Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Millineals may kill off Harley Davidson

Well they didn't call us "Baby Boomers" fer nuthin', and lower birthrates since then mean a smaller pool of potential riders.

A pretty good article here states that overall, motorcycle sales have been flat for about ten years....

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-05/can-millennials-save-the-motorcycle-industry

...if Harley is only feeling the effects in recent years then they've been doing really well.

Hard for me to believe the Millennials are totally wussed out, heck seems like in that climate any guy going old-school macho would be deluged with more tail than they could imagine, access to women being a priority among young men after all (a major reason why I got into motorcycles in a big way, back then I couldn't afford transportation AND a social life, so had to combine the two).

I will say that it seems a bit off the mark to compare the old two-stroke "rrrring-dinnng" death machines to modern sport bikes. I don't recall that those twitchy triples with their narrow on-off powerbands, crappy frames, weak suspensions and inadequate brakes were copies of actual race bikes. Sport bikes generally are, at least incorporating racetrack-based technology, and have been simply excellent machines for decades now.

Birdwatcher

Good luck with that one.

First of all let us dispense with some of the more egregious accessories:

Official Harley Davidson boots - China
HOG Leathers - S. Korea
Official Harley-Davidson lingerie, t-shirts, bandannas, gloves, raingear, jeans etc etc - various Third World sweatshops.

As to the bikes themselves, Harley is understandably vague on the topic, stating that the 'amount of foreign-sourced parts varies between models and model years' (are the recent 500 and 750 "Street" models really assembled in India?). But as for those regular Harleys assembled here, its been awhile since I looked into it but I'm recalling....

Keihin and Mikuni carbs- Japan
Arai wheels - Japan
Showa forks - Japan
Nippon Denso electronics/wiring - Japan
Virtually all bolts and fasteners - Taiwan

Thirty years ago the rumor was that Gold Wings, by then assembled in the US, incoporated more domestic parts than the average Harley.

Feel free to correct me where I err.

Birdwatcher

Well, if Harley sales really are declining perhaps we can look forward to a day when virtually every decent and/or famous motorcycle road in America isn't clogged with slow-moving rafts of Harley Barcaloungers impeding those who wish to ride or drive in a more nimble fashion.

Dunno if I'll live to see that day tho.

I own a big bulky tank of a Harley and I push those self right-chase speed demon crotch rockets right out of my way if they do not know how to drive them.

I commute on mine no pleasure riding so if you can not keep up get out of the way.

I will pull over and let them pass if they come up behind me.

But it pisses me off to no end when they hold up a guy that wants to get through and get home.

Didn't actually own a car until I was 40, ate, slept, commuted and had sex on or around motorcycles for twelve years and 250,000 miles prior to that time.

Wouldn't dream of pushing anyone out of my way (as opposed for waiting for a chance to pass) and I got nothing at all against Harleys either.

Its when vast rafts of Harley riders as I described, often in stern-faced organized groups complete with such things as "Road Captains" and matching vests, enforce a sort of de-facto sedate speed limit on our best motorcycle roads that I can get irritated

In particular the effect on our Texas Hill Country backroads over the 30 plus years I've been here have been simply unreal. Its been seven years now since I last rode cross-country on a motorcycle (I do bicycles now ), but everywhere I went (including the Tail of the Dragon and Marcus Dairy), same story.

Birdwatcher

they made them too good for too many years. plus they got greedy and they increased production until the market was flooded. plus the price went through the roof even though they were never a cheap bike. why pay 25k for one when you can get a real nice used one for 8-10k with low miles? i love mine but if i ever decide to get another, i will be buying used. you really can't go wrong. good solid bikes. and if you have to ask why HD and not jap, well you wouldn't understand.

oh ya, and about the millenials, most of them are queers.

Bought a KLR and having a blast, cant afford a Harley without feel guilty about spending my kids college on a motorcycle. Even if I had the funds, I'd forego the harley and go hunt elk or sheep 😉

Used is the way to go right now. Honestly I want a triumph tiger XC pretty badly, but right now I can get around at cruiser pace for a fraction of the cost on a nice used Harley.

I will keep the harley I have because it was my uncles bike, but I will get that triumph some day.

All I know is that a Harley Davidson puts a bigger dent in a truck.

Subway, Uber, Lyft.

That's their world.

