You Have An Opportunity, Now What?


Harley Davidson ais missing the mark with new young riders. Younger riders are wanting small agile practical machines. Harley is missing this mark by making big heavy gas guzzling machines.
My Hypothesis is that if a maker was able to come along and deliver a more user and environmentally friendly cruiser like a Harley it would succeed.
WHO? When I started this I thought the who really only laid with the millennials and beginner riders. After doing some more research this doesn’t seem to be the only market as older gentleman are also looking for smaller bikes that would be easier to move on as a senior. Women also fall in this category as many women don’t want big bikes either they just want a capable machine to go on a fun cruise with.
WHAT? These potential clients are being neglected by many manufacturers. For instance the only real players in the small cruiser market right now are Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha, and they are all great little bikes, but they all fall very short on the fun portion. Also the bikes in my opinion and the others thought the bikes were kind of lame.
WHY? Harley is failing to meet the needs of millennials the older crowd and finally the female population.
Interview 1: An older gentleman owns a Harley Road King, Would you be interested in getting a smaller bike if it still had the power for the highway, weighed less, and maintained that “cool” factor, but wasn’t a Harley or had the power of a Harley, but it was a lot more fuel efficient? He responded “Absolutely my Harley right now is to D*** HEAVY! I’ve actually been looking at a Honda Shadow, but they’re still pretty heavy bikes, but anything smaller looks like a little kids bicycle.
Interview 2: A young kid who is looking at getting into motorcycles. He had been looking at a Ninja 400 to purchase I asked him why he was drawn to that specific bike, his answer it’s affordable, it’s quick and I won’t get bored of it if it was a 250cc. I asked him MPG or weight played any role, he said it hadn’t, what about weight? That was an easy yes for him. He said I’m small frame guy I can’t be pushing around a 500 lb machine.
Interview 3: A woman at my job. She is always talking about getting bikes I investigated why she hadn’t gotten one. Her first response was I’m too short to touch the ground, and there is no way I’m going to be pushing around a low bike like a Harley they weigh too much, and a 250cc bike wouldn’t have the power to fulfill my wants or needs on a bike at my weight.
Interview 4: Random UF, I started by mentioning if he would ever be interested in getting a bike, he said definitely not I prefer being alive. So I ended the conversation there as he would not be a potential customer.
Interview 5: My bank manager, would you ever buy a motorcycle. “No, I prefer to live and it’s only a matter of time on a motorcycle”.

I think an opportunity is still there, but the biggest problem I’m seeing is that the current generation is much more afraid of riding a motorcycle than anything. I can understand this since my mother always screamed at me how they are so dangerous and it’s only a matter of time until you die on one. So the why, is now more based on motorcycles being perceived as dangerous. Is there a way to change that idea that they are dangerous? I’m not one to deny that fact, motorcycles can be dangerous, but proper riding technique and obeying the driving laws significantly reduces the chances.

Comments

  1. Tristan PetersFebruary 3, 2019 at 4:19 PM

    Great post Ricky, I agree with you that Harley Davidson is missing the mark with the upcoming generation of riders, I am not 100% positive, but I think their financials and stocks have been slumping over the past couple of years. I think they need to pay attention to what the new generation is looking for and gear their production to them if they want to succeed.

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  2. Eric FingerFebruary 3, 2019 at 5:13 PM

    I do not know much about Harley Davidson but from what I can tell with bikes on the street and with what you have written is that they are behind the times and not following customer feedback. Preferences and styles change and maybe Harley Davidson needs to do some rebranding and focus more on customer needs to make better bikes. For a company that large and well established it should not be that difficult to make appealing bikes to all crowds.

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  3. KadisonFebruary 4, 2019 at 2:29 PM

    Hey Richard, great post! I agree that Harley Davidson is having issues appealing to the younger market. Many other companies have marketing strategies to capture their future customer base at an early point in their lives in order to keep the business going for multiple generations. I agree that the newer generations aren't generally looking for a large, gas guzzling machine, but something slim, sleek, and modern, while still capturing the old design style of the chopper golden age.

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