not easy for any old well established large company but the MoCo has to figure out how, and with what products, they can attract the younger generation

I think it's a must type of situation.

I am 66 years old and after years avoiding Harley like a plague (because of the image) and riding either uncommon bikes like Triumph and Victory or the Jap bikes I have ended owning two versions of Harley's most popular bike (FLHX) in the most popular color (vivid black) ...... Go figure .... I enjoy the comfort and "ride ability" of these bikes and have been pleased to discover on this forum and in my travels the vast majority of Harley riders are normal decent folk whose lifestyle is very different from the bad 1%er image that is often associated with Harleys

The reality is these may well be my last bikes so I am certainly not a target customer for HD

 

And to be clear, I don't think a single person complained about the bikes. We all seem to really dig the bikes. But are lots of people just like you that avoid Harley "like the plague because of the image". That perception is really something they need to change if they want to increase the customer base.

 

Absolutely. Best bike I've ever owned, by far.