How would you fix Harley-Davidson?

Sell to Nippon

Delete it

>>17832056
Start making sportier standards that don't have antiquated engines in them. Make cruisers and tourers that can actually handle

>>17832099
this.

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>>17832099
Their current engine line-up is quite modern. Between the Milwaukee 8 and the V-Rod "Revolution" what more would you want? Granted, I'd like to see the Milwaukee 8 design applied to a unicase Sportster application.
>sportier standards
Couldnt agree more. I thought they were on to a good thing with the XR1200 a few years ago. Shame we'll probably never see any more homolagation specials like the XR750 though...

>>17832130
>modern
>Aircooled & pushrod

Pick one.

And they discontinued the V-rod.

>>17832056

Their entire existence hinges on selling an image, not making good motorcycles.

That image is middle aged, leather jacket and jeans wearing, boomers riding drag piped motorcycles through town at 25 MPH, revving at stop signs because loud pipes save lives.

>>17832267
Still relevant amongst modern Cruisers. And you'll find if you opened the pic I posted, you'll see the larger Milwaukee 8 is water-cooled. The problem with moving to an OHC or even a DOHC design is all of a sudden you lose the business of those "upgrading" to factory hot up parts, which is massive business for HD. The biggest appeal of these twins is modularity. Want a .600/[email protected] camshaft? It's as ordering from the factory catalogue, installing without having to pull the tank or air box and uploading a tune.
Personally I'm in love with the new flat track inspired push rod 4 valve rocker box design. If I want a twin cam sports bike, I look elsewhere.

>>17832076
Hire an engineer who knows how to make a motorcycle chassis that's not made out of cast iron and lead and start using actual brakes instead of 1 pot, single rotor garbage on a 700lb bike. As it stands, honda UJMs from the early 80s handle better and safer.

There is very little wrong with their engines, as erik buell will attest, but the chassis, suspension, and brakes on an HD are considered accessory items by their current crew. Because upgrading to a twin-spar or trellis frame, USD forks and a monoshock+linkage, and twin disc six pots like everyone else would kill the "harley look".

>>17832346
Ironically it's the monoshock+linkage that's paramount to keeping the Harley look. Gives the hardtail style in a soft tail frame. Infact, all their large bikes are now Softails with the Dyna range discontinued.

>>17832381
It also has less travel and less adjustment on a harley than it does on a cheapo jap naked

The one thing they do, and it's the thing they do wrong.

>>17832056

Dump the image.

Focus on making cheap, simple bikes. Drop the passé macho tough guy HAWG bullshit and make a simple commuter bike to sell to normal people. No skulls, no eagles-towing-banners, no flames. If people want that, sell it as an accessory. But nobody wants to ride that cringeworthy shit.

>>17832508
>nobody want to ride that cringe worthy shit
Sales suggest otherwise.

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>>17832056
They need to make sportbikes if they want to keep the rebel image and not be pigfat jokes for 65 year olds

>>17832056
I don't think they're broken... They sell a fuckload for some reason. You even see a lot of 25-35 year olds riding them so even after the boomers die off they'll still have a good market.

>>17832056
Make it an Indian

>>17832590
What is ebr for 300.

You fkn moron

>>17832695
nothing to do with HD.
That poster however is retarded.

>>17832739
>Eric Buell
>nothing to do with hd
....son

>>17832346
The new line of bikes literally all have what you're asking for, it's not 2006 anymore fag.

>>17832745
Correct. When he founded EBR there was absolutely no HD ties.

>>17832521

The problem is that they're selling to an ever-shrinking pool of existing customers. How long till the last boomer dies and no one buys FXLDPGF NIGHT KILLER EDITION anymore? When was the last time you saw a 22 year old on a harley? Why would any new rider start on a harley when their cheapest new product starts at 9k, when you can go to a Honda/Kawasaki/Yamaha/Suzuki dealer and find good bikes for half that?

