Interesting article. I wonder what the median age would be if you could factor in used Harley purchases. The prices of these new bikes is getting nuts. That keeps a lot of younger Harley riders away but in the used market, at least from my prospective, the Harley culture seems to be young and thriving.
I’m 42. I bought my first Harley at 22 in 2004. Back then, everyone I was riding with was at least 10 years older than me. But starting at my early 30’s I noticed a lot more people my age and YOUNGER riding Harley’s. The last few years I’ve seen tons of young kids into performance baggers, dynas, clubstyle, stunting, etc. It’s not making any money for MoCo but many of these riders aren’t going anywhere. So I guess he’s right, people age into the brand.
Say your a Harley executive.. things a grim. You need to make money. You get stats on trends and what does and doesn’t make money as a company.. here’s your Delma.
if you build a motorcycle at $7,000 - $12,000 for the entry to attract the younger rider. At that price range your overhead is so high you barley can make much money. It ties up your resources to make the small percentage you can make in that segment.. Your buyer in that segment has a lot of choices from a lot of brands so now you have even greater competition. Those who really want a Harley can also choose used. The market is saturated with used. Folks can go buy a CVO Springer Twincam with 5000 miles for less than $7,000 if they search.. or pay top dollar at $10,000-$12,000. They can buy a low mile Road King loaded with extras from the previous owner for under $5,000.
You can’t manufacture anything to make money against that. If you do it will be criticized as junk and turn off your brand loyal buyers anyway. For right now and the next 5-7 years they are better off concentrating on the high end until the surplus low end whittles down some. Not to mention if they produce a low margin $10,000 bike some of the people who would have bought the $25,000 bike will choose the cheaper because it was an option. Gibson Guitar has had this problem. So has fender. Their completion is their ghost. The market is saturated and the clientele is getting smaller.
Ford did this… think about it. Arguably the greatest car company with the greatest heritage in the world.. the model A the first real assembly line.. the iconic manufacture no longer makes cars for the most part. They no longer try to compete with budget entry cars. Unions cried and abused them for so long they can’t profitably compete with foreign due to having to not only pay high labor rates but also get lazy non-loyal workers in return. So now they basically make a sports car and trucks. They followed profit to exist. I grew up around all the factories. I knew hundreds of GM Saturn, Ford, Chrysler employees.. I’ll tell you what they had in common.. everyone of them bragged about not working all day and not being touchable due to Union. They’d literally lock them selves in a supply closet or break room for hours napping or playing guitar at work. They’d brag about it. Then they’d go on strike. American companies are not only suffering from management greed… they also suffer from a very poor work ethic.
Where’s the family car? Nope many buy a compact suv. Where’s the college kids first car… nope buy used or foreign.
Last edited by Rains2much; 07-13-2024 at 07:15 AM.
This "old graybeard" demographic all the "experts" keep talking about aging out, dying out, etc is a misnomer. A cliché. Half you people that spew this $h!t don't even know what it means - you're just robotically repeating what you've read to make yourself sound cool and informed.
Human life is a continuous progression: old people dying off, babies being born, teens progressing into adulthood, middle aged progressing to senior, etc. There'll always be a "graybeard" group present. If HD wants to base it's future product line on this demographic, it better stop alienating them and get to work re-establishing a rapport.
Legendary American brand focuses on high-end motorcycles, but some say it isn’t cultivating the next generation of buyers. ’You get older, you actually realize it’s a really cool thing.’
"Dan Alsip was a teenager when he fell in love with the growling engines and radiant chrome of Harley-Davidson HOG 1.06%increase; green up pointing triangle motorcycles. He bought his first one in 1991, the year Arnold Schwarzenegger rode a Fat Boy through the streets of Los Angeles in “Terminator 2.”
“Only tough guys rode those,” he said.
Alsip went on to buy nine more, capped by his February purchase of a CVO Road Glide Limited, a $52,000 touring bike with luminous red paint, golden highlights and heated seats. He splurged on that hog because it will be his last: The retired metals-industry compliance officer is now 62 and says his riding days are winding down.
The question for Harley: Will anyone replace him?
The Milwaukee-based company is selling less than half as many bikes as it did during its 2006 peak. Harley’s portion of the U.S. large motorcycle market recently dropped to its lowest level since the 1980s. The stock, which reached $75 in 2006, has closed at an average of $35 over the past year.
