Is Harley-Davidson’s Mystique On The Wane?

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com

In the current issue of “Motorcycle Cruiser” magazine, technical editor (and Danbury, CT resident) Mark Zimmerman (pictured) writes about what he senses is a growing trend – riders abandoning their Harley-Davidsons for other makes and models. His conclusion is based on the number of Harley trade-ins that he’s seen sitting on the showroom floors of non-Harley dealers.

“What I’m thinking is that this underscores something I’ve long suspected, namely that the bloom is off Harley’s rose – at least as far as newcomers to the Harley family go,” writes Zimmerman, who suggests that the myth and mystique of the brand don’t mean much to the next generation of riders.

“The guys who are coming into motorcycling now have access to a lot of information, and they’re not driven by the same, uh, tendencies as their parents or grandparents. If a motorcycle doesn’t meet their needs or perform the way they think it should, they’ll sell or trade it for something that does – no matter where it’s made,” Zimmerman concludes.

Zimmerman’s “Tech Matters” column in the magazine’s November 2013 issue jumped out at me because 1) it confirmed something that I’d observed as well but hadn’t formed a complete thought on and 2) it was refreshing to see a writer, if somewhat obliquely, poking a hole in the Harley myth.

In an email response to a RIDE-CT.com inquiry about the column and on whether there had been any fallout, Zimmerman wrote, “I think everyone at HD knows exactly what they’re selling, which is essentially a jingoistic notion that somehow their motorcycle is better than everyone else’s because a good portion of it happens to be built here … but by and large they all understand that what they’re building is a moderately good motorcycle, with excellent fit and finish, and that all important Made in America sticker writ large.”

As Detroit found out in the 1970s and 1980s, when Japanese automakers nearly snuffed out the Big Three, consumer tastes evolve. I remember in the 1950s and 1960s when the top luxury brand was Cadillac, although Mercedes-Benz certainly captured an elite market segment. These days, there are numerous high-end brands – Acura, Audi, BMW, Infiniti, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes and Cadillac – all vying for the attention of consumers.

Could what happened with luxury cars be a predictor of the future of the motorcycle industry, with generally high quality across the board, numerous niches and models, and no one manufacturer that dominates? It’s the consumer who benefits from this scenario with more and better-made choices.

—

The Harley-Davidson demo truck will be at Harley-Davidson of Danbury this weekend offering free rides on new 2014 models. The hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

—

More to read:

– It’s not a wise idea to try and evade the toll for the Lincoln Tunnel. A rider from Brooklyn found out why yesterday. Cliffviewpilot.com has the details are here.

– British rider Nick Cunningham dressed as Dracula and has just completed as three-day trip through Transylvania riding a Ural equipped with a coffin as a sidecar.  BT.com has the story here.