H-D and other cruisers question

[benVFR]

Hey Guys...

Question for everyone since H-Ds stock was downgraded a couple days ago and their stock has been taking a dump this year and is down quite a bit this year as a whole.

How many people here are in their 20s or 30s and know a significant number of riders who have gotten into the H-D craze as young riders?

I am interested in hearing about someone who is like 25 or so and decides to learn to ride and ends up on a H-D. It doesn't seem like there are too many people like this. (H-D says average buyer age is like 44 or 45)

A lot of the poor outlook for the company is based on this, that they are selling nostalgia and people don't think us younger riders are going to buy H-Ds in anywhere near the numbers that the baby boomers are. The baby boomers have an awful lot of cruisers right now and aren't getting any younger.

I know I haven't really been interested in H-Ds or cruisers at all and I don't see how I would end up on one as I get older. I seem myself far more likely to end up riding an FJR, Gold Wing, big BMW, big Triumph, etc.. when I am 50 years old if I'm still riding. Harley could totally change in the next 20 years and then I'd maybe end up on one, but not living through the 60s I have no nostalgia for the whole easy rider thing. Because I've been happy with foreign/modern bikes as a younger rider I don't see myself wanting to get into cruisers as I get older.

I know we have RevHappy getting a chopper, but that is not a H-D, Cam switched over to a warrior, etc.. My neighbor is in his early 30s and is on his second H-D in the last year, but I don't think he has ever ridden anything except a H-D, he definitely doesn't know what he's missing. I've gotta think he's a fairly rare example.

[OreoGaborio]

Only harley I'd ever even consider getting is the V-rod. I was diggin Cam's Warrior at the bean though... I wouldn't mind one of those

Only people I know that ride HD's are older. Don't know anyone that started out on one early in life, although my bro's woman used to be a Harley chick back in the day.

[RandyO]

Ben, most people I know ALL ages that are getting into bikes as newbies get cruisers, and the English translation of Susuki, Honda, Kawasaki or Yamaha is " I can't afford a Harley"

sportbikes & standards are the minority portion of the motorcycle market in the US

[benVFR]

Randy I would still guess the majority of people buying metric cruisers as newbies are older riders. Those bikes remind you of the bikes that were cool in the 50s and 60s. Us guys in our 20s have a whole lot less nostalgia for the 50s, 60s, and 70s then you older guys do.

And they are not all people who wanted a H-D. My dad rode Yamaha dual sports in the 70s when he was in his 20s, stopped riding, and then started again in his late 40s. What did he get? Another Yamaha. He got a cruiser cause it was what was cool when he was a kid or something. Then when the H-D craze kicked in hard he wanted a H-D for a while, but never got it. Now that the H-D craze is over he says his cruiser is too uncomfortable. What has caught his eye? The FJR1300. He is not exactly a hardcore rider and he wouldn't even say he is a Yamaha guy but I have a strong feeling if he gets off his cruiser it will be another Yamaha for sure.

I know a few other people like this. A real good friend of my dad & uncle, he's your age. He's been putting lots and lots of miles on cruisers & standards non stop since the late 60s. He's been riding Hondas the whole time. He's got a H-D dealer 1/4 mile from his house. Same thing, when the H-D boom hit he wanted a H-D. Now the boom is winding down, he got a new bike. Guess what it is. Another Honda cruiser.

Co-worker is a cruiser rider in his 30s. He has a Honda. You talk to him and he is just like us. He says he looked at the H-Ds and they didn't seem worth the money and he has no desire to get one.

I guess those are just examples, I don't think it is true that everyone who wants a cruiser and doesn't get a H-D is "settling".

But that is not my point. My point is young riders really don't seem to be on cruisers. When was the last time you saw a pack of cruisers stop somewhere and when they stop they are all teen agers or 20 somethings? Those big packs of kids are never on cruisers. If Gen Y is not buying H-Ds and other cruisers now what is going to make us buy them 10 or 20 years from now when we have absolutely no reason to be nostalgic about the era those bikes belong to?

[Honclfibr]

Originally posted by benVFR
If Gen Y is not buying H-Ds and other cruisers now what is going to make us buy them 10 or 20 years from now

We won't, because we'll all be dead by then. We all ride sportbikes. Duh.

Come on, you think the guy in the gixxer-thou skiing off his bike at 130mph without a helmet is going to be nostalgic for a gixxer 40 years later, and go out and buy a GSXR-2800 or whatever they have then? No, he's going to be dead, of acute stupidity. The only thing most people of our generation are going to be nostalgic for 40 years from now is a time when they weren't stuck in a pine box six feet under the ground.

