So now they are testing the waters with a factory ordered bike with build options for the Sportster only. IMO they missed the mark with the Sportster. http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US...bmLocale=en_US I would bet most Sportster buyers do not order their bike but buy what is available. Had they done this with other models I would have bought in and saved the labor costs when I bought. I do want them to expand this to the other models. Your thoughts?

 

This very thing has been discussed in the CVO section, although nobody seemed to know HD was actually doing it.

Doesn't make sense to offer the customization only for the least expensive model they produce. If anything, the top-of-the-line models should have this option.

I like it & think it makes a lot of sense. There are guys out there who would love to finance a new bike that's been customized to their tastes, and also guys out there who would be willing to pay serious big money for a 1-off factory custom.

Plus, it would be neat to see what HD could come up with.

 

If they can offer it on other models and still retain profitability... why not? It saves the buyer the cost of buying twice, and provides an additional source of revenue for the MoCo. Of course, anything from the factory will never truely be "custom." Still, it will appeal to some people,

 

Honestly if you were going to change all that stuff anyway, why not have them deliver the thing the way that you want it in the first place?

 

I agree that this is long overdue for HD. I think they have been missing out on the $$ with this type of program for a long time. No the CVO isnt enough as has been stated in other forums.
I want a program where I can go watch my bike being made, order what I want on it, special treatment, pick my bike up in the museum, etc... there are those of us that would be willing to shill out the money for that type of bike.

I did this with my last vette and it was an unbelievable feeling going to the factory to watch vettes made, see my car in the museum and have it roped off with me in the roped off area and people asking if that was my vette... Chevy also has a program where you can go and actually watch YOUR vette going down the assembly line.

 

This program would probably work really well if they offered it on the dyna or touring lines. These are the bike I see the most heavily customized. For the softails I suppose they could just offer a lowered bar hopper and a dripping chrome throwback model and that would be fine

 

Yes the MoCo should expand this idea to other models. The personal computer industry has done this for years allowing customers to tailor a computer to their liking, so why not do it in the motorcycling industry? Just makes sense.

 

One would think HD makes more money selling a touring bike, dyna, softtail like they do and then selling you MORE stuff to customize it. They probably went with the Sportster because that might be the least customized bike they produce. Just a thought.

 

I don't plan on buying any new motorcycle any time soon, especially a brand new one. But, I'd really like them to extend this to more models, it would make me look harder at buying a brand new one down the road.

 

I'd like to see it expanded to the softails or more.