Harley has been suffering for years. They made some mistakes that may prove fatal years ago-
Harley got to be where it was from those hard working blue collar workers, workers that went to work every day and busted ass just to be able to ride and raise hell on the weekends. Since the early 90s when the lifestyle started to change and different people usually not apart of Harley’s core customers came flocking to the lifestyle,Harley took advantage of this new influx and started to raise prices. This was a serious mistake on Harleys part.Harley started to price out it’s core customer base and relied on a customer base that wouldn’t stick by the company for long.
In the early 2000’s shows like Biker Build Off, Orange County Choppers kept Harley riding high. Shows like those brought customers who never considered riding before into the mix. The Chopper craze was in full swing and if you couldn’t afford one of those a Harley was the next best thing. Harley started it’s decline at this point I believe. Harley started to focus not only on raising prices even more, they started pushing clothing and accessories as a bigger part of the company instead of staying focused on a better bike.
In 2006 most of the reality shows started to go off air and the recession was starting to loom. Those customers Harley relied upon started to get out of the lifestyle. Started selling off those bikes. The used market became saturated with all kinds of makes and models. That saturation continues till today. What happens when the used market becomes saturated with bikes? No one really wants to spend the 25,000 to get a brand new bagger. Shit no one wants to spend 10,000 on a sportster. When people don’t buy then production starts to be cut and people at the company get laid off.
Harley was lucky in it’s marketing. It had a loyal base from the Vietnam era that pushed an idea. If you were not riding a Harley then you were not a REAL biker. Some of that thinking still exists today but not like it use to be. Problem with that thinking is people started saying “If your on two wheels, who gives a shit what your riding”. I agree fully with that saying by the way.
I got to that point when Harley started closing up factories here in the states and gave work to Mexico and India. When they started shipping production overseas the product suffered. Just look at all the recalls that have started just last year. Quality might as well be made if China.
Harley No Longer King : Company in trouble - Iron Demons
From 2016
Harley, You’re Not Getting Any Younger
From 2009
