Article on the woes of the motorcycle's industry

[JackB]

Here is a good article about the state of the motorcycle industry
Mostly HD and Indian
http://moto-emag.com/indian.htm

[53driver]

My HD stock is back down to lower $40s from mid $50s.

[opas ride]

Here is a good article about the state of the motorcycle industry
Mostly HD and Indian
http://moto-emag.com/indian.htm

Nice "old" article...It was published over a year ago and according to the market, sales on motorcycles have gotten much worse for Indian and Harley....The nicest and most up-to-date dealer in my area was an Victory/ Indian dealership owned by Roger Penske's team...Great service, talented techs, and a beautiful store....Closed last week for good due to poor sales!!!....What a shame....Regards

[olegoat345]

Yep article is a year old.
My G/F rode HD's for several decades. Her last HD was a "SwitchBack" terrible brakes, rough ride, top heavy, in the shop several times.
Indian was giving big $$ on HD's trade in's. She bit on a Scout. She loves it, rides it hard, it handles great, no warranty issues, no problems at all. She dropped some serious $$$ to "make it hers", it looks "special" she's done a great job with it.
I had a new '16 Chief, rode it 500-600 miles, then test rode a "B." Brought a great used '13 "B" from a forum member. The Chief had to go. Only lost $1,000 on it. Rest is history.

[VStarRider]

...yet each manufacturer seems to be building a bike that goes after a segment of the HD/Indian buyer.

Yamaha has the Eluder and Star Venture.
BMW has the Grand America
Suzuki and Kawi haven't updated their big twins, but still offer several cruiser and/or tourer models
Moto-Guzzi has a cruiser
and several others I am sure I cannot think of.

The market research folks at these large manufacturers are not idiots. What are they seeing when this article is just one of many noting the decline of this segment of the bike industry?

For the record, the long term trend for the snowmobile industry is a slow decline as well.

[tenxxx]

The millennial's are just not that interested in the sport, and sales are showing the decline.
They want electronic gadgets. Put more technology in bikes to make life easer to get their attention?
With traffic as wild as it is now, the decline could continue.
Hard core riders like us just art being bread anymore.

[opas ride]

The millennial's are just not that interested in the sport, and sales are showing the decline.
They want electronic gadgets. Put more technology in bikes to make life easer to get their attention?
With traffic as wild as it is now, the decline could continue.
Hard core riders like us just art being bread anymore.

These so-called "millennial's see bikes as a useless tool in their world of gadgets, etc...Most of these folks, in my opinion, are just spoiled insecure children that have never grasped what the real world is like...Rich parents giving them everything, no desire to work hard, want to change America with their "left-wing" radical politics and other nonsense...Oh well, I suppose each new generation leaves a lot of people "wondering"...I guess I am just getting old as the the United States is becoming a "scary" place to live...See the article on the Internet today that claims these "millennial's" are changing politics as we know it....Maybe a good thing, but my guess is NOT....Regards and ride safe

[Retired Army]

Could the driving habits of the cell phone operators have an influence on risk managing motorcycle customers?

[53driver]

Could the driving habits of the cell phone operators have an influence on risk managing motorcycle customers?

That is THE number 1 concern of all my students in the MSF classes.

[opas ride]

That is THE number 1 concern of all my students in the MSF classes.

Right on my friend!!!..Anyone using a cell phone or texting while driving,especially in traffic, should be fined $5,000 and lose their drivers license for 5 years or more....Stupid, self serving "ass holes" who have no regard for others and think they are so "important" that they must talk/text wherever they are!!...Regards and ride safe, if that is possible these days!!!

[OlyF6B]

Maybe HD or Polaris need to pay-up and have Tom Cruise do his next series of motorcycle chase scenes on a "cruiser" -- to get the interest of next-gen of buyers...

[6gun]

This is why it is difficult to find an automobile with a manual transmission. All new vehicles have to be self breaking, have automatic cruise controls that maintain distance, blind spot warning, lane departure warning, etc. Everyone is to busy with there phone to drive. Sometimes when I am riding on I-64 and the traffic surrounding me appears stable, I will swivel my head to see how many motorists I can make eye contact with in the three lanes. Often, there are five or six vehicles that I could potentially make eye contact. Most of the time, every driver is looking down. Then I question what I am doing on the highway.

[53driver]

Maybe HD or Polaris need to pay-up and have Tom Cruise do his next series of motorcycle chase scenes on a "cruiser" -- to get the interest of next-gen of buyers...

Put him on a full 2016 Wing with a blower.....full tank of gas, half pack of cigarettes, it's dark out, and he's wearing Wayfarers.
Show him out-accelerating EVERYONE up to about 80 mph, then quickly cornering in a shower of titanium floorboard induced sparks.
Engaging the air suspension to handle the rough road the sport bikes couldn't handle.
Using the 6.6 gallons of gas to outlast everyone else....etc

Then getting off the bike after out maneuvering the bad guys only to find a crap ton of weapons and ammo in all the storage compartments.

[opas ride]

Put him on a full 2016 Wing with a blower.....full tank of gas, half pack of cigarettes, it's dark out, and he's wearing Wayfarers.
Show him out-accelerating EVERYONE up to about 80 mph, then quickly cornering in a shower of titanium floorboard induced sparks.
Engaging the air suspension to handle the rough road the sport bikes couldn't handle.
Using the 6.6 gallons of gas to outlast everyone else....etc

Then getting off the bike after out maneuvering the bad guys only to find a crap ton of weapons and ammo in all the storage compartments.

Amen to that!!!..Hollywood "Bullshit" movies are so grossly "STUPID" these days only folks with nothing else to do and money to "piss down a rat-hole" would watch this trash.....Regards

[VStarRider]

Opas, do you get a $1 each time you use a quote?