Under Chief Executive Jochen Zeitz, Harley has cut options for entry-level riders while focusing heavily on touring bikes that in some cases cost more than a Cadillac. That has paid off with record earnings per share since he took charge in 2020.
Some dealers, consultants and former executives say the strategy isn’t bringing enough people into the pipeline as core riders age. In 1990, when the Harley boom was just getting started, The Wall Street Journal reported that the typical buyer was 35. Today, the company says the average age is 49.
That would match the rest of the motorcycle industry, but UBS analyst Robin Farley, extrapolating from demographic data the company formerly released, estimates the average age of a Harley buyer is actually in the late 50s—old enough to have absorbed the “Easy Rider” vibes of the ’70s. “I don’t know that there is the same cultural zeitgeist today,” she said.
Some younger motorcyclists said the brand’s chrome and leather image doesn’t resonate with them. Elijah Wilkinson, 31, a data analyst from Buffalo, N.Y., who learned to ride on a borrowed Harley Sportster, chose a Japanese sports bike when it was time to buy his own.
“They’re appealing to a very aged demographic that’s buying fewer and fewer bikes instead of appealing to millennials or Gen Zs,” he said.
Zeitz blames the continuing sales decline on high interest rates and a tough environment for premium consumer goods, not a generational divide. Riders 35 and younger make up a fourth of new Harley customers, he said, and the company’s research shows the desirability of its bikes is increasing.
The CEO said Harley is dominating the most-profitable motorcycle categories and has regained some market share this year with the introduction of new models. Its stock, though down about 7% this year, is faring better than that of some other power sports companies.
He is confident, he said, that the company will grow over the long term. Meanwhile, Harley will continue to ride or die with graybeards.
“I always talk about you age into the brand,” said Zeitz, who is 61. “You get older, you actually realize it’s a really cool thing.”
etc.
Interesting article about the brand and its future direction. The comments section reminds me that not everyone loves Harley or those of us who ride them.
Whole story is about grey beards but that’s a Gen X’er in the pic.
Say your a Harley executive.. things a grim. You need to make money. You get stats on trends and what does and doesn’t make money as a company.. here’s your Delma.
if you build a motorcycle at $7,000 - $12,000 for the entry to attract the younger rider. At that price range your overhead is so high you barley can make much money. It ties up your resources to make the small percentage you can make in that segment.. Your buyer in that segment has a lot of choices from a lot of brands so now you have even greater competition. Those who really want a Harley can also choose used. The market is saturated with used. Folks can go buy a CVO Springer Twincam with 5000 miles for less than $7,000 if they search.. or pay top dollar at $10,000-$12,000. They can buy a low mile Road King loaded with extras from the previous owner for under $5,000.
You can’t manufacture anything to make money against that. If you do it will be criticized as junk and turn off your brand loyal buyers anyway. For right now and the next 5-7 years they are better off concentrating on the high end until the surplus low end whittles down some. Not to mention if they produce a low margin $10,000 bike some of the people who would have bought the $25,000 bike will choose the cheaper because it was an option. Gibson Guitar has had this problem. So has fender. Their completion is their ghost. The market is saturated and the clientele is getting smaller.
Ford did this… think about it. Arguably the greatest car company with the greatest heritage in the world.. the model A the first real assembly line.. the iconic manufacture no longer makes cars for the most part. They no longer try to compete with budget entry cars. Unions cried and abused them for so long they can’t profitably compete with foreign due to having to not only pay high labor rates but also get lazy non-loyal workers in return. So now they basically make a sports car and trucks. They followed profit to exist. I grew up around all the factories. I knew hundreds of GM Saturn, Ford, Chrysler employees.. I’ll tell you what they had in common.. everyone of them bragged about not working all day and not being touchable due to Union. They’d literally lock them selves in a supply closet or break room for hours napping or playing guitar at work. They’d brag about it. Then they’d go on strike. American companies are not only suffering from management greed… they also suffer from a very poor work ethic.
Where’s the family car? Nope many buy a compact suv. Where’s the college kids first car… nope buy used or foreign.
Guitars, like Harley’s, are just not affordable in used form, and I never understood that. What makes these two things, of many, that folks don’t get are depreciating assets. Even maintaining them they become outdated. Then the owners act like they’re precious metals or some crazy crap. I personally won’t buy anything used for more than 50% of original price regardless of condition. The word used means something to me despite claims it adds value. There is the issue, people too stupid to know and pay because they can. Okay, another proverb, just cause you can doesn’t always mean you should.
