It goes to show what I have said all along. What Harley does best is "market".

 

If you've spoken to any Victory owners, you will find that they are very happy with their product, as well as the service aspect. I have spoken to a couple of Victory mechanics at a couple of bike nights and they don't have alot of mechanical work to do, they say the bikes are very dependable and have few issues.

This is good news for Harley Davidson because it will force them to focus on higher quality and dependability. Not saying that Harley's are not dependable, but JD Powers does carry alot of weight in the industry and their rankings do matter to the manufacturers, including Harley Davidson. As I said, this is good news because Harley has to play a little catch up now. Good competition between manufacturers is always good for the consumer.

 

Well it all comes down to choice, Thanks to USA that we still have thechoice, It is like any vehicle it must be taking care of either by you or someone else? I believe the service side of industry across the board due to personnel issues are lacking wheatherit is your car or truck or returning any item you bought for any type of service..
People just dont want to work any more, and when made to do so if it aint theirs it probably not going to get done right...

 

Well, I'm one of those new owners, and I wasn't surveyed. My '06 WG has had ZERO problems, and is the best riding bike I've ever had. Notice that is not even one of the criteria. The survey is sure right for Yamaha. As for Honda, the ones I've had wouldn't stay tuned, and had clutch problems. I took the last one to the Honda shop to be tuned, then 2,000 miles later took it to that shop to sell on consignment. They had the gall to call me and say it needed tuning. I tried Victory, didn't like the feel at all.

 

Was once told a number can be read anyway you want it to read.

 

Im curious about the demographics and the number of bike owners in each brand that were surveyed. Might say a lot about the outcome....I will say I love my bike but a cheapo fuel gauge that fogged up the first time I washed it...come on for what we spend, at least we could get a sealed gauge..kinda reminds me of the clock in a Cadillac that couldn't keep time worth a flip. But still would rather ride a Harley than a metric!

 

I don't agree. The general public have to look at the badges to determine if it's a Harley or a metric cruiser. Sad but true.

I knew a guy who was looking to buy a cruiser. One day he told me he had found the perfect bike. It looked exactly like a Harley. The bike? A Suzuki Intruder 1400...

Every bike get stares, but cruisers and sportbikes probably get the most, being that they are on the extremes of the spectrum. My 2001 Yamaha R6 got lots of stares everywhere, people turning around for a second look etc, mostly young people (up to 30). There are so many people out there with different opinions on how a nice bike should look that you're going to get stares on almost whatever you choose, except maybe the most boring, practical bikes...