The Demise of Harley Davidson

B00ger said:
Not sure anyone here is trying to educate anyone on anything. You actually just kinda supported what has been said. They are dangerous, so people who don’t really want to get involved with it for that reason have a point. No one is trying to convince anyone not to ride, just that to some the inherent risks aren’t worth it to them.


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Master of the Obvious.
 
I've owned a Harley. '99 FXDX Dyna Super Glide Sport. I didn't hate the bike but it didn't thrill me either.

I was also riding a 1982 Honda Nighthawk 750 that I restored in 1996 at the same time I owned the FXDX.

I found myself wanting to take out the Nighthawk for a ride more often than the Harley.

Also, as has been said above, the HD dealers I've had the displeasure of dealing with were rude, obnoxious, and/or oblivious to you while in their store.
 
I had a fuel injected superglide and a couple of Buells, while non of them were bad they were just lackluster beside of my R1. That being said my next plans are to go to a Hayabusa.
 
Hell, why not...

If you think the youth arent interested in riding then you arent looking and attending events.
For a Harley crowd, I'd suggest (locally/NC) the SmokeOut event down at Rockingham Dragway. Its 80% HD crowd, and many LOVE the old Knucks and Shovels.

Harley's are expensive, no doubt. And they're more than the competition, but certain brands can/do fetch higher prices than others, how it goes in car world too. Look at a brand like Ducati, it's more than a comparable Japanese machine
And while we're talking about pricing - all the manufacturers have expensive tees ($20+). And if they could sell more and raise the price, believe that they would too.

But I'll question the comment upstream regarding the reliability of them. Not since the AMF days and the Iron Heads have they had the leaking oil issues they're known for.
With rubber belts which last for tens of thousands of miles with zero maintenance or cost (no buying a new chain or sprockets, just dont really wear out...sure, do 50k plus and you might need a belt. Might.). Self-adjusting valves also mean less maintenance.

Ive put tens of thousands of miles of carefree riding on HDs and Buells. From here to Sturgis. Twice. Here to Cali, up the PCH, and return home. Florida. LA. WV. etc
Ive been a lot of places on a HD product and had no issues. Check oil, add gas, ride.

I do wonder if the 'core' will start to change, or have started changing, since HD started adding liquid cooling to some of their 'traditional' bikes for a few years now. When Billy BA is going to get a new EG and it has liquid cooling then maybe he'll quit hating on the other liquid cooled models, like the VRod or other upcoming designs. Maybe.


Now, I do have complaints.
HD has the technology to put a bit more OOMPH in their bikes, but they dont. Which is something I discussed recently in a different thread. You buy a big twin, add a blower and then you make 100hp...dang. HD knows HOW to make more power from the factory, but they elect not to. They restrict the heck our of their bikes and that's a bummer.
 
OH, and dealers - no real bad experiences except when trying to order Buell parts from SOME dealers (some LOVE(d) Buell, some hated).
I really like Tilley's in Salisbury, Frankie and JR are fantastic!



edit/add: 16 year old GO on a 76 FLH. I learned to ride on the street on this thing.
Still in the garage at my dad's
dXF5Wu5.jpg
 
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ChickenHawk said:
He has a point. They have priced themselves out of the market. When you price things to where only older guys can buy something then the young guys will end up with other brand bikes that typically outperform Harleys. Once they get a taste of that they most likely won't come back to a harley. As others have said, the age of riders is going up across the world. I believe that is due to the image as well as parents telling kids it's dangerous.
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Yeah, his point is the same point he's been making for YEARS! Hahaha. Harley is going under, they're done! Cost too much, big, slow, pirate costumes, yada, yada...same ol... Somebody is buying them...
 
SPST said:
I am due for a ride to clear my head. You sound like a sensitive Harley guy. I'm sorry if I hurt your feels.
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Ask anyone on here who has met me. Im definitley not a sensitive anything. It's the internets, man, I promise you'll not hurt my feels...
 
LizardKing said:
Yeah, his point is the same point he's been making for YEARS! Hahaha. Harley is going under, they're done! Cost too much, big, slow, pirate costumes, yada, yada...same ol... Somebody is buying them...
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Last report I saw said the entire bike market was down, but Harley was hurting the worst of them all. If/when I upgrade from my current bike it probably won't be a Harley since I can get better performance and less weight through one of their competitors for less money. It will likely be more reliable as well as long as it isn't a Euro brand. Numbers don't lie.
 
jimmyjames8 said:
No, everyone I know who rides has gotten hurt. Everyone I know who drives has not gotten hurt.
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This is the only reason I would stop. I haven't been doing it long, but I'd say 80% of the guys I've been friends with have gotten hurt and I now have a 10 month old to worry about.
 
