Harley Davidson Closing Plant Due to Declining Sales

[Wild Rose]

Harley Davidson Closing Plant Due to Declining Sales

 Apparently the Baby-Boomers all have motorcycles.

 Generation X is only buying a few, and the next generation isn't buying any at all.

 A recent study was done to find out why.

 Here are the reasons why Millennials don't ride motorcycles:

 1. Pants won't pull up far enough for them to straddle the seat.

 2. Can't get their phone to their ear with a helmet on.

 3. Can't use 2 hands to eat while driving.

 4. They don't get a trophy and a recognition plaque just for buying one.

 5. Don't have enough muscle to hold the bike up when stopped.

 6 Might have a bug hit them in the face and then they would need emergency care.

 7. Motorcycles don't have air conditioning.

 8. They can't afford one because they spent 1 2 years in college trying to get a degree in Humanities, Social Studies or Gender Studies for which no jobs are available.

 9. They are allergic to fresh air.

 10. Their pyjamas get caught on the exhaust pipes.

 11. They might get their hands dirty checking the oil.

 12. The handle bars have buttons and levers and cannot be controlled by touch-screen.

 13. You have to shift manually and use something called a clutch.

 14. It's too hard to take selfies while riding.

 15. They don't come with training wheels like their bicycles did.

 16. Motorcycles don't have power steering or power brakes.

 17. Their nose ring interferes with the face shield.

 18. They would have to use leg muscle to back up.

 19. When they stop, a light breeze might blow exhaust in their face.

 20 It could rain on them and expose them to non-soft water.

 21. It might scare their therapy dog, and then the dog would need therapy.

 22. Can't get the motorcycle down the stairs to their parents' basement.

[Kev Murphy]

 

[Biggles]

Sadly, quite a few of them would apply.
The bike purchases are left to the retirees trying to recapture the wild youth they mis-remember.   

I remember mine well, and its tameness is suitably recalled with the purr of an ST.   

[Bodø]

Bike sales are declining in Japan as well.  Personally I wish I had discovered bikes sooner.

[DavidP]

Yep.  haven't noticed many 'real' bikes here, mainly 2 or 3 wheel scooters. In Kyoto at the moment.  Really loved our week in Tokyo.... that place knows how to make & run a subway system :-)

Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk

[Biggles]

Really loved our week in Tokyo.... that place knows how to make & run a subway system :-)

If only you could decipher the instructions.  The diagram looked to me like a bowl of coloured spaghetti.

[Lionel]

As for reliability - Of all the HDs ever built in its 100+ year history, 85% are still on the road.
The other 15% made it home.
I know - it's an oldie.

[Kev Murphy]

 

[Langers]

For a grumpy old bastard I actually have some sympathy for the millennials. After I left secondary school:
* Uni was free;
* we had a manufacturing sector;
* we had intermediate, leaving and matrix and kids could leave early and take on an apprenticeship;
* we had relatively cheap energy.
* we had nation building politicians;
* the "outrage industry" hadn't started;
* the ABC was known for balanced reporting and little or no "opinion" programs.
* no speed cameras!
* the police could be police, not revenue raisers.

It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good. Somehow we seem to have lost our way.
I'd love to encourage more into motorcycling (& @ $2,600 ride away you can get a new Honda CB125) - I'm just not sure how to start.

[StinkyPete]

I've sent Leo's great post to my Harley riding friends, and am waiting for the response.   

[Langers]

Years ago Harley Davidson had a slogan "Buy a Harley, buy the best" Of course that got amended by the nonbelievers to "Buy a Harley, buy the best. Ride a mile and walk the rest"

[Kev Murphy]

 

[Wild Rose]

I've sent Leo's great post to my Harley riding friends, and am waiting for the response.   

Pete I am at doctor's so I haven't had a chance to look
I have a few ride mate's that ride Harleys
So actually I'm not anti Harley
I have only ridden a Harley once and found it better than I thought

[alans1100]

One day a few years ago I heard an older couple talking as they walked passed my bike.

Wife must have asked hubby about the bike and he said "It's a Honda not a Hardly Rideable"; never heard that one before.