>>17832759
Im just happy they're losing business

>>17832928
>>17832975
It's funny you cling to the millennial dream, but the truth is the loss in sales in the last decade is due solely to the GFC, and the other truth is compared to other manufacturers of fullsize motorcycles (eg; anything not a fucking scooter), HD's loss in sales figures is insignificant compared to the Yamazuki Hondasaki companies. In comparison to the industry, HD is in as strong a position as ever. Whether or not your confirmation bias declares otherwise is irrelevant.

>>17833172
No. They're getting scared of Indian. Sorry buddy

make mopeds again

>>17833190
This

Coming from someone who prefers sports bikes, I would buy a Scout over a softail no questions asked.

>>17832056
6k Cafe Racer

>>17833204
Yea. They're just superior in every way. The only ok Harley was made by Porsche and it made the boomers butthurt

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i just decided to look at their new line up and they have a 500 that looks a lot like 1983 honda 500

i think smaller cheaper bikes are probably the best move for them

Probably because Harley Davidsons are unreliable and have half the power/mpg of Japanese variants while being twice the price.

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>>17833227

>>17833227
To bad they can't even compare you the scouts.
Indian is literally besting them in their own sport

>>17833240
it's half the size, weight and price
of course they can't compare

>>17833190
>They're getting scared of Indian
Are you kidding? Sales have been barely affected by Indian's introduction.
>>17833204
A current Chief is still near the top of my list looking at a new cruiser. To me they pulled off the retro "L-head" design perfectly. That 111ci twin is a work of art. Although I'm taken by the new Milwaukee 8 motor too, and apart from aesthetics should prove to be the superior twin. Truth is I'd probably buy a Rocket 3 over the lot of them.

>>17833251
Scout 60 is superior in literally ever way to the comparable harleys

>>17832056
>this century
They literally apeal to old people only.
They will and should die with baby boomer generation. For half the price you can get a straight 4 600 cc nip squid bike that is better in *literally* every way.

Harley = cuck

>>17832310
That image is faggot.

>>17833259
Harney sales have dropped hard due to Indian. They've even started to steal their marketing with the "darkest horse yet" shit

It's sad

Also. Ts111> mw8

>>17833282
>Ts111>mw8
[citation needed]

>>17833290
The fact that I've rode both for many many miles :^)

>>17833298
>mah confirmation bias
That ain't a citation :^)

>>17833330
Yet I've rode more miles on both bikes than you!
Alrighty

>>17833341
>mah anecdotes
Seems you know what I have and haven't ridden :^)
Also, vague opinions ain't objective comparisons.
>it's better because I like it better

>>17833271
i'm talking about 500cc . indian only makes bikes double that

>>17833362
It's Harley. So it's just underwhelming no matter what. They're desperate and its funny

>>17833363
The street 500/750 are a large joke

>>17833380
>The street 500/750 are a large joke
ok
but don't compare them to a liter unless you want to appear foolish

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>>17832739
y tho? Boomers are buying harleys because its what was cheap and fast and cool when they were young. Now they're getting blown the fuck out by japs and guess what people are buying

if they want to get sales from people under 50 they need to start getting fast. that simple.

>>17833380
And we're back to
>mah opinions
Sorry, but objectively an exhaust port that does a U-turn makes for an objectively inferior motor. It looks stunning, but is always going to be flawed trying to make an OHV head look like a sidevalve externally. Even the outgoing Twin Cam was miles ahead of the 111, only gripe is it looked generic.

>>17832928
I can go to the motorcycle parking area of my university and most of the bikes there will be Harleys. About a quarter of them will be sport bikes, but the remaining are all cruisers, and with very few exceptions they're Harleys. Young people are still buying them. My best friend is mid 20s and he owns several bikes and is building a chopper and Harley is the only brand he'll ever ride.

>>17833390
It's sad you're defending something as pathetic as Harley.
The bikes in that same class embarrass that garbage Harley poops out

>>17833417
Whatever helps you sleep at night boomer :D

>>17833282
Polaris corp has the sauce. They got Indian up and running with a great bike in 2 years. Bike, engine, chassis, marketing, sales, parts and service. I work for a large corp that monkey fucks single component products for 5 years and still screws the pooch. We couldn't even design and manufacture a valve stem cap in 2 years.

