that's not how public companies work. the independent directors on the board are elected by shareholders to represent the shareholders' interests in the company.

 

The exec. might not know "Harley riders" but knows how sell a brand to a diverse market and make a ton of money doing it. Harley has enough "Harley riders". Right now they need riders who may not have ever considered Harley before partly because of "Harley Riders".

 

A different younger generation. Older biker from the 60's and 70's are fading away. Too many used Harleys for sell.

 

I agree with you on the perception of harley riders. My son (25) wants nothing to do with Harley. He even purchased a softail slim to try it, for me. It now sits in the garage until he can sell it, with less than 2000 miles on it. He liked the bike ok, but hates the Harley culture!!! We wants nothing to do with the culture. From how we dress to ride, to the events we go to, to how we actually ride, he hates it. So Harley has cultivated this image and has to live with it.
However, the younger generation is also a different breed of rider, and it has nothing to do with Harley. Most younger riders I come into contact with don't really want to ride. And I mean put miles on a bike. They are shocked when I say i'm going on a 1000 mile weekend ride, or a 500 mile day ride, or a 4000 mile road trip. They don't want to put the miles on their bikes. So why by an expensive road bike. Buy a bike that they can trade off every year for something different. Also, they don't want to do charitable toy runs or porker runs, rallies or the like. They think it's a waste of time. Something Harley riders do often.
So I don't think all the blame can be place squarely on Harley Davidson and their "crappy quality" bikes. The younger culture is different, and metric bike seem to cater to that better.

 

New models to debut soon~

"Grande" will be the old sportsters.

"Vente" will be the Dyna (whoops, I meant Softails)

"Super Vente" (or whatever starbucks call their biggest choice) will be the touring rigs.

The "Street" series will be known as "latte."

 

OP by "riding" do you really mean sales?

 

It's the uniform and all the rules. The crappy dealership attitude and service, and the price. With all the used bikes at decent prices why buy new?

 

Some folks just like the idea that they're the first to park their tookus on the seat.

 

Yeah, I get it and if I had the money I would. If, on the other hand, my choices were between all the money for a new Harley, a lot less money for something else new or a used Harley? I'd go used. There's an *** for every seat and I can't help that they gave theirs up but I'm happy to take it!

 

Lets use "Harley Owners" instead of "Harley riders". If the majority actually rode, actually kept their bikes and and rode for years, HD wouldn't have many of the issues now facing them. HD has a bunch of wanna-bes. Baggers that never tour, cruisers that sit in garages and $40K CVO's for the middle age crisis.

Today's "rider" looks, buys, has accessories installed, gets a wardrobe, shows friends and families, sits at the bar with it parked out front, washes and waxes it and then sells cheap - 2-3K mileage. Sound familiar?