[Kev Murphy]

Personally, I had a bad experience with a Harley. I bought a brand new FLH Electraglide in 1971.
Was stuffed around for 18 months with breakdowns, faults, and lousy service, and only got to ride it for a total of 5 of those 18 months, the longest stretch without a breakdown was 6 weeks. An absolute lemon. Turned me off Harley for life.
Sold it at a loss because it had malfunctioned yet again, and bought a Honda instead.

[Biggles]

For a grumpy old bastard I actually have some sympathy for the millennials. After I left secondary school:
etc

I was brought up in the Sixties and agree with everything you say.  I was awarded a Teaching Scholarship to Uni on the condition I tech for three years. 
Even back then the Unions were stupid.  They were fiercely opposed to that Bond because teachers were required to repay the cost of their Uni fees (pro-rata) if they left teaching in those 3 years.  So the gummint gave them their wish, cancelled Bonds, and cancelled scholarships, so students got HECS instead. 
And yes, no radars or seatbelts or RBTs and worse roads, yet no more fatal accidents than these days. 

[Williamson]

..... And yes, no radars or seatbelts or RBTs and worse roads, yet no more fatal accidents than these days.

Not sure what the fatal crash rate was in QLD in the 'good old days'.   

In VIC in 1970 there was "Declare War on 1034" campaign.   The figure 1,034 was the number of people killed on Victoria's roads in 1969 (it went up to 1,061 in 1970 - I started driving in Dec '69) but has been trending down ever since.

In round figures, the VIC road toll in 1969 was 304 deaths per million people, in 2017 it was 28.   Looks like a more fatal crashes in those days to me.

 

[STeveo]

 
And yes, no radars or seatbelts or RBTs and worse roads, yet no more fatal accidents than these days.
[/quote]


So now we have better roads, safer vehicles, RBT and RDT's, more police, better protective gear and still people have crashes. What's gone wrong?

[Williamson]

 
And yes, no radars or seatbelts or RBTs and worse roads, yet no more fatal accidents than these days.

And compulsory bicycle helmets (motorcycle helmets too - I remember when they were optional in NSW, probably other States too, but I don't remember), child restraints, lower speed limits, safer intersections (traffic signals and roundabouts, even Stop or Give Way at almost every intersection), graduated licences, capacity and power restrictions on cars and motorcycles, motorcycle rider training, compulsory test for motorcycle permit and licence, the list goes on ......

What's gone wrong?  Nothing.   

If the VIC 1969 crash rate was applied to the 2017 population, it could (would?) have resulted in 1,933 deaths.   There's probably around 900 people in VIC that are alive today (assuming they didn't die of other causes) because they didn't die in a motor vehicle crash, and it's probably because of one of or a combination of the above safety initiatives.  I'm sure other States will have similar results too.

[alans1100]

And compulsory bicycle helmets (motorcycle helmets too - I remember when they were optional in NSW, probably other States too,

In SA before the pushbike helmet laws we could ride a motorcycle up to 15 mph (24 k/h) without a helmet. I guess they couldn't leave the motorcycle rule unchanged since it was supposedly less safe on a pushbike at any speed.

[Williamson]

In SA before the pushbike helmet laws .....

What year was that?

[Langers]

It would appear the laws changed in 1991 with the change that required cyclists to wear a helmet.
http://www.crossroadz.com.au/OzHelmets/Rules-SA.html

[Kev Murphy]

I can remember when wearing of MC hemets was optional in SA, possibly made compulsory early 60's?
At the time it was my choice to wear a helmet, both on motorbike and bicycle.

[Biggles]

Frankly, I wouldn't feel right not wearing a helmet.  It's not just that I've always done it.  I won't even wear an open-faced helmet because of the number of big insects and occasional stone that hit the front of the helmet.  People go on about the sense of freedom but I'll go with the sense of security, thank you.

[ppopeye]

Its a bit like seatbelts now. Motorbike helmet, bike helmet, automatic.


The only time I have fallen off a pushy in years and years was on an innocent little trail. I was nt hurt but taught me the lesson. Play safe.


All the gear all the time. (appropriate to whatever activity you you doing at the time)