>>17833397
I'm not disagreeing. It's just goes back to the hotrodding mentality. It's easy to change valvetrain, stroke, cylinders and barrels, and even bolt a completely different gearbox on as permitted by the old fashioned modular design. I enjoy this as much as anyone, but I'm well aware you'll achieve more consistent, repetitive results on a Busa with a pipe, filter and tune.

>>17833425
it's sad that you're illiterate and dumb because i never defended anything
merely addressed some points

>>17833439
Projection; the post
I'm happy to hear any points of substance you have.

>>17833458
Yea. I'm excited to see what they come out with next. They've already stated they'll be moving out of just the cruiser market.
Im hoping for either a standard or adv

>>17833467
You're defending the fact that harleys isn't even good at the only thing they make
>>17833473
Shhh

Come back when Harley can do something right. Or just stay salty cuz it's a vastly inferior product to literally anything it's compared to

>>17833484
>You're defending the fact that harleys isn't even good at the only thing they make
are you drunk or just incredibly stupid?

>>17833489
>defending Harley
>calls anyone stupid
Grampa...take ur meds

>>17833500
>making no sense
>having no argument
>inventing arguments that were never made
>telling others to take meds

>>17833489
You seem a little hot headed... Easy to see with such an inferior designed 111 cylinder head

Y'all faggots are easy to upset

>>17833520
Wrong link lmao>>17833484

Cruiser fags so mad can't even reply to correct post
Fucking cucks

>>17833530
meh. i don't care about cruisers or american bikes in general.
i just enjoy pointing out stupidity in others because too many people talk shit

>>17833519
>wants defend a dildo making company
Stop
>>17833520
>pretending you know anything about engineering
K E K

>>17833549
You should point yourself out for being so new :)

>>17833550
i never defended harley
this is why i know you are stupid
i think you don't understand you are talking to 2 or more anons

>>17833556
i'm not new :^)

>>17833567
I think u take 4chin to seriously.
Ubless you're actually upset that harley won't be around much longer

>>17833571
Yes u r bby :* its very obvious

>>17833574
>participating in a thread makes you new and serious

>>17833584
I see you're attempting damage control.
How cute

Start making dank streetbikes bro vroom vroom haha kowabunga

>>17832056
>keep a couple popular classic bikes
>make a line of normal bikes
>make a line of bike to compete with india
>make a small roadster to compete with the miata, but it's a harley so it's badass and not gay
>???
>profit

>>17834619
*indian

Contrary to what a lot of people in this thread seem to think, the solution isn't to make a sport bike that's covered in plastic. More powerful engines would be nice, but some people seem to have it in their heads that only 1000cc supersports are worth owning and those people aren't ever going to be Harley customers.

I think Harley is already doing what they need to do in slowly expanding their street line. The reason young people don't buy Harleys is the same reason they don't buy Gold Wings; it's a big expensive bike. The street line is improving that situation and I doubt they're done trying stuff with that motor.

Harley will be fine as long as they don't drop the ball on quality or fail to recognize they have competition. They obviously now know they can't just keep selling low volume expensive bikes.

>>17832056
I`d ripped them out, it is impossible to fiix that cancer.

>>17833474
If they release a standard I know without a doubt what my next bike will be

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>>17832056
to understand what went wrong with harley-davidson, we must first understand the dynamics of modern day businesses and individual identity. if we were to look at the headphone business for example, and compare the incredibly popular "dr. dre beats" with that of "bose". we'd come to the conclusion that although bose headphones are way superior, people nonetheless opt for dr dre beats if they can afford them. why is that? that's because dr dre beats isn't in the headphone business but in the image and status business. in a time where our culture defines us by what we consume, we strive to make those around us feel envious of us. dr dre beats have fully understood this, and that is why they choose to spend the majority of their budget on advertisement and marketing whilst bose spends most of it's budget in development of quality products.
harley-davidson used to understand this way back. that was evident by their popularity among film actors, musicians and even politicians. but, by trying to break free of this image and attempting to manufacture a real motorcycle, hd has lost it's primary customers who rode these things not for their mechanical prowess but purely for the image and status that comes with it.
ps: harleys might be crude, uncomfortable, not very fast, and over-rated but fuck me if i said that i didn't want to buy myself a '98 road king. those things are losing their value, so maybe one day i will.

