Harley Davidson Names Topgolf’s Artie Stars as New CEO

[Ronsant]

Was a competitive entry, see below.

Walked into the Manchester NH HD dealership in 2008 to look at a Buell Ulysses, which was kind of an Adventure bike. Wearing riding gear. The salesman ignored me.

The parts guy came out from behind the counter and was very enthusiastic about the bike and knew everything about it. Sales guy never moved. Didn’t seem like they were behind it. Bought another V-Strom.

Built up a 2005 Roadster (sportster with dual front disks, tachometer, and full length shocks) to try and make it a fun back road bike. The big HD riders completely ignored it. But the young sport bike riders went nuts over it.
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Fast forward a year or two and HD released the XR - in many ways a factory version of the Roadster. Rode the Roadster to Boston HD. Walked into and asked the salesman if they had an XR. He pointed to their demo bike, which was in a corner of the showroom floor and not even accessible. And he knew literally nothing about it.

HD cut a lot of corners the first year they brought the XR to the U.S. in 2009. They generally used the cheapest Showa component parts available, but this took the cake buy only having a front damper on one fork leg! They upgraded to the euro spec the next year, but the model was discontinued after 2012 and sell for $4-5,000.

So my observations were the HD business model was wedded to financing expensive cruisers and the company and the dealer channel couldn’t - and can’t - adapt to a new customer base. The LiveWire was a fiasco, and Polaris Indian brand cut into their non-dirt ball core market.

HD tried to attract more mainstream riders with the 2021 Pan America. It sold well at first, but has now tanked. They faced strong and very mature offerings from BMW, Honda, and others. They aren’t the only ones to fail outside their lane: the BMW R18 cruiser is a flop, the Triumph Explorer and Yamaha Super Tenere don’t seem too successful.

Have no idea how they will survive. Young Counter-culture “Outlaws” don’t have $25,000 to spend.

Most dealers don’t get behind anything out of the “normal” HD cruiser genre. That is one of the challenges that the new CEO will face. Get the dealers onboard to sell everything, not just cruisers and touring bikes. Some dealers I visited didn’t even carry Sportsters at all. RG, SG, and ultras only
Pan America could have been huge- dealers that did get behind it have done well, but there are not enough of them to make a difference.
How many dealers are really trying to sell,the new Sportster? It’s reasonably fast, available with mid mount controls or forward mount, and handles pretty well.

 

[KrisZ]

Harley is really a victim of its own success in the classic cruiser/tourer market. People don’t see anything from them as being attractive and the dealers probably share this view as well.
Sort of like some actors/actresses get very famous and successful playing one type of role and cannot step outside of it.

That is why they need a new brand that they will build up and stand behind, unlike their mismanagement of the Buell brand. But it may be too little too late for this kind of effort, as it takes years of dedication to develop any sort of brand recognition.
Perhaps revival of the Buell brand could be successful, as it’s known somewhat, but I doubt the brass knows about it.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Most dealers don’t get behind anything out of the “normal” HD cruiser genre. That is one of the challenges that the new CEO will face. Get the dealers onboard to sell everything, not just cruisers and touring bikes. Some dealers I visited didn’t even carry Sportsters at all. RG, SG, and ultras only
Pan America could have been huge- dealers that did get behind it have done well, but there are not enough of them to make a difference.
How many dealers are really trying to sell,the new Sportster? It’s reasonably fast, available with mid mount controls or forward mount, and handles pretty well.

I know nothing of Harley, but I know a lot about middlemen. They don't care what they sell so long as it turns. The fact there not stocking them, means no one wants them.

 

[Ronsant]

I know nothing of Harley, but I know a lot about middlemen. They don't care what they sell so long as it turns. The fact there not stocking them, means no one wants them.

They stock them, they just put them in the corner and are not enthusiastic about them. Same thing happened with Buell. he dealers are not like other Powersports dealers.