(08-27-2017, 05:04 AM)DragonFury Wrote:

Quote:The U.S motorcycling industry has been stuck in something of a tailspin for the last several years, with analysts predicting rider growth will continue to drop over at least the next five years as the current generation of young adults are believed to be taking up the hobby at far lower rates than previous generations.

Probably has less to do with HD's branding and more with the fact a lot of them can't afford to take up what is essentially a luxury hobby and certainly not at the prices HD is asking for their product.

That's very true.  Younger buyers aren't as motivated to drive cars, let alone invest in motorcycles.  However, if gas prices jump back up to where they were a couple of years ago, you'll see a spike in sales similar to what they had in the mid 2000s.  

Harley recognized this a few years back when they ditched their Beuhl line, and started manufacturing smaller, more affordable bikes to compete with the Japanese offerings.  Their 500 and 750 models are nice entry level bikes that were fully intended to appeal to the bargain shoppers who wanted to buy a Harley.  They're nice bikes.  Just not appealing to the traditional Harley buyer because they're designed to be more metric like.

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