>>17835880
While I agree with what you have to say, Bose is undoubtedly the Harley of audio equipment

Beats are more like the GSX-R of headphones

>>17835880
Road king are nice. But the Springfields are better I feel

>>17835880
>bose spends most of it's budget in development of quality products.

I get what you're going for here but you're comparing two companies who cheaply manufacture similar products and market them as expensive. It's just not a great comparison.

Probably easier to look at Apple vs Dell. Both make high end laptops with similar specifications and materials (specifically XPS line, Dell makes cheap stuff too while Apple does not), but Apple charges a huge premium for the brand and makes a huge show of its logo on their products.

Apple is even worse than HD though. If Apple ran Harley, then you could only run it on Apple branded gasoline and all repairs would take special tools.

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electric sub brand

>>17835896
care to explain why you think that bose is similar to harley?
>>17835904
i personally wouldn't buy anything other than a road king if i was to buy a harley, but to each their own, i guess.
>>17835925
well, needless to debate the relevance of my comparison as long as i've gotten my point across. but i agree with what you said regarding apple, kek.
harley davidson is more android though in the way that you can take apart, build and rebuild the engine whilst sportbikes are near-impossible to manually repair and are oversimplified like modern day cars and apple.
i happen to think that that also might be one of the appeals of harley-davidson motorcycles, the fact that you can fiddle with it and past it on from one generation to the next that is. sportsbikes are near obsolete after ten-fifteen years

>>17836028
Springfield isn't a Harley silly

>>17832056
Drop the fucking prices on them. They're really not worth the money over a Jap cruiser.

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>>17836085
well, can't blame me for not knowing about cruisers, kek.

>>17836107
Knowledge is power nut friend :*

>>17836154
Power nut.... no idea how I put that. But it's fkn funny

>>17832056
Mandatory recall for the fitment of self-destruct switches. Once it's all done, set them all off.

>>17833474
>Indian makes a proper American sportbike

Please. God. Yes.

>>17836592
Sounds retarded in connection to that brand though. They shouldn't have necked Victory.

>>17832056
Build a sportbike that isn't styled like the faggy Harley trash REAL BIKES and is actually competitive, like a Ninja 300

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>>17836608
>ninja 300
>real bike

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>>17836623
>Harley anything ever
>real bike

>>17836596
But can you imagine how salty Harley would be if it was actually a success? Indian should buy EBR.

>>17836608
>ninja 300
Nice scooter. Are you European or just gay? Or both?

>>17836640
Neither, new rider trying not to kill himself on a 600cc or literbike

>>17836628
road king dindu nuffin. it literally is the most aesthetic bike ever manufactured. i dare you to post a better looking bike

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>>17836687
CB750

>>17836596
All they did was bring the victory ppl in to devolope more stuff for Indian.
Why would a conoany compete with itself?

>>17832056
make bigger, louder, and more comfy cycles obvs

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Harley is marketing towards hipsters now. I see atleast one matte grey harley with a flannel clad hipster riding during my commute from work. Hell, they are even soliciting hipsters for their advertising.

>>17837359
>height: minimum 6'
manlets btfo

>>17837359

>marketing towards hipsters

That's dumb. Once it's popular, it'll be too mainstream. How are you gonna make money doing that?

>>17832056
Bring back the shovelhead design

They are priced as a premium brand against who? No one! Obama told you having no money would be the new normal. Got to get them prices down so more can enjoy the experience. Duh.

>>17837359
What is this app or site you're on?

>>17838814
It's an email. I do small "acting" roles and im part of a service. I get emails for jobs that my profile fits for. I mostly just do background work, like sitting in a restaurant and pretending to eat during the diner scene of a show.

>>17838760
English please

>>17839372
Does it pay well? I imagine living in LA the cost of living is insane and $500 a day isn't really that much. Is $500/day on the low end for those type of roles?

>>17839587
It's usually ≥500$ it's not a full time thing. It's just additional income I can earn if I have time. Most of the people are those trying to get their big break. If there's rush casting, you can earn like 3x the amount tho