Harley has been tinkering with their lineup for 5 years with sales falling. So have all the other major brands. Honda is revamping their offerings, including a potentially new Goldwing sporting a hybrid engine. They're even suspending production of their flagship for a year in Japan which is an indication that they want to clear out dealerships of old stock before rolling out a radically different bike.

Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Suzuki are also dropping models that are under-performing in sales.

Harley prices actually aren't completely out of line with other manufacturers. They're a premium manufacturer. If you look at their bikes vs metric competition, they have the same technology, but use a lot less plastic. You can buy cheaper, but you get what you pay for. Their most relevant competition is Indian, and if you look at the pricing for their lineup, it's comparable with what Harley is offering.

Yamaha is rolling out a new touring bike that is loaded with tech, and priced to compete with Harley and Honda. Meanwhile, Indian has become more aggressive with their lineup to take on Harley now that they've ditched the Victory line. Indian is probably the prime driver behind Harleys recent efforts. They're building beautiful bikes that people are buying. They're building classic looking motorcycles with modern technology. Harley clearly sees this when you look at how they're ditching constants they've had in place for years with suspensions and other styling updates. Where Indian actually has the advantage is that they're building water cooled bikes. Harley offers them as well, but they're late to the party as they opted to go with oil coolers and other devices to handle engine heat.

One of the big things about Harley Davidson is they retain their value. While you do pay a premium for their bikes, if you ride it for a few years and then sell it, they command much higher used prices than metric bikes. You'll see Yamaha VStars or Honda VTXs that are direct competition to Harley selling for peanuts on the used market in comparison. That goes back to the overall quality of the product. Again, you're paying for plastic vs. metal.

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