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HD aging biker problem...

Antarius said:
I know people say this; But have you actually seen this to be true? I hear people all day talking about how wonderful the "BMW S1000RR" is, yet I never see anyone buying them.

What I'm trying to say is yes BMW made a good bike, but I'm not sure it's made inroads into the sportbike market like everyone keeps giving them credit for.
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That's interesting. I was thinking the same thing until Saturday, two weeks back when I was at my local BMW dealer to get some parts and there were 10 or so of these new s1000rrz leaving on a group ride. Never saw that many of them together before.

But I can't say the age of the riders would be what I call young.
 
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serazin said:
That's interesting. I was thinking the same thing until Saturday, two weeks back when I was at my local BMW dealer to get some parts and there were 10 or so of these new s1000rrz leaving on a group ride. Never saw that many of them together before.

But I can't say the age of the riders would be what I call young.
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My personal theory is they are unremarkable when you see them on the road. I've seen a few, and the only reason I realized what it was, was the headlight. If I wasn't paying attention, wouldn't have noticed it.

orbframe said:
as are two of mine :) but you gets whats i was sayings
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Ah, you mean like the ol "when men were men, motorcycles were manly, and frames were made of steel" :laughing
 
sliverstorm said:
My personal theory is they are unremarkable when you see them on the road. I've seen a few, and the only reason I realized what it was, was the headlight. If I wasn't paying attention, wouldn't have noticed it.



Ah, you mean like the ol "when men were men, motorcycles were manly, and frames were made of steel" :laughing
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more like when we men were boys and CHiPS was on TV ;) and that kid was racing 50's and we totally were into old ass motocross

i miss being young
 
Last evening at Hwy9 a HD driver squeezed in between a BMW RT1150 and me. The RT1550, moderate speed, just flew off, the HD driver had a hard time handling the corners, from my point of view. But I'm sure it's comfortable to drive, just hard to push that bike around on twisty roads.
 
Antarius said:
It may be, or it may be like Buell. It got people "thinking" about it, but did it actually get a significant portion of the younger market to buy it?

I don't know, and I'm eager to see the average age of those buying S1000RR's and if it's actually causing younger people to look into BMW's.

All I'm saying is I'm not ready to give BMW a ton of credit for something that I've yet to actually see on the road.
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Antarius, you got me there. Full disclosure, I bought one, and I'm definitely older than target audience

I do see them around, and they do seem to be selling, but I don't know if the young-uns are buying them or just old farts like me. But hey, I'm having fun, so what do I care :teeth
 
sliverstorm said:
Ohio, IMHO the XR750 is a pretty sick bike. But also IMHO, that's not what HD customers want. If it was, this wouldn't be the iconic Harley of today.
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Well, I actually agree. It's not what the CURRENT H-D customer wants. But the whole point of this thread was to ask how does Harley attract NEW customers. Because that boat you linked to is just attracting the same customers over and over again.

I think H-D could reach the same audience that is currently buying Bonnevilles/Thurxtons and Sport Classics. Bikes that are bought at least partly because of the style and history. I think it would be a natural move for them, wouldn't put their brand at risk (maybe even enhance it). I don't think they have a chance in hell of reaching sport bikers and adventure tourers... those guys are about the pure numbers and performance. Style, history, character or only a very small part of the equation at most.
 
ohio said:
Well, I actually agree. It's not what the CURRENT H-D customer wants. But the whole point of this thread was to ask how does Harley attract NEW customers. Because that boat you linked to is just attracting the same customers over and over again.

I think H-D could reach the same audience that is currently buying Bonnevilles/Thurxtons and Sport Classics. Bikes that are bought at least partly because of the style and history. I think it would be a natural move for them, wouldn't put their brand at risk (maybe even enhance it). I don't think they have a chance in hell of reaching sport bikers and adventure tourers... those guys are about the pure numbers and performance. Style, history, character or only a very small part of the equation at most.
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Maybe a new spin on enduro bikes would work? Fits with the heratige. I know if they introduced a USA-built competitor to my KLR, I'd be interested. I don't mean neccesarily a UJT (universal japanese thumper) with Harley branding, just anything that's cheap to ride and multi-capable. Should be able to handle Doc Wong's Hell Ride Dual Sport Clinic. That XR750, for example, I would totally ride if it was modernized and not worse than my KLR (which is not hard :p)