I preferred dirt bikes when the son was home. He enjoys road bikes now when he gets time. Seems the young folks around here either want a diesel pickup truck, or , a crotch rocket. Three of the "bumble bees" went zipping past here in the time it took me to read this thread. I gotta make time to drive the Dragon Tail some day. I can't fathom that it turns much more nor worse than some of the back roads and hollers around here...

I tend to have little interest in things I can't afford either. Harley is just going to have to sharpen their pencil and figure how to stay profitable till these 30 yr olds grow older and more financially stable.

Sure,
1- Official Harley Davidson boots - China
HOG Leathers - S. Korea
Official Harley-Davidson lingerie, t-shirts, bandannas, gloves, raingear, jeans etc etc - various Third World sweatshops.

That's bling and crap. It has nothing to do with the motorcycle.

2- Keihin and Mikuni carbs- Japan

Dude, Harley hasn't put out a big twin with a carburetor in 12 years, 10 on a Sportster.
Modern throttlebodys are cast and made in the USA. the components are Delphi as it the ECM.

3-Arai wheels - Japan

WTF are you talking about? Maybe in the 70's mags under AMF
Harley spoke wheels are hand made in WI with USA parts (except bearings)
Mag wheels are cast in the USA

4- Showa forks - Japan

Yeah? So what?
No motorcycle manufacturer makes their own suspension unless you count Honda owning Showa and Kawasaki Heavy Industry's owning KYB.
Harley Buells had White Power suspension. Made in USA

5-Nippon Denson electronics/wiring - Japan

Wrong, Nippon Seiki does make a lot of the gauges. Tell me a manufacturer of anything that makes their own gauges.
All wiring harness are manufactured in the USA. The components like Molex, AMP and Deutsch are standard in any car or motorcycle.

6- Virtually all bolts and fasteners - Taiwan

Pure BS, all grade 3,5,7 and 8 bolts and hardware are USA made and are of the highest quality in the industry. Better quality than anything I have seen on any Jap bike.

I'll add that the frames are made here with USA steel. Heads,cylinders,crank and trans cases, rocker,cam,trans,primary covers are cast aluminum cast and finished in the USA.
Crank,rods transmission gears and shafts, Some are forged here and some are forged in Mexico but they all are machined and finished here in the USA.
Sheetmetal-USA
ABS Plastic body parts are made in USA.

The % of import parts gets distorted when you have 350 import electrical pins and sockets along with the connectors.
When it gets down to the meat and potatos everything of importance is made in the USA by hard working Americans.

I’ve never been a motorcycle person. But, if I decided to become one, I think I would want one of those graceful BMWs that I see loners driving on 2 lane mountain roads. I don’t think I could get much joy riding a Harley on the Interstate like all the people passing through here this time of year.

Whakem, your list is pretty close but not far enough off to merit an argument. Materials Velocity Center in Manchester, Pa. is Willie G's best kept secret. There's a reason it was built.

My wife and I both retired out of York. (big f'ing deal lol)

Harley's are seen mostly as old fart bikes along with the sneering attitude portrayed by so many pathetic Boomers on this very thread. Harley tried to get hip with the V-rod and probably hoped Sons of Anarchy would give them a boost among the Millennial crowd but it ain't really happening.

Low tech, low performance and outdated styling that's hardly changed for decades isn't exactly adaptation to the market. Oh, and don't forget overpriced and overweight.

The younger generation figured out a long time ago that H.O.G. stands for Hairy, Obese, Geriatric!


Interesting sidebar, though: My cousin works for Harley and has been traveling overseas recently to places like Vietnam Nam, India, Thailand, etc. where they are loosening restrictions on bike size. Will be interesting to see if the Harley 'brand' can crossover there or if they'll try to come up with something new (Harley ain't known for innovation and they'd be competing against established brands and the Japanese in their own backyard).

Trying to find the problem with this

After many years with them and based on past behavior I'm going to say that they will fail to extract the full potential of that market but will instead fall back to a hugely downsized image of past glory by running a much smaller but profitable company

I ride. Almost everyday from easter until thanksgiving as long as there is no ice on the road. My preferred ride currently is a Kawasaki Concours. It's perfect for what I do. I doubt I'll ever own a newer harley.
-Jake

284,

Makes me wonder, though, how they'll be able to pull that off. Baby boomers will start dying off soon and, as others have mentioned, those younger people who do want Harley's are buying secondhand and saving mucho moolah. Isn't Harley unionized, as well? I wonder how that will affect any 'downsizing' plans.