Victory Motorcycle to Wind Down Production

[offroadfx4_imp]

I would not choose an HD over and Indian just because I've always liked being different or not following the crowd, but I'm weird like that ;-)

[Capo]

The broader, underlying question; Is the heavy cruiser going out of style? HD is struggling, Victory kaput, Triumph dropping the T-bird, Honda's cruiser line stale. Average owners in their 50's and 60's now. Maybe the market is turning.


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[the Ferret]

The broader, underlying question; Is the heavy cruiser going out of style? HD is struggling, Victory kaput, Triumph dropping the T-bird, Honda's cruiser line stale. Average owners in their 50's and 60's now. Maybe the market is turning.


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Yes, but turning to what? perhaps that's the other part of the underlying question

[rboe]

That is a question to ask the kids. Don't expect an answer you'll like.

[Stichill_imp]

Being the parent of two Millennials and and father-in-law to another, I've noticed that they tend to reject almost everything that has come before them. They really don't care at all about tradition. They are ready to embrace whatever they just discovered on Instagram and move on from it just as quickly.

They don't usually like to be marketed to in a pre-packaged way. McDonald's has an incredibly tough uphill battle. Chipotle seems to have figured it out...even though it's a system, every customer can 100% customize their order.

It seems that they are attracted to authenticity. They really don't like fakeness. That's my concern about Indian...it seems a bit like fake heritage, fake tradition. Which is a double-whammy because Millennials don't care about tradition and they reject fakeness.

They also reject the "plain vanilla" existence of suburban living and having to drive everywhere. They are moving into the cities in droves. I could see this being the "motorcycle" of choice for the urban Millennial:

Yamaha Tricity

[uscgmac_imp]

Seems like millennials like to sit home in their mothers basement all day playing video games and starring at their smart phone. I think fewer and fewer are into motorcycles to begin with. The ones that are can barely afford to ride anything that costs considerable money that's why you see an influx of budget bikes to the market. These newer kids love import budget bikes which sell the hipster lifestyle like the Ducati Scrambler, Triumph street twin and the American iron 883. They have no interest in our bike and can't come close to affording larger Harleys or Indians. Almost every company is now offering a low model budget bike. Ducati is now coming out with a new monster 765 targeted to entry level riders who can't afford a ducati.

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[Sam Mac_imp]

Sam, did you ask your buddy what made him choose the Indian over a comparable Harley?

He has had more motorcycles in the last couple of years than I can count. At the moment he has a Harley XR1200 a BMW and now the Indian. He had a Big Honda V twin a couple months ago. Before that a Harley Ultra and a Yamaha. He's talking about getting a Triump Thruxton. I give up, I'll just ride my CB and be happy.

[Stichill_imp]

The cool Millennial two-wheeled gearheads (and I'm not talking about plaid-wearing, coffee-sipping PNW hipsters, I'm talking about tattoo'd counter-culture types) are into retro choppers and bobbers, as seen here in this video of the [url=http://www.kentuckykickdown.com/about.html]Kentucky Kickdown in Louisville. If you've never been, it's a lot of fun and there are restored / original Japanese bikes in the show as well.

[ClassicVW_imp]

Stichill hit the bullseye with his explanation. The kids want to live in the cities and take the train, light rail, or Uber whenever they need a ride. They don't want the suburbs and lawns to cut and commute two hours to work. If they think about two wheels, and most of them don't, it'll be a scooter or a Ducati Scrambler for sure.

[CA200_imp]

I recently ran into some old people in the industry and both complained how weak the motorcycle sales were,
also showroom people complained about slow foot traffic.
I may be bias but I think it is good to see some of the new small bikes, -the Van Van , the new rebels and the new V300 Kaw. and the new GSXR 250 ( but why is it not a 300? )
You can guess I have a real thing for small bikes.