Totally not in line with the bikes they make now, but their flat-track bikes seem to have many of the capabilities I appreciate in my KLR. The biggest thing missing is competent suspension, but nobody had that back then. Best part of this idea is nobody has cornered the enduro market; while sport bikers ask which sport bike is bthe est, all the enduro riders I know ask which enduro is the least bad :laughing

Well, ok I confess I might waffle a little because I am in love with singles. But besides that.

If they want to attract younger folks though, they have GOT to lower the prices. I can buy almost any bike my heart desires brand new for less than a lot of Harleys used.
 
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Antarius said:
I've legitimately never met a Harley rider like that. The riders I've met all like motorcycles, regardless. Yes, the majority of them prefer a Harley -- that's why they bought one -- and they may say stuff like "I don't see how people can sit on them crotch rockets" etc. etc., but I've never seen direct hostility like you mention. Not here in California anyway.

It happens I'm sure, just like the metric cruiser/sportbike guys who make snide ass comments about my bike whenever I go places, but it's not all that common.
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Hmmm, I had a run in with the 'Booze Fighters' out on Hwy1 that was less than pleasant. The local HD riders in Humboldt have always been great though.
 
Karbon said:
Just curious...Does anyone here actually uses their Harley as a daily beater?

Say 18-20k miles a year.
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Yup.

Alternate between the two dynas and the kawi. Commute is 50 mi each way and the return trip includes over 84 between 280 and 1. Took one of the dynas to Morro Bay w/ my daughter on the back down 1 the weekend before last ( hard to do on the kawi w/ stuff) and the other one to Reno this weekend.

Over 100k on the '01. Only issue was a coil at somewhere around 30k and a $1.00 seal around the shift linkage.
 
ob1ventura said:
Yup.

Alternate between the two dynas and the kawi. Commute is 50 mi each way and the return trip includes over 84 between 280 and 1. Took one of the dynas to Morro Bay w/ my daughter on the back down 1 the weekend before last ( hard to do on the kawi w/ stuff) and the other one to Reno this weekend.

Over 100k on the '01. Only issue was a coil at somewhere around 30k and a $1.00 seal around the shift linkage.
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Nice!
 
I've got about 65k on my '06 Hawg. Didn't really ride as much as I usually do over the past year, which is why the mileage isn't that high. :D
 
I took a long road trip vacation this summer that included Cal, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, South Dakota, Montana, and Idaho. I saw about a bazillion motos on the road, and if I could make any generalizations, it would be that the average moto traveler is retired and rides a harley. The close second (much to my surprise) would be a trike. I was blown away how many there were on the road considering that every one of them is a custom job. In a distant 3rd was BMWs; a mixture of K & R bikes, with as many well worn older bikes as new. Metric cruisers didn't even register really, which surprises me since I'm lumping Gold Wings in that category (the non-trike wings anyway).
 
radvas said:
I took a long road trip vacation this summer that included Cal, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, South Dakota, Montana, and Idaho. I saw about a bazillion motos on the road, and if I could make any generalizations, it would be that the average moto traveler is retired and rides a harley. The close second (much to my surprise) would be a trike. I was blown away how many there were on the road considering that every one of them is a custom job. In a distant 3rd was BMWs; a mixture of K & R bikes, with as many well worn older bikes as new. Metric cruisers didn't even register really, which surprises me since I'm lumping Gold Wings in that category (the non-trike wings anyway).
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fwiw, that's what I see out there as well.
 
orbframe said:
I also found a graph
piratesarecool4.jpg
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LOL... I would have thought Caribbean pirates would like it warmer!
 
Harley would have kept Buell around if Buell had actually made bikes consumers wanted to buy, like sport bikes with a full fairing like Japanese and Euro bikes. But Eric Buell refused "it's not about listening to the voice of the customer" - Eric Buell.

What is really missing from HD right now is a real starter bike. Something like a Rebel 250. Gotta build that brand loyalty early.
 
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