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Dr. Luxurious

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looks like the execs at harley are waking from their slumber.
closing the kansas factory and bringing the livewire into production in 18 months...

Harley-Davidson-Livewire-electric-motorcycle-08.jpg
 
Was always wondering what would happen to harley as the emission standards get tougher, more efficiency(less noise and shaking) is required, and tech improves to eventually phase out ICE, how will they maintain their authentic made in murica mid 20th century technology motorcycles?


It actually looks sexy, and i would def consider buying one

I guess harley is smartening up, and making bikes for the younger guys(new fatbob, aka 'jap bike', and now the livewire)



I Guess the only question left to ask is...will this be considered **Insert macho southern accent** a 'girls bike' or a 'real bike' by the harley owners group?
 
I Guess the only question left to ask is...will this be considered **Insert macho southern accent** a 'girls bike' or a 'real bike' by the harley owners group?
I don't think that matters -- Harley needs to expand their base -- they understand the traditional buyer is a dying breed, and that new buyers are not buying what they're selling.

They have been there before several times and survived. The last time they needed a 20 year catch up in basic technology, they probably need the something similar today. The difference this time is the traditional motorcycle buyer is changing, that's requires more than a technology update.
 
They should spin off a new brand, separate from HD, to sell these. Sort of like Toyota/Lexus, Nissan/Infiniti, Honda/Acura etc.

A HD anything will be a hard sell to well-coiffed, beardo hipsters and save-the-world snowflakes that might be looking to buy an electric commuter bike; HD connotations might be too much negative imagery and baggage, as it were, for those crowds. Such a move would also prevent diluting the image HD has crafted for itself over the decades.
 
They should spin off a new brand, separate from HD, to sell these. Sort of like Toyota/Lexus, Nissan/Infiniti, Honda/Acura etc.

A HD anything will be a hard sell to well-coiffed, beardo hipsters and save-the-world snowflakes that might be looking to buy an electric commuter bike; HD connotations might be too much negative imagery and baggage, as it were, for those crowds. Such a move would also prevent diluting the image HD has crafted for itself over the decades.


not a bad idea.

Add all the modern bikes in a spinoff brand,(fat bob livewire etc)

and keep the expensive chrome wagons separate for the we drink the cool aid crowd
 

"The decision to consolidate our final assembly plants was made after very careful consideration of our manufacturing footprint and the appropriate capacity given the current business environment. Our Kansas City assembly operations will leave a legacy of safety, quality, collaboration and manufacturing leadership."

God I hate corporate-speak.
 
"Harley-Davidson is still making lots of money, but it’s selling fewer motorcycles than it did in years past, despite introducing new engines, ditching the Dyna, and introducing a new Softail platform."

I wonder why

"and that it remains the top-selling manufacturer of bikes in the 601+cc segment in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia and India."


^lol

Way to cherry pick to pad stats.
Thats like saying I remain the sexiest guy in my neighborhood in the over 200 lb segment, as long as you exclude bob, john, phil, tommy and tony.
 
"and that it remains the top-selling manufacturer of bikes in the 601+cc segment in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia and India."

I can't think that that is true. With all the liter bikes and ADV ones being sold by the other manufacturers. Anyone have stats?
 
I can't think that that is true. With all the liter bikes and ADV ones being sold by the other manufacturers. Anyone have stats?

It's like country music. If you want a harley, nothing else is considered. Very few people that buy new harleys would argue that they are the best bike for the money, they fit the image they wanted.

If you want an adv bike, there are at least 6 good manufacturers, similar argument with litre bikes. This spreads the stats across all competitors.
 
It's like country music. If you want a harley, nothing else is considered. Very few people that buy new harleys would argue that they are the best bike for the money, they fit the image they wanted.

If you want an adv bike, there are at least 6 good manufacturers, similar argument with litre bikes. This spreads the stats across all competitors.
I can see that. If you want an adv bike, cruiser, ss, naked or scooter there are dozens from every manufacturer, but if you want a Harley...