[mikeb]

i know of atleast three twenty somethings that ride h-d. my girlfriend would like nothing better than for me to sell my "crotch rocket" for a harly (she's 26).


don't forget that you can get a used 600 for 3 grand. a used harly still runs 15 grand. most 20 somthings don't have the cake to ride a harly

[benVFR]

Originally posted by Honclfibr
We won't, because we'll all be dead by then. We all ride sportbikes. Duh.

Come on, you think the guy in the gixxer-thou skiing off his bike at 130mph without a helmet is going to be nostalgic for a gixxer 40 years later, and go out and buy a GSXR-2800 or whatever they have then? No, he's going to be dead, of acute stupidity. The only thing most people of our generation are going to be nostalgic for 40 years from now is a time when they weren't stuck in a pine box six feet under the ground.

Good point but the guy who is into his gixxer-thou now, why wouldn't he end up on a more sane Suzuki? If he decides he really likes Suzuki couldn't he end up on a Suzuki cruiser?

[Honclfibr]

Originally posted by benVFR
Good point but the guy who is into his gixxer-thou now, why wouldn't he end up on a more sane Suzuki? If he decides he really likes Suzuki couldn't he end up on a Suzuki cruiser?

Theoretically, if he wasn't dead. I suppose they could bury him with one, kinda like a pharoah.

Perhaps this is the next untapped market segment, post-mortem motorcycle sales.

[benVFR]

Originally posted by blackvfr
i know of atleast three twenty somethings that ride h-d. my girlfriend would like nothing better than for me to sell my "crotch rocket" for a harly (she's 26).


don't forget that you can get a used 600 for 3 grand. a used harly still runs 15 grand. most 20 somthings don't have the cake to ride a harly

Hmm.. maybe they sit in the garage like many other cruisers?

Seriously, wherever I go, bike night up in lowell, motomarket, the dunkin donuts that is a cruiser hangout 2 blocks from my house, etc... the cruiser/H-D crowd always appears to be a bunch of guys who could be my dad.

I know a few younger guys who ride H-D too, not saying they don't exist, it's just they hide themselves pretty well, at least around here.

Hell a couple years ago I went to a cruiser/H-D/chopper show with my dad at the bayside expo center and there wasn't really a younger crowd even there despite there being thousands of people there.

[Kham]

what's up with Hardley anyway? it's a definite social statis. even if i can afford it i think i'll choose to be minority.

[benVFR]

If I go to Sturgis, Daytona, or Laconia am I going to see a huge crowd of 20 and 30 somethings there? Or is it all going to be older guys like H-D says? (Average owner age 45?)

That is a serious question since I've never been to a big cruiser rally.

[RandyO]

Originally posted by benVFR
Randy I would still guess the majority of people buying metric cruisers as newbies are older riders. [snip]


But that is not my point. My point is young riders really don't seem to be on cruisers. When was the last time you saw a pack of cruisers stop somewhere and when they stop they are all teen agers or 20 somethings? Those big packs of kids are never on cruisers. If Gen Y is not buying H-Ds and other cruisers now what is going to make us buy them 10 or 20 years from now when we have absolutely no reason to be nostalgic about the era those bikes belong to?

I will agree with your first statement only cause I think that older riders are the majority of newbies

but I disagree at your point, although youngsters get sportbikes at a higher rate than older newbies, I think the majority of youngsters still get cruisers

[RandyO]

Originally posted by benVFR
If I go to Sturgis, Daytona, or Laconia am I going to see a huge crowd of 20 and 30 somethings there? Or is it all going to be older guys like H-D says? (Average owner age 45?)

That is a serious question since I've never been to a big cruiser rally.

I think you will see more older folk, just because 20's types don't have the ability in their job status to take the time off as much as 40+ peeps

[benVFR]

Randy do you see all the young beginners on cruisers?

I don't know where I would see this that I haven't been. My MSF classes certainly didn't reflect this. The women said they were buying small cruisers when asked, but otherwise it was old guys riding/buying cruisers and young guys riding/buying sportbikes.

When I took the ERC last year it was the same thing. Me on the VFR, a young instructor on a VFR, a younger guy on a GSX-R, and a younger guy on an EX500. There was one 40 something guy on a Gold wing, and then the rest of the class was 40 and 50 somethings who had cruisers. The other 2 instructors were older and were true-blue H-D people.

