Ryan at Fort Nine discusses the fall of Harley Davidson and pretty much captures the sorry state of affairs.
Whether you are into bikes or not, doesn’t matter. What’s interesting is that it shows us why protectionism can backfire. Harley Davidson was protected from foreign competition so that it could concentrate on its domestic market. Its failure to innovate and attract younger riders led to its current state – on the point of collapse.
Added to that, Trump’s trade war involving raw materials has exacerbated their situation. They are now building bikes that appeal to a diminishing market and extending to the worldwide market while manufacturing in the USA is crippling them. Hence their desire to manufacture overseas, which led to a backlash. Mercan bikes should be made in Merca.
The new models using the liquid cooled 60° V twin would merely bring them to where the Japanese and Europeans have been for a long time, so they would have to try and muscle into that established market. Although, I must say, the Bronx does look appealing. If Harley survives the current crisis and the new models do hit the showroom floors, I’ll be taking one out for a test ride.
All that aside, Harley is an object lesson in how protectionism is bad for business. Had Ronald Reagan not stepped in in 1983, it’s possible that Harley would be like BSA is now. Or, possibly, like Triumph. Either way, it would probably be in a better place had it survived the problems it was facing back then with a broader customer base. Innovate or die as the saying goes.
Edited to add and nothing to do with the main theme of this post:
As an aside, which amused me was this, found in the comments:
Back in January I went into a Harley-Davidson dealership and while price negotiating I offered $2000 less then what the asking price was and I was told to go and get a Honda, so I did. Thank you very much.
What this person seems to have missed is that the dealer was politely telling him to bugger off and stop wasting their time. The margin on motorcycle sales is tight – too tight to accommodate some puffed up wannabe negotiator who offers $2,000 below list. They make their money on after-sales. A few hundred or some accessories thrown in, maybe, but this is nonsense. I’d tell him to bugger off and stop wasting my time, too.
I once did the same when selling my R1150RT on eBay. I had two of these types. I knew what the bike was worth and had pitched it precisely. My low point was the price I would get from the dealer trade in, so that’s where I started the bidding.
The first guy told me that he could get a Pan European with similar mileage for less money and wanted me to reduce my price – off eBay, of course. Given that the dealer would give me what I was asking as my starting bid, why would I do that? My response was to tell him to buy the Pan European.
The second one told me that he could get another R1150RT for less and even sent me pictures of the bike – as if this was even remotely of interest to me. It was obvious that this one had been dropped and there was significant damage, yet he wanted me to meet the price. I did to him what the Harley dealer did in this anecdote.
If they do go down, I say good riddance. Perhaps they are feeling the karma of what they did to Buell and attempted to do to Ducati last year. I for one wouldn’t dream of spending my hard earned on an overpriced tractor that hasn’t changed since before the war. I have a Bonneville, much quicker, nimbler, 1/4 the price and 10 times the fun to ride.
The Bronx looks like Ducati hacked into their design system. I like the look of it. The rest, nah.
Great video, thanks!
I always thought that HD didn’t really compete with other motorcycle manufacturers due to the fact that their lumbering large capacity V twins were sort of unique and were aimed at a totally different clientele. I know that Japanese makers have made various imitations, which I suspect will be better bikes on paper, but they are not Harleys and I think that, to a certain demographic, that’s all that matters.
I’ve always found their appeal somewhat odd. It’s only the Bronx that has piqued my attention as it is nothing like a traditional Harley. Otherwise, their line-up does nothing for me.
In the 4-wheel world, VW started making cars with a Bentley badge on them – but they’re not Bentleys, they don’t have the heart, spirit or soul of a Bentley, they’re just a big, blinged-up, in-yer-face Audi.
But VW had spotted a lucrative market amongst the nouveau-riche and brain-dead footballer types who would be delighted to spend stupid money on an Audi-Plus, so they’ve been selling shed-loads of them. They’re just not Bentleys, never will be.
If HD, either themselves or via any take-over, make bikes without those large, lumbering, thumping engines, they may find vast new markets for those too but, however nimble, reliable, comfortable and attractive they may be, they won’t be Harleys, never will be.
Same as BMW RRs – no grace, pace and style
The best BMWs are still the boxers. Unlike Harley, though, they updated the concept.
