Not just motorcycles, also down are skiing and golf.

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Originally posted by ridewv:
Not just motorcycles, also down are skiing and golf.

Are you saying participation in or as a spectator sport?

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Not just motorcycles, also down are skiing and golf.

The scuba industry is slowly dying. Years back when I was involved in it couples would come and drop thousands for gear, training and trips. Today the shops are closing because everyone wants to buy off the internet. I just wonder how Amazon will refill tanks....

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Originally posted by ridewv:
Not just motorcycles, also down are skiing and golf.

Is this any surprise?

Lift passes are $100+ per day. Logistics are challenging and also expensive. It's also dangerous (I'm still recovering from a ski injury sustained in January) with few ways except a helmet to make it any less so.

Golf died with Tiger Woods's career. It was boring before, it's boring now. I'd say it's returning to pre-Tiger levels. It's also completely unsustainable without massive tax subsidies for golf courses. Any fiscal conservative should be anti-golf.

And with regards to changing demographics I don't think some of you it -- my generation is poor. Boomers still control the majority of wealth in the US. And what's left over is concentrated in people like me who work in STEM. Many of my peers have jobs that barely get them by and are saddled with tens of thousands of dollars of education debt. We live in cities and ride the bus because we can't afford houses, let alone ski adventures, clubs, or a motorcycle.

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Originally posted by rscalzo:

quote:

Not just motorcycles, also down are skiing and golf.

The scuba industry is slowly dying. Years back when I was involved in it couples would come and drop thousands for gear, training and trips. Today the shops are closing because everyone wants to buy off the internet. I just wonder how Amazon will refill tanks....

Probably with one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/4500psi...ntball/dp/B0834T96LX

It'll become a low overhead service like everything else -- either operatorless, mobile, tank exchange, or something similar. Capitalism will find a way.

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. Riding slow in a straight line to the bar is boring as fuck.

I love those brisk rides through the backroads on the wide open roads.....

Thanks for posting the video.

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Originally posted by rscalzo:

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. Riding slow in a straight line to the bar is boring as fuck.

I love those brisk rides through the backroads on the wide open roads.....

I do it every weekend out in the country. Few cars, and little to no traffic. It never gets old either. 80-90 mph, gentle on the front brake, downshift into 2nd, let the slipper clutch handle everything else, tip it in, get it on its side, hit the apex, gentle on the throttle, start leaning back up, and as soon as you have a contact patch, WFO. Feels like being shot out of a gun. A beautiful thing, a love affair, and may be my favorite thing in this life. YMMV.

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Originally posted by bigwagon:
Everybody turns 40 some day, if they are lucky. And Harley doesn't need to convert 50 million people. But they do need to bring new people into the sport (of any age) while keeping existing riders and converting a few over from other brands. That's what the electric and ADV bikes are designed to do.

Their markets are dwindling. Think their electric is going to overcome that? The electric attempt is a total failure no matter how you measure it, they appeal to almost no one. Their adventure bike? Who knows how that is going to go? I do know they are way behind the curve compared to European and Japanese manufactures. 1/2 of their effort (electric) at newer markets are a total failure and the other 1/2 of their effort (adventure) at new markets are way behind the development curve. I've posted earlier in this thread that I'm neither a lover nor a hater of HD, but I do think they have some significant hurdles to overcome in the very near future.

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Originally posted by caneau:

And with regards to changing demographics I don't think some of you it -- my generation is poor. Boomers still control the majority of wealth in the US. And what's left over is concentrated in people like me who work in STEM. Many of my peers have jobs that barely get them by and are saddled with tens of thousands of dollars of education debt. We live in cities and ride the bus because we can't afford houses, let alone ski adventures, clubs, or a motorcycle.

Well said. There are only so many boomers around to keep HD (and other industries) afloat. Hardly anyone under the age of 50 is buying a big chromed out 35k motorcycle. The reality is that millennials don't have the money nor the nostalgia for expensive mechanical toys. Manufacturers like HD will have to adjust to that reality if that is even possible.

And wait until you see what the classic car industry looks like in 10-15 years. Yikes.

If you want to know why the youth don’t buy HD, find the South Park episode about Harley riders. There is nothing about “biker” culture which is appealing.

