02-01-2018, 11:54 PM
(02-01-2018, 11:30 PM)Houtman_imp Wrote: I personally like the looks of the Indians a lot more than the Harleys.
Also I am not a fan of the image most (not all) Harley riders project.
"loud pipes safes lives" but where is your protective gear to protect yourself ?
I feel similarly. The bikes aren't attractive to me, the brand hasn't done much to appeal to me, and A LOT (not all) of the riders try to project the old school bad a** gangbanger look of a hell's angel rider of the 70s. Granted a lot of riders don't ride like that, but a lot of them do - especially around where I live. It's just not attractive to me, and pushes me away from the brand despite the brands meager attempts to change their target demographics. Granted a lot of people like this look, and that's fine they can do them. The climate though is changing quite rapidly and their market cap is fading, especially with the gradual end of the boomer era.
(02-01-2018, 11:40 PM)EmptySea_imp Wrote: From my reading of the circumstances, I'm not sure that we can draw any conclusions about the future of HD much less the future of motorcycling in the United States. I think that HD's announcement of their commitment to bring an electric motorcycle to market in 18 months is a fairly good indicator that, somewhat ironically, they are not going to go quietly away.
I don't think it's possible to draw an end conclusion, however you can draw the conclusion that they're downsizing and taking a leap of faith with their new investments to innovate and change their brands appeal. Someone else (on another forum) made a good point that the production of HD bikes currently is highly inefficient, as opposed to other large manufacturers that automate a lot of the construction process. In order to stay competitive, HD will need to improve their build quality for the price their bikes are sold for or decrease the price of their bikes, otherwise adopt new manufacturing standards to build faster, cheaper motorcycles that appeal to a wider audience (hence the electric bike). HD has and will continue to try to cater more towards the rebel riders, however they need to reach a point where someone will strongly consider their product versus [insert any other brand] outside of bespoke brands like Ducati - which HD tried and failed to purchase.