I'm 29 and I'm about to buy my first Harley (picking it up on Saturday). I've been riding since I was in high school. Started out on a Honda 650, then goldwing (it was like $800 and I was in college), and bought a Yamaha V-star 1100 once I graduated.

I've always wanted a Harley, but let's face it they are not cheap which has kept me from getting one. Sure I could have spent $8-10k on a sportser, but I'm 6'1, 250+, I would have looked retarted. I loved the Yamaha because it was a big solid bike for around $5k used. I'm finally to a point after working for a few years that I can afford a Harely (or at least a used one).

I think this is the "major" sticking point for the youth market. How are most youth going to afford a $12-20k bike that will probably not be their first mod of transportation? We buy it for the name, history, etc... or at least that is why I am. There is just something in the brand that draws people in and makes them pay more.

That said, I can't wait until Saturday.

 

I agree...I think the bobbers are attracting the younger market right now, including myself, and when my generation gets older, I'm sure we'll be buying the choppers. It's just a cycle. History has a way of repeating itself.

 

Hey guys great thread with some interesting points. Here's my for what it's worth.

I don't think HD needs to go after the "youth" market because there simply isn't that much of a market to go after. In the US, a bike is the secondary means of transportation for the majority of owners. Yes, many of you are probably like me and ride your secondary transportation more than your primary transportation, but the fact is that the majority of owners also own a car. Most people under 21 years old don't have the money for both a car AND a bike.

That being said, there are a couple of things that I think HD should do. These are (1) enter the "middleweight" cruiser market and (2) raise the performance level (in all categories - handling, braking, acceleration, comfort, etc.) of their bikes to compete with the other big twins that are on the market.

Entering the "middleweight" cruiser market brings in what every manufacturer is after...the first time motorcycle buyer. Build a good first time bike and you have your foot in the door to build brand loyalty. These first time buyers are people with extra cash that want a good all around bike that isn't too powerful but is large/comfortable enough to go 2 up for a nce ride on the weekend. In order to include at least one HD in this argument we'll define a "middleweight" as anything between 900 and 1500 cc's that comes stock with a rear pillion and passenger pegs. Currently Yamaha/Star has 7 models in this category, Honda has 3, Kawasaki has 5, and Suzuki has 5. HD only has the Sportster 1200 custom to compete (I'm not including the Vrod since it's not a bike a lot of first time buyers look at or the XR1200 since it's more of a standard and you'd have to bring in all of the foreign models). The thing is that the Sportster is tiny compared to all of the foreign bikes. All of the foreign middleweights have the dimensions of the Dyna's and Softail's. The solution to this dilema is pretty simple actually...they need to bring back the 1340 and put it in the Dyna line to compete with the foreign makers for this market. This gives them a good middleweight that is larger than the Sportster...something a lot of first timers want. This is how you build brand loyalty. I know...I've seen a lot of posts on here where guys have started out on a vStar 1100 and gone on to buy a HD. But for every one of these people, there are probably 5 that started out on a vStar (or shadow, vulcan, etc.) and went on to buy another bike from that same manufacturer.

The second thing that HD needs to do is make their "Big Twin" lines at least come close to competing with the foreign makers big twins. Al of the "Jap" bikes and the Victory lineup have motors that make more power, chassis that handle better, and brakes that stop better. The reason that they need to raise the performance on their bikes is because of the amount of information available on the internet. 15 years ago (when the internet was in its infancy) a person looking to compare bikes would go to the store and pick up a couple bike magazines. These magazines would have maybe 2 road tests and 1 head to head comparison. Now, people have a lot more information at hand and can make better purchasing decisions. When I was in the market for a new bike about 6 months ago I had fallen in love with the rocker c...but I spent a couple of months researching all of the comparable bikes and found one that handled better, broke better, was more comfortable, and had an engine that put out almost 40% more power straight from the factory. And it was also $5,000 dollars cheaper. That bike was the Raider. Now, would it have been a different decision if the rocker was competitive with the raider in all of the performance areas? It might have been since I had already set my budget at up to 20K. But, the raider did everything better and the 5K that I saved paid for a year of insurance, new pipes, a lowering kit, AND 5 days on a beautiful mexican beach for me and my wife.

Wow...long first post but that's my 2 cents. And, no, I'm not trolling. I came on here to research adding a bagger to my stable. Looking at the StreetGlide and RoadGlide.

Thanks everyone and ride safe.