I might buy an Indian - but a BMW is more likely. I would NEVER buy an HD, as I would NEVER want to be associated with 1%s, or a culture which tolerates/embraces them.

A few years back a friend of ours, just three weeks married, got caught between a truck and a car on the local major highway. Needless to say, he did not survive the encounter. Both other drivers were on their phones.

They each got eight years jail time, but nothing can bring back one of the most promising heart surgeons of his generation.

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Originally posted by SgtGold:

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
Not just motorcycles, also down are skiing and golf.

Are you saying participation in or as a spectator sport?

Participation.

The WSJ published an article on HD today (May 20, 2020) pointing out supply is down because of plant closures -- prices of used bikes are up 20% in recent weeks -- HD will be making fewer models -- and most dealers won't be able to get new bikes for the rest of the year.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/h...feature_below_a_pos1

This may be just a small bump (caused by the pandemic) along the long road everybody in this thread has been talking about -- the future of riding Harleys -- or it may be an opportunity for HD to make some changes.

Love HD

I'm 46

On my second one, a 2006 Road King that has almost 60,000 miles on it and it's been in 16 states.

Not riding as much as I used to, so hard to justify a new one. Maybe for my 50th birthday / retirement present ???

MDS

1975 harley made these, maybe they got to get these kids to start early

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....I might buy an Indian - but a BMW is more likely. I would NEVER buy an HD, as I would NEVER want to be associated with 1%s, or a culture which tolerates/embraces them.

I don't understand why you would concern yourself about what some clueless person may associate you with by the brand of motorcycle you are riding? If that's the case you wouldn't buy a dual sport because you don't want to be associated with those idiots on loud dirt bikes racing through the woods disturbing hikers. Certainly can't be associated with squids doing wheelies through traffic on a 6-lane highway so you could NEVER buy a Japanese road bike.

I just buy the bike that is best for how I plan to ride and could care less what someone might think about me or the motorcycle I'm on. I enjoy riding all brands of motorcycles all over the place.


Yamaha right here where I live.


BMW in the U.P.


Harley Road King, I believe this is New Mexico.

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Originally posted by tacfoley:
A few years back a friend of ours, just three weeks married, got caught between a truck and a car on the local major highway. Needless to say, he did not survive the encounter. Both other drivers were on their phones.

They each got eight years jail time, but nothing can bring back one of the most promising heart surgeons of his generation.

Given the topic I assume your unfortunate friend was on a motorcycle? Distracted drivers crash into motorcycles, cars, trucks, even run off the road killing themselves. Here just last month a young man with everything going for him, happily married with two young daughters, G15 at DOE, outdoor type into hiking and bicycling, always with a smile, was riding his bicycle not far from his home on on a lightly traveled highway which parallels an interstate and was killed by a woman driving while on her phone who rear ended him. She said she was looking down at her phone when she heard and felt the collision.

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Originally posted by RoverSig:
The WSJ published an article on HD today (May 20, 2020) pointing out supply is down because of plant closures -- prices of used bikes are up 20% in recent weeks -- HD will be making fewer models -- and most dealers won't be able to get new bikes for the rest of the year.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/h...feature_below_a_pos1

This may be just a small bump (caused by the pandemic) along the long road everybody in this thread has been talking about -- the future of riding Harleys -- or it may be an opportunity for HD to make some changes.

I can't read more than a few sentences of the story. However, I am somebody in the market for a motorcycle and I'm spending 30+ minutes a day perusing motorcycle listings where I'm seeing both new and used motorcycle prices have gone down about 20-25% in the last 2 months. I'm looking to upgrade from my first motorcycle to a mid-size (e.g. Indian Scout) and Harley doesn't sell anything in that category I'm interested in so maybe I'm missing their used price increase. I would be trading/selling my existing one so I'd take the 20% hit, but I'm looking to buy something more expensive so difference between buy and sell appears to be smaller than it was 2 months ago.

Classic car industry??? They quit making classic cars 50 years ago. I don't care how cool your civic is. Not saying civics aren't cool. Just not gonna be a classic.

Kinda entertaining that I posted this thread simply to draw attention to the quality of a video shot by a couple young guys with consumer level cameras and rendered on a PC could actually look.