LizardKing said:
Yeah, his point is the same point he's been making for YEARS! Hahaha. Harley is going under, they're done! Cost too much, big, slow, pirate costumes, yada, yada...same ol... Somebody is buying them...
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Did you even watch the video? The numbers they used were straight from HD. Not enough people are buying them.
 
SPST said:
Did you even watch the video? The numbers they used were straight from HD. Not enough people are buying them.
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Don't need to watch the video. I'll just wait a few months to hear all about again from you...
 
LizardKing said:
Don't need to watch the video. I'll just wait a few months to hear all about again from you...
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I figured you didn't watch it. I can't understand why you would want to even look at this thread to begin with?
 
SPST said:
I figured you didn't watch it. I can't understand why you would want to even look at this thread to begin with?
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Just verifying calibration on my crystal ball.
 
LizardKing said:
Just verifying calibration on my crystal ball.
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You might want to take a look at the video. It was pretty interesting. Or you could just keep your head in the sand and believe that HD's sales are doing just fine.
 
HMP said:
Hell, why not...

If you think the youth arent interested in riding then you arent looking and attending events.
For a Harley crowd, I'd suggest (locally/NC) the SmokeOut event down at Rockingham Dragway. Its 80% HD crowd, and many LOVE the old Knucks and Shovels.

Harley's are expensive, no doubt. And they're more than the competition, but certain brands can/do fetch higher prices than others, how it goes in car world too. Look at a brand like Ducati, it's more than a comparable Japanese machine
And while we're talking about pricing - all the manufacturers have expensive tees ($20+). And if they could sell more and raise the price, believe that they would too.

But I'll question the comment upstream regarding the reliability of them. Not since the AMF days and the Iron Heads have they had the leaking oil issues they're known for.
With rubber belts which last for tens of thousands of miles with zero maintenance or cost (no buying a new chain or sprockets, just dont really wear out...sure, do 50k plus and you might need a belt. Might.). Self-adjusting valves also mean less maintenance.

Ive put tens of thousands of miles of carefree riding on HDs and Buells. From here to Sturgis. Twice. Here to Cali, up the PCH, and return home. Florida. LA. WV. etc
Ive been a lot of places on a HD product and had no issues. Check oil, add gas, ride.

I do wonder if the 'core' will start to change, or have started changing, since HD started adding liquid cooling to some of their 'traditional' bikes for a few years now. When Billy BA is going to get a new EG and it has liquid cooling then maybe he'll quit hating on the other liquid cooled models, like the VRod or other upcoming designs. Maybe.


Now, I do have complaints.
HD has the technology to put a bit more OOMPH in their bikes, but they dont. Which is something I discussed recently in a different thread. You buy a big twin, add a blower and then you make 100hp...dang. HD knows HOW to make more power from the factory, but they elect not to. They restrict the heck our of their bikes and that's a bummer.
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If they did that it would kill the sales of their Stage 1, 2 and 3 kits. Everybody I know that buys a new Harley puts one of the performance kits on before they even pick up their new bike.
 
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Sold my sporty two years ago. It was too loud and I just don't look good in the costume. I bought the KLR650 dual sport I first saw in the 80s. Now have two dual sports. I commute every day on a bike. 100ks miles and no accidents. Not even as a kid riding a mini bike did I ever get hurt. My next bike will be fuel injected at $1950 and will be delivered to my front door, shipping included. Edit: I'm 56 you can be fat fk on a Harley and get away with it. You need to try and slim down a but for a dual sport. It's healthier.

 
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The one thing that keeps Harley alive,is that regardless of where you ride, there is always a dealer fairly close . You can travel from coast to coast and have the bike serviced or repaired without deviating from your destination. I have ridden motorcycles since the 70's, most Harleys but also several other brands also and enjoyed each and every one. My all time favorite, The Sporster .................
 
Goofyfoot2001 said:
Sold my sporty two years ago. It was too loud and I just don't look good in the costume. I bought the KLR650 dual sport I first saw in the 80s. Now have two dual sports. I commute every day on a bike. 100ks miles and no accidents. Not even as a kid riding a mini bike did I ever get hurt. My next bike will be fuel injected at $1950 and will be delivered to my front door, shipping included. Edit: I'm 56 you can be fat fk on a Harley and get away with it. You need to try and slim down a but for a dual sport. It's healthier.

