HD dead by Fort9 :)

Interesting watch.

I think motorcycle sales in general are down. The people who traditionally bought HD bikes are getting older and leaving motorcycling and the younger crowd can't afford motorcycles of any manufacturer.

Many Japanese brands are collapsing somewhat, dealerships are getting to be few and far between and seem to be retracting to the larger urban centers where the most money is.

If I was to need something from a Suzuki dealership, I have to travel and hour one way, pretty much the same for every other brand of bike. We used to have lots of dealerships here but as sales slumped they couldn't afford to stay.

The sign of things to come I figure.
 
I'm actually pretty sad about what is happening to the motorcycle community. It seems that the hobby is slowly dying as time goes on. The world is going to be overrun by cars that drive themselves and electric everything. Enjoy it while you guys can.

It's happening to many different things here in Canada..

Vintage cars will soon not be worth a cent, they are depreciating more and more each year.
Motorcycle riding clubs are drying up along with sales of bikes
Gun clubs are seeing less and less membership and now with this new gun ban, they will dwindle even more.

Even things like county fairs and livestock shows are dwindling to nothing.

The future is someone sitting on their couch with a VR headset on virtually doing all these things and needing a crane to get them in and out of the house.
 
It's happening to many different things here in Canada..

Vintage cars will soon not be worth a cent, they are depreciating more and more each year.
Motorcycle riding clubs are drying up along with sales of bikes
Gun clubs are seeing less and less membership and now with this new gun ban, they will dwindle even more.

Even things like county fairs and livestock shows are dwindling to nothing.

The future is someone sitting on their couch with a VR headset on virtually doing all these things and needing a crane to get them in and out of the house.
All true. It’s a good thing that something does not have to be popular to enjoy it.
Motorcycles may become vintage relics but I think most of us on this forum will always enjoy them!
 
I hear a lot of Monday Quarterbacks talking about the down fall of HD. But what people forget is that HD made a ton of money doing what they do, much more than any other motorcycle company. Nothing lasts forever, and few companies worldwide have a run like HD has. HD would be better off to ride the trends down and downsize the company until it's a boutique player of classic bikes. Then take all that money and assets and start over on a company built to take advantage of the world today. Different name, different products. Not HD builds an electric bike, but a whole new company.
 
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I hear a lot of Monday Quarterbacks talking about the down fall of HD. But what people forget is that HD made a ton of money doing what they do, much more than any other motorcycle company. Nothing lasts forever, and few companies worldwide have a run like HD has. HD would be better off to ride the trends down and downsize the company until it's a boutique player of classic bikes. Then take all that money and assets and start over on a company built to take advantage of the world today. Different name, different products. Not HD builds an electric bike, but a whole new company.
I agree completely. The only thing surprising about HD's demise is that it didn't happen sooner. They're experts at marketing, they've sold a technologically ancient product to a tech obsessed world, and done so at a premium, all under the guise of a "lifestyle".
I think what you're saying would be a great move for them, history has shown that their customer base is not interested in updated tech from HD. At all. They've tried to ram it down their throats, but the results have been spectacular failures.
 
I read yesterday that Harley cut production and is going to offer less models to keep production simpler.

Only makes sense in today's economic times as well as the receding motorcycle market.

HD has a certain image to uphold and that's what makes them HD, they tried to offer mainstream style bikes but their customers didn't want them...it's amazing how popular HD is outside the US as well...

There are lots of them in Japan as all the wannabe "rebels" want to ride them over the replica metric bikes.
 
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