What will Harley do next?

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driller · #1 Post by **driller** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:01 am

The sportster buy back program ends today. What will the MOCO do next to stimulate sales? Extend the buy back program, sounds like it worked ok. Should they offer longer warranty like Victory? Free service plans? Any ideas?

Johnj · #2 Post by **Johnj** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 5:04 am

They could start building bikes for the rest of the market.

jonnythan · #3 Post by **jonnythan** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 5:54 am

Johnj wrote:They could start building bikes for the rest of the market.

No one would buy them.

Gummiente · #4 Post by **Gummiente** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 9:09 am

jonnythan wrote:No one would buy them.

Zigactly. Say what you want about Harley, they DO know their market demographics... if they figured the world wanted a Hayabusa killer or a BMW GS clone or a KTM kicker, they would be building them already. They have tried to dabble in markets other than the cruiser/touring world, but have never had any roaring success and will continue to stick with what works best for them. Dealers know that a room full of Road Kings and Fat Boys will sell out a lot quicker than one filled with XB12's and Ulyssess...Ulyssessees... what the hell is the plural of Ulysses, anyway?

NOTE TO BUELL OWNERS: the preceding comment was NOT meant as a slag against the brand... I happen to like Buells, it's just that most Harley dealers do not seem to like them as much as the enthusiasts do.

#5 Post by **Wrider** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:53 am

Yeah, they used to build all kinds of bikes back in the day. The Servi-car for one, the XRs that they're FINALLY bringing back!
Heck they even had a V-Twin race bike that would keep up with or beat anything the metrics could throw at it!

#6 Post by **Big B** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 1:53 am

Gummiente wrote: Ulyssess...Ulyssessees... what the hell is the plural of Ulysses, anyway?

ulyssi?

XB08 · #7 Post by **XB08** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 3:04 am

Harley needs to get young , new riders if they are going to stay in bussiness. They know this. The guy who just got a new FL may not buy a new bike for years, but the one who just got a XL will buy a bigger bike. I had the big harley bug once, but with bad knees I needed something smaller. So I got a Buell. I really think Harley needs a smaller bike to bring in new riders. They can make a small V-twin around 400cc to 500cc. and keep it light. If you take a look at the V-star 250 it sell good and then they go to the bigger V-star. Harley can do this too.

Johnj · #8 Post by **Johnj** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 4:24 am

What I'm saying is Harley has to gain new markets. You know the metric V-twins are digging into Harleys demographic. Harley needs to get into theirs, and Harley isn't going to do that with the current lineup.

And before anybody's panties get in a bind, I now have a 57 XL engine sitting in my basement.

XB08 · #9 Post by **XB08** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 5:53 am

Johnj
That's why Harley has Buell and now MV.

badinfluence63 · #10 Post by **badinfluence63** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:17 pm

As a HD share holder and according to the HD Inc "Notice of Annual Meeting and Proxy Report" the new market approach will be geared towards the female HD rider.