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You gonna ride that on I77?
 
HMP said:
OH, and dealers - no real bad experiences except when trying to order Buell parts from SOME dealers (some LOVE(d) Buell, some hated).
I really like Tilley's in Salisbury, Frankie and JR are fantastic!



edit/add: 16 year old GO on a 76 FLH. I learned to ride on the street on this thing.
Still in the garage at my dad's
dXF5Wu5.jpg
Click to expand...

Cool looking bike.
 
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Chuck said:
The one thing that keeps Harley alive,is that regardless of where you ride, there is always a dealer fairly close . You can travel from coast to coast and have the bike serviced or repaired without deviating from your destination. I have ridden motorcycles since the 70's, most Harleys but also several other brands also and enjoyed each and every one. My all time favorite, The Sporster .................
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I used to ride Sportsters until my dental bills cost more than the bike, my fillings kept vibrating loose.
 
I would buy another one just like it.
1985 RubberGlide. Much bling was added.
The FXR frame with added forward controls had more leg room than the Low Rider, Wide Glide, and earlier FL’s for us tall fellas.
A29D9C30-DFD0-4AB7-BE4C-F1DD7A29D1B0_1_105_c.jpeg
 
I’ve been a trail rider and a street rider. Love all motorcycles, even love to see a mini bike rode. Sold my last crotch rocket almost two years ago. I have never once had a desire for a Harley when I was looking for a bike. The Harley perception is mid life crisis, construction worker, fat guy, and end of days.

Harley has never, ever made an appeal to young riders in a serious fashion. You can’t throw out one Buell and change your image. The first time rider buys a 600cc flashy painted nimble machine. You have to brand yourself thru generation wins. I’ve never heard a young 20 year say he wanted a Harley since the Japanese bikes came to America. Harley will survive for many years to come but their customers average age will soon be DEAD.
 
Electric bike no one asked for check- adventure big ass bike no one asked for check- building crappy 500 and 750 street bikes over seas check check-choking out Mom and pop shops by forcing them to get new facades and showrooms check.
The ability to get any dumb ass 150% financed with zero credit if they buy the leather package and chrome package and maintenance package and extended warranty and glass coating and tire and wheel and gap insurance - well played.
 
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Goofyfoot2001 said:
I ride my tw200 on I77. This a few weeks ago. I hope on at 3:30 Carowinds Heading South. Prius tries to take me out at 6:40
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I know I already saw that. I would be scared to death going 60 mph in 80 mph traffic. To each his own, but I am going to be out ahead of them. Don't like tractor trailers and work trucks and everyone else coming up fast behind me. Be safe and ride on.
 
Try being on a bike with a top speed of 53 lol
You have to plan every ride to avoid roads that are 55 or over
 
I sold my dresser one year ago. Do I miss it? Yeah, a little, sometimes. I knew it was time to quit riding. Now that I'm in rural SETX, I see many, many good roads to ride and get lost. But, I'll have to ride those roads in an SUV, not a bike. I rode motorcycles, off and on, from age 16-17 up until 66. I made it all of that time without any serious mishaps or injuries.

2010 HD 1.jpg
 
Goofyfoot2001 said:
I bought the KLR650 dual sport I first saw in the 80s.
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So derailing the thread, but I loved my KLR650. 44k miles on it before it was taken from me... when dad crashed into me on his just-past-the-first-service Triumph.

A photo from the morning of the fateful day:

klr.jpg

I'm such a nice kid, carrying extra gas for the old man because his thimble bladdered EFI equipped high tech wonder can't keep up with the range of my IMS tank equipped throwback machine.
 
SPST said:
It's like shooting. If you don't do it very often your skills suffer.
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NKD said:
We know all the stats. We know more than you EVER WILL.
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Some years ago I had occasion to travel Tryon Road east/south out to 401. As I rounded the sharp curve just beyond Raleigh Golf Association there was an accident that police were working, routing cars into a parking lot and back the way we came. As I turned around I could make out a motorcycle down on the road just behind a UPS truck. The UPS driver had turned in front of a motorcycle and the rider lay the bike over - he was killed when the truck ran over him. I watched for the news and it turned out to be a late-50s eye doctor who was killed, and a previous gig was teaching motorcycle safety at Wake Tech.

So, yeah skills and vigilance. Sure, we'll go with that. Ride and be safe, just don't be so arrogant that you believe your skills and experience can save you from others who make mistakes on the roads.

https://www.sportbikes.net/threads/rider-down.2774/
 
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