Sent from my SM-A500W using Tapatalk
 
They should spin off a new brand, separate from HD, to sell these. Sort of like Toyota/Lexus, Nissan/Infiniti, Honda/Acura etc.

A HD anything will be a hard sell to well-coiffed, beardo hipsters and save-the-world snowflakes that might be looking to buy an electric commuter bike; HD connotations might be too much negative imagery and baggage, as it were, for those crowds. Such a move would also prevent diluting the image HD has crafted for itself over the decades.
And call it KTM!
 
At least they are trying to do something.


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I can't think that that is true. With all the liter bikes and ADV ones being sold by the other manufacturers. Anyone have stats?

Closest I can find with a quick google search for some U.S sales stats https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/03/05/7-motorcycle-statistics-thatll-floor-you.aspx

They have Harley at 29.3% market share in 2015. I know I've read that the street glide is the number 1 selling motorcycle in the U.S. but I can't find the source right now. I remember it because I was blown away just because of the price of Street Glides.
 
Closest I can find with a quick google search for some U.S sales stats https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/03/05/7-motorcycle-statistics-thatll-floor-you.aspx

They have Harley at 29.3% market share in 2015. I know I've read that the street glide is the number 1 selling motorcycle in the U.S. but I can't find the source right now. I remember it because I was blown away just because of the price of Street Glides.
Closest I can find with a quick google search for some U.S sales stats https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/03/05/7-motorcycle-statistics-thatll-floor-you.aspx

They have Harley at 29.3% market share in 2015. I know I've read that the street glide is the number 1 selling motorcycle in the U.S. but I can't find the source right now. I remember it because I was blown away just because of the price of Street Glides.
That's their US share, not the global market -- HD sells about 25% of their bikes outside US/Canada. Check this link if you want to put that into perspective https://www.statista.com/statistics/606311/motorcycle-sales-projection-globally-by-region/

Lets do a simple compare of the worldwide shipments of motorcycles between Yamaha and HD.

Units North America (HD outsells Yamaha 2 to 1)
HD 157,000
Yamaha 77,000

Rest of world (Yamaha outsells HD by 60 to 1)
HD 85,000
Yamaha 5,075,000

Revenue (Motorcycle business only)
HD $5 billion USD
Yamaha $150 billion

You can see there's a lot of opportunity outside the USA/Canada -- the problem is those markets aren't looking for nostalgic heavy cruisers, they look for tough, light, durable and efficient bikes.

I'm sure it's as plain to HD execs as it is to me, and I'm sure they salivate at the opportunity - not sure they have decided to go there or if they know how to get there.
 
at this point north america seems like a novelty market, they make bikes for us to show they can.

Really the rest of the world would be ok riding 300cc bikes
 
looks like the execs at harley are waking from their slumber.
closing the kansas factory and bringing the livewire into production in 18 months...

Harley-Davidson-Livewire-electric-motorcycle-08.jpg

If they can bring this to market with a few tweaks, I'd say HD has a solid product on their hands. I think it looks cooler than most of the electric motorcycles available at the moment. Maybe a slightly longer subframe for luggage? A taller frame for longer legs would be good too. The price is bound to be steep though. A 150 km range with a coffee/pastry recharge time (say 45 min to get 100 km) would be enough for me. Is that a reasonable expectation? Brian P?
 
at this point north america seems like a novelty market, they make bikes for us to show they can.

Really the rest of the world would be ok riding 300cc bikes
300 is a monster in the "Rest of world" markets, most bikes are 150CC or less.

I loved Honda's 125CC program from a few years back, problem was prices were a little too high at $3500. I remember them dropping the price at the end of the program to clear unsold bikes -- they were sold out in 1 day. Today Honda sells a wide range of scooters and 110cc to 160cc bikes for less than $1000CAD in lots of countries.

If insurance was reasonably priced and makers offered these bikes for under $2k out the door, I'm sure they could inject some vitality into the market. The existing dealer network is unlikely to support this, perhaps using Canadian Tire or Walmart (like they do in Mexico) would work.
 

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