Guitars, like Harley’s, are just not affordable in used form, and I never understood that. What makes these two things, of many, that folks don’t get are depreciating assets. Even maintaining them they become outdated. Then the owners act like they’re precious metals or some crazy crap. I personally won’t buy anything used for more than 50% of original price regardless of condition. The word used means something to me despite claims it adds value. There is the issue, people too stupid to know and pay because they can. Okay, another proverb, just cause you can doesn’t always mean you should.
actually many segments of music gear have dropped in resale significantly. Not really high end vintage.. but mid to low end gear is dirt cheap now. I watch my vintage guitar and amp values often. It’s scary.
This "old graybeard" demographic all the "experts" keep talking about aging out, dying out, etc is a misnomer. A cliché. Half you people that spew this $h!t don't even know what it means - you're just robotically repeating what you've read to make yourself sound cool and informed.
Human life is a continuous progression: old people dying off, babies being born, teens progressing into adulthood, middle aged progressing to senior, etc. There'll always be a "graybeard" group present. If HD wants to base it's future product line on this demographic, it better stop alienating them and get to work re-establishing a rapport.
You are correct, there will always be grey beards but I think the point of the article is what percentage of the people buying new motorcycles are “grey beards”. If your sales are trending down and the age of the typical buyer is going up… there comes a point where sales will drop off all together. It’s like the opposite of adult diaper sales, the longer the population lives, the more sales of adult diapers there will be 🤷🏾
I had a lucid daydream late in the evening while pondering all of this. It went sorta like this:
A mysterious majority group, made up of powerful stockholders and Harley and Davidson heirs and relatives, calling themselves "The Wrecking Crew", rose up and took over the company. Supernaturally? Maybe; it seemed so; they were unstoppable. When the current management team and board of directors came in to work one Monday they were summarily fired on the spot. I mean they fired ALL of them, right down to production line foremen, RIGHT THEN. Escorted the whole nose-ringed limp-wristed bunch of them out the door with armed escorts. They immediately set about to put pre-agreed-upon, clandestinely-hired, established competent enthusiasts and engineers who understood the brand, in for replacements in their respective fields of expertise. It was a quick Coup D'état, swift and heartless.
Suspiciously, all attempts at lawfare went nowhere - as soon as a suit was brought the antagonist DA and lawyer teams, as well as the judges, came down with serious mysterious physical ailments and most were hospitalized, requiring indefinite postponement. BLM and DEI activists surrounded the facilities, and attempted to wreak havoc by smashing windows, gluing their genitals down to the street pavement, Molotov cocktails, etc, but a mysterious intestinal ailment broke out amongst them and the effort just fizzled due to a toilet paper shortage.
HD's next moves were astounding! They immediately decided that they needed an event to shock the motorcycling world. To make a statement; "we're not going away... we're not ashamed of our heritage... we're going to fight to get our market and buyers back, and it starts now!"
It was an extravaganza! With the whole industry watching via live TV links, media vans, and quivering reporters, they moved a giant wrecking ball (get it?) in place and knocked out a giant jagged hole in the North wall of the current Revolution Max Sportster production building. Then they rolled the wrecking ball around to the South wall and tore that wall out. They then brought in backhoes and power shovels and dug a giant pit as big as a football field and 40 ft deep outside one wall. Then D9 Cats, lined up side-by-side pushed the complete building contents, clean down to the floor, from one side out the other into the pit, which was immediately covered over. What a statement!
[Covered and concreted over, the pit later became an employee rest area, with a bronze statue of William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson on a pedestal in the center].
But the most amazing things were yet to come. In the next year, the walls and facilities were repaired and HD put in a new modern production line. What did they produce? Exact replicas, authentic down to the smell, of the 1977 XLCH Sportster 1000!
Priced at $6000 out the door, it immediately became a hit with all ages of HD enthusiasts, from the young to the graybeards and everyone in between. Harley stock shot up to record levels and ....<POP>
...AT THAT POINT I SNAPPED BACK AWAKE. Could this portend things to come? Only time will tell...
Last edited by panheadache; 07-13-2024 at 09:04 AM.
07-13-2024, 06:56 AM
