Rumble in the Bronx

[Rockburner]

but but but, James Bond rode one!

Iirc the only other choices were 50cc scooters.....

I'd have chosen the scooter.

[Bigjawa]

Would it even have sold if produced? I'm 100% sure there's an equivalent Japanese bike that would be 1000s cheaper.

Can't think of a Japanese equivalent. Ducati, Moto Guzzi, perhaps... Indian seem to be the bogeyman in Harley's eyes.

I suppose the point is that it might have appealed to people like me, who would never normally consider a Harley. I believe the aim was to keep the price down, as they were aiming at emerging markets.

Harleys are stupidly priced for what they are, take my lad's Sportster. Over 6k for a bike that has broken down twice in the month or so he has ridden it and would be comprehensively out performed by any 650cc Japanese custom on the market today. A quick shifty at the local HD dealers website shows that pretty much everything used is the sort of money that would buy something Japanese and new.

The core values are all wrong, apart from my lad and a couple of local hipsters posing about on 883s, every HD rider I've seen recently has been older than me and I'm closer now to 50 than 40. Young people who ride bikes just don't want slow, overpriced bikes, the people that like Harleys don't actually ride the bloody things or old guys like me who have already bought their 'last" bikes and won't be buying new again.

It's something I've been saying for a long time, that targeting the 'high-end' of the market for more mature riders has a very finite end when we all get too old. I think several companies have a rocky road ahead of them - including Triumph. They've been talking about a 300cc entry model single for 8-9 years, and it keeps being spotted in spy shots. They have a tie-up with one of the Indian manufacturers but as yet there's no word of a competitor for the YZF-R125 or R3, both bikes selling in some quantities to new riders in the UK and US (don't believe everything you hear about the Yanks all learning to ride on Sportsters).

Harley need, for want of a better phrase, an "R1" or "Fireblade" moment, something that is signifigantly better than everything else, if they can't do that, they need to stack 'em high and flog 'em cheap. I've never ridden that Enfield GT but the price alone means it'll sell.

It didn't help that they sacrificed Buell, who for a while actually had some half decent bikes to flog more of the usual cruiser stuff, and you're right, these days, you ignore the small bike market at your peril......

[Potter]

They've struggled for many years, and I think the problem with HD is that they haven't decided what they want to be.
It needs to be a no compromise company, like Apple, Rolex, etc.

Once motorcycle culture shifted it's demographics they should have leveraged the luxury brand angle, punted themselves as a high end product that people aspire to once their disposable income hits the right note. They kind of halfheartedly had a go at it but with way too many compromises and bad business decisions.

They made some spectacular textbook management gaffs, like buying MV and then IIRC a year later paying the new owner about $30m to take it off their hands. What was it about that time (10-15yrs ago) that made companies buy massive holes in the ground and pour money into them? It seemed like an actual fashion.

The're confused about their brand, confused about what bikes to make and where to make them, and internally they have a backdrop of American labour, unions, economics, delusional management, etc, which looks like it's going to send them the way of the British bike industry.

[Hot_Air]

Batwoman To Save Gotham On A Harley

Now I’ve watched it, Batwoman’s 2019 TV series speaks volumes:
1. Longtime Harley rider and badass Kate Kane (a.k.a. Batwoman) rides her Sportster everywhere. The Gotham girl ain’t no fair weather biker.
2. But wait! Her friend Luke Fox persuades her that a Harley isn’t right for Batwoman. And, halfway through Series 1, he gets her to try a Diavel.
3. Batwoman tries the Italian steed, and she rides around Gotham whooping: “This bike is awesome!”

Apparently, there was some crime fighting in there too. But I only noticed the bikes.

Batwoman (TV Series)

[moth]

They've struggled for many years, and I think the problem with HD is that they haven't decided what they want to be.
It needs to be a no compromise company, like Apple, Rolex, etc.

Once motorcycle culture shifted it's demographics they should have leveraged the luxury brand angle, punted themselves as a high end product that people aspire to once their disposable income hits the right note. They kind of halfheartedly had a go at it but with way too many compromises and bad business decisions.

They made some spectacular textbook management gaffs, like buying MV and then IIRC a year later paying the new owner about $30m to take it off their hands. What was it about that time (10-15yrs ago) that made companies buy massive holes in the ground and pour money into them? It seemed like an actual fashion.

The're confused about their brand, confused about what bikes to make and where to make them, and internally they have a backdrop of American labour, unions, economics, delusional management, etc, which looks like it's going to send them the way of the British bike industry.

Ever looked into Harley's AMF years back in the 70s?

https://www.lowbrowcustoms.com/blogs/ev ... -amf-years

[The Spin Doctor]

Ever looked into Harley's AMF years back in the 70s?

https://www.lowbrowcustoms.com/blogs/ev ... -amf-years

I managed to talk my brother out of buying the 350 two stroke.

[KungFooBob]

Supposed spy shot of the new HD 338R, I'm assuming it's for the Eastern market. It uses the same Chinese made parrallel twin motor as the Benelli 302...

[Bigjawa]

Supposed spy shot of the new HD 338R, I'm assuming it's for the Eastern market. It uses the same Chinese made parrallel twin motor as the Benelli 302...

That could sell here too, as long as they didn't try to flog it at some stupidly inflated price because of what's written on the tank.

[The Spin Doctor]

Ye Gods, what a horrible lash-up that is.

They clearly think that the name will sell the bike.

BMW made that mistake with the K series bikes, and had to bring back the twins.

I don't really see the market as they already have the Street 500 as an entry level model for the Eastern markets.

[Trogladyte]

What the hell are HD up to? They did all that R&D with Porsche and produced the liquid cooled 60 degree V twin that actually produced some power, although I never much liked the look of the range with the homoerotic names like Night Rod - the rake suggested straight line stability, but little flickability. But still - a motor too be reckoned with.

All that seems to have gone from the current range. There are a couple of 750s like the Street Rod, that use the 60 degree twin, and I think produce around 70 bhp, which is hardly thrilling, but hey. But if you look for larger version, they're not there. All the bigger street models use the air cooled 45 degree pushrod lumps, and as far as I can see, the best they manage is 66bhp.

What on earth is that all about?

[Bigjawa]

What the hell are HD up to? They did all that R&D with Porsche and produced the liquid cooled 60 degree V twin that actually produced some power, although I never much liked the look of the range with the homoerotic names like Night Rod - the rake suggested straight line stability, but little flickability. But still - a motor too be reckoned with.

All that seems to have gone from the current range. There are a couple of 750s like the Street Rod, that use the 60 degree twin, and I think produce around 70 bhp, which is hardly thrilling, but hey. But if you look for larger version, they're not there. All the bigger street models use the air cooled 45 degree pushrod lumps, and as far as I can see, the best they manage is 66bhp.

What on earth is that all about?

Even with all the Porsche input, it only put out about 120 bhp, I had a brief spin on one and I wasn't impressed. They should have put that engine in a Buell instead of something the length and weight of an aircraft carrier.