When I go downtown to have a beer and watch the posers there is a never ending stream of riders who cruise up and down the main drag. Old guys on cruisers, younger guys on sportbikes.

I have gone on a BRAG (Buell Riders Adventure Group) ride before and those guys were about the same age as the NESR crowd and didn't seem too interested in cruisers. And they are of course an even tinier group then we are. Buell sales are pretty small. (But I bet those guys are way more likely to buy H-Ds down the road though)

Guess I need to ask my neighbor where he rides and go with him sometime, if there is a big younger H-D crowd out there I would be he knows where it is.

[rjh200]

I know many many people in their twenties that ride Harleys/cruisers and have been since they were able to get their license. All of my friends grew up riding and with parents that rode so the path was set young. The sportbike crowd seems to consist more of people who did not grow up around motorcycles. People starting out riding in the late teens early twenties cause it is the cool thing to do. Not saying all are like that but a good portion are.

I will be getting out of the sportbikes for next season. I am looking now at the Honda Shadows which will most likely be my next bike. I just do not see a need and no longer have a want for a sportbike on the street. Most of my friends that are on sportbikes now, want to get rid of them. Its just to dangerous out there, and with a sportbike it is to tempting to do somethign stupid. I would love to get a sportbike for the track but that is just not in the budget right now.

Just because you do not see a bunch of young people hanging out at local spots on cruisers does not mean they are not out there.

[Jaynnus]

I started on a Harley....still have her



Ain't she purdy???? Going to go hide now......

[flipper704]

My husband just bought his first Harley this year, we got a Fat Boy. He had a 600f3, 900rr & rc51. He loved his Honda's!! Anyways he'll be 30 later this month and we got it in June. We have friends who have had them for a year or many years. Ages ranging from 23-50. Locally we have about 8-15 of us on Harleys, Hondas, Kawi but all cruisers. We still ride with our friends on sport bikes too. Some bought them because their family always had Harleys, a couple bought because we had a friend go down in a serious accident on a sport bike and they didnt want to be tempted to be wheeling any more, some bought going through their midlife crisis.

All in all its what you're into at that moment in time.

We've been riding sportbikes since 1995 so my butt/back is def. happy with the ride change!

I'll tell you we ordered the Harley the end of May and had to wait 3 weeks to get it. I know the wait was longer before but there still must be some demand if theres a wait.

Just my thoughts....

[PinHead]

I have had 2 Harleys. Both were bought brand new

[LuvDog]

I first got on the street in my early 20s.

The first bike I bought was a cruiser... a Suzuki Intruder 800.

If I could have afforded a H-D. I would have bought one.
The other guys I rode with mostly rode cruisers... the ones who didn't care about debt got H-D's.

We were all around the same age 22-24.

Eventually, I sold the cruiser for my ZX6... then a 6R and now my 7R.

I still like H-D and other cruisers and I'll most likely add a Fat Boy to the garage some day.

I hope you're right and the HD craze dies down... maybe the prices will drop.

[slaps76]

One of my good friends started on a Shadow when he was probably 25, then went to a Sportster 1200, and now has a Softail Nightrain.

He fits many of the Harley stereotypes too...it's primarily a barhopping bike.

[gonzo6]

Originally posted by PinHead
I have had 2 Harleys. Both were bought brand new

its his birthday, not saying that he is OLD but he does like cake. SHIT, pinhead will eat anything...

[gonzo6]

Originally posted by Honclfibr
We won't, because we'll all be dead by then. We all ride sportbikes. Duh.

Come on, you think the guy in the gixxer-thou skiing off his bike at 130mph without a helmet is going to be nostalgic for a gixxer 40 years later, and go out and buy a GSXR-2800 or whatever they have then? No, he's going to be dead, of acute stupidity. The only thing most people of our generation are going to be nostalgic for 40 years from now is a time when they weren't stuck in a pine box six feet under the ground.

kawasaki is half way there...1400 cc stupidness imo

[sanfelice]

When I went on my road trip (in the car) this summer, I am being conservative when I say that 80% of the bikes I saw on the road were H-D.

[ZX-12R]

Originally posted by gonzo6
kawasaki is half way there...1400 cc stupidness imo

I'm dying to know what makes a 1400 CC motorcycle stupid... Especially coming from someone who rides a K5 GIXXAHHH!

[PinHead]

Originally posted by gonzo6
its his birthday, not saying that he is OLD but he does like cake. SHIT, pinhead will eat anything...

I like peaches
I could eat em all day