HD 975cc and 115bhp is over 30 years behind Europe and Japan
GPz550H I bought in 1982 was 62bhp, ~125mph. GPz900R in 1986 908cc, 115bhp, ~155mph
Outright power isn’t everything though. My 2018 Z900RS has 111bhp yet is a usable machine. The Bronx isn’t radically different from similar types of bike and is pretty much what I’d expect from a streetfighter. The test is in the riding, which is why I’d like to take one for a spin. From what I understand, this one is still planned for production despite their change in direction.
215kg
GPz550H1 would be classed as a Streetfighter today.
It was a Z550 with CV Carbs, diff cams, Unitrak rear and small bikini fairing, Dry Weight: 193 kgs. I used it for daily commute to Uni & Work, fun and annual Edinburgh to Silverstone trip. During 4 year ownership I averaged 63mpg and exceed 100mph every ride
One interesting discovery: I had to increase rear pre-load as rear tyre wore or steering became vauge & wandering
Photo correct, but specs are for GPz550D – clue “Rear:Twin shocks”
https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/kawasaki/kawasaki_gpz550_81.htm
Hogs are great for USA: slow rides with few corners, don’t really suit UK
UK bike mag tests usually summed up with: looks & sounds great, but doesn’t go, stop or corner
I have a friend who was lent a Harley as they had an American visiting the department where he worked. His friend thought it would be a token of Americanism.
Frightened the life out of him. The telling had me in stitches. The first roundabout he came to he did what you would usually do – slow down, select a suitable gear and counter steer. Nothing happened. As he found out, they don’t handle like Japanese or European machines. He was lucky to get himself and the bike back in one piece.
Well done your friend for reacting quickly and not crashing
Counter steering – first time I read about that was a revelation. Knowledge of what I was intuitively doing led to more precise usage and faster cornering
That’s why I teach it to novice riders.
For several years now, Honda have had a department in their design side that studies trends and tries to envisage what motorcycles and the market will be like in fifteen years time. So they are thinking 2035. Now no one is clairvoyant and no doubt they have been proven wrong in the past and in the future but it’s the ethos of Honda that puts them apart from Harley.
I’m no fan of big cruisers. I have owened an early GL1000 Goldwing ( a ‘78 model ) and it was shed loads better tahn the most recent Harley I’ve ridden, a 2010 Fat Bob. The larest Goldwing is very well received in any test I’ve read. This is Harleys market, a Wing costs the same as the equivalent Harley but offers so much more it’s almost laughable.
Ultimately Honda have in the past changed the face of motorcycling, C50, CB750, VFR 750 both F and R, CBR 600, Fireblade, XR600R, Africa Twin etc, etc, etc and will continue to do so in the future.
Will Harley survive? How is the question.
Looking around at other success stories such as B.M.W. K.T.M. Ducati, Triumph, Even Royal Enfield not to mention Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha it would seem their Board of Directors and Marketing teams have NO idea about what motorcycling is. Harleys are mere white panel goods to them.
I’ll be sorry to see them go, because then my 1995 CB 500 T commuter bike will have a much tougher time taking on and beating anything that doesn’t have Harley painted onthe tank…
Being an oldie I can remember that, back in the late 1970s, Harley Davidson tried to appeal to younger riders by sticking their name onto a range of cheap Italian two strokes. The bikes had vaguely Harleyesque styling but were not remotely similar to the real thing. To this day I am at a total loss as to what they were thinking.
They were unbelievably horrible. I had one for a brief period.
I had a 250 Benelli and really loved it. Looking back I suspect that it might have been a little naff and teenager me just didn’t know any better. The handling was superb though.
I had a Laverda 350. Excellent handling and brakes. Weak performance, though, and poor quality control. The Aermacchi Harley was hideous in that it was all that was bad about Italian bikes of the period. Perhaps the worst thing though was the digital clutch. Jesus! Slow speed riding was a nightmare.
On the vices of Italian bikes of the time, the Benelli was sort of half bad. The paintwork was good but the chrome was poor and needed constant polishing. The electrics weren’t bad but not up to Japanese standards, six volts when every similar Japanese bike would have been twelve. You had to mix oil with your petrol which was pretty poor for the late 1970s. The Brembo disc brake was excellent and didn’t fade in the wet. The frame was so well made and such a beautiful and elegant design, it was no surprise that it handled so well.