06-19-2018, 02:13 AM
I, too, think the XR was cool. I mean, the CB is essentially overweight and underpowered for a retro standard liter bike too, but we still all love it. That's because we're honda types. we're honda's target market, whether we'd admit it out loud or not. The XR was an *Attempt* at building what they need to build, but it was a half-measure at best. the thing is, that it's not the harley faithful that are shouting for a Harley performance standard like the FTR1200. it's EVERYBODY ELSE. The harley faithful are all either dying off or only buying used bikes. Harley needs to make this bike to try and pull marketshare away from the japanese-oriented riders. To do that, they need
A) more power
B) less weight
C) reliability comparable to japanese brands
and D) a better price point than all the imported products.
Even if they could manage to hit 3/4 of these, with emphasis on C and D, they could finally start to pull marketshare off of their competition. Once again, it's not at all about doing anything the Harley Faithful are asking for. it's about taking a complete departure from what your core market is asking for and selling something that somebody else might be interested in.
Their biggest obstacle lies in willingness to take a risk, and willingness to find ways to cut costs, regardless of how it affects their image with the old guard.
also: you don't see Honda refusing to build anything that doesn't have in inline 4 in it. they don't have to use a V-twin in every durn bike. just saying.
last thing: i'd reccomend taking this imaginary FTR1200-like bike and actually selling it in third party dealerships. this is KEY.
A) more power
B) less weight
C) reliability comparable to japanese brands
and D) a better price point than all the imported products.
Even if they could manage to hit 3/4 of these, with emphasis on C and D, they could finally start to pull marketshare off of their competition. Once again, it's not at all about doing anything the Harley Faithful are asking for. it's about taking a complete departure from what your core market is asking for and selling something that somebody else might be interested in.
Their biggest obstacle lies in willingness to take a risk, and willingness to find ways to cut costs, regardless of how it affects their image with the old guard.
also: you don't see Honda refusing to build anything that doesn't have in inline 4 in it. they don't have to use a V-twin in every durn bike. just saying.
last thing: i'd reccomend taking this imaginary FTR1200-like bike and actually selling it in third party dealerships. this is KEY.