What went wrong?

More like got kicked out.

Harley shot itself in the foot. All marketing and no engineering does this to a company. Though luck.

Younger generations aren't as interested in motorcycles as boomers, it's less than 6% now for younger riders.

Harley's are everywhere, everyday
Jappy sissy shit is dwindling.
Sorry

My v twin is extremely capable of killing me in seconds. It's 2018 everything is fast. It's literally a choice between dead and really dead at this point.
Harley doesn't need a meme 4

>by getting out there and riding instead of benchracing shitty talking points on a Japanese sewing forum

>durrrrr why can't all motorcycles be the same

Don't be delusional. I'm a Harley rider myself, but even I can see the writing on the wall for this dated company. Until they stop being a parody of themselves and putting their bar and shield on anything sellable and focus on their motorcycles, then they'll continue on the path to ruin.

>inb4 classics never die

The cognitive dissonance is real.
Wake up. Harley is king.
No other brand in America has dedicated shops in every county.
You can go on a 20 minute drive anywhere in the country and find a dedicated dealer.
Indian is a sideshow for people going into Polaris to buy rzr's
And for jap bikes to have to drive 3 hours to see like 3 bikes they have in stock from a guy who also sells generators, and is leaving for an early lunch and doesn't give two fucks about the bike.

what these guys are saying and AMF and the stupid shit they did back in the day.

>Harley is king
>literally shutting down a factory due to dwindling sales
>wake up

All right, I'll take the bate.

>And for jap bikes to have to drive 3 hours to see like 3 bikes they have in stock from a guy who also sells generators, and is leaving for an early lunch and doesn't give two fucks about the bike.

Lol, no.

No other brand in America has dedicated shops in every county.

Maybe the US is like that. Maybe. I doubt it, I think you are just full of shit, but even then you need to understand that the loud, unrefined, underperforming, overpriced POS that HD sells doesn't impress most motorcyclists, with these so called Japanese lawn-mower companies dominating the markets the world over. Including, I might add, the cruiser market.

>Millennial cunts just haven't taken to the (((lifestyle))) like Boomer bitches did.
That's because Millennials are still broke because of (((college debt))).

They have double the market share of their closest competitor, and the entire industry is flat.

Doesn't disprove any of my points in my post weeb. Harley is king.
Didn't refute any of my points. Thanks have a nice day

Motorcycles are cringy af, the sport bike suicide jockies to the weekend hog riding boomers, they all fucking suck.

How about this for an argument?

they can't make anything that's not a 700lb, 40 hp antiquated pile.
Motorcyclists of today care about one thing above all else these days: The Machine. They don't care for some outdated "Lifestyle" sold to them by some commie on a shitty economy bike with a stretched fork. They want to pay 4000 dollars for a bike that's 5 years old and goes faster than a ferrari.

We're in a golden age of motorcycles, hence why harley can't keep up.

>get a tax cut
>lose money
Explain?

Motorcycle companies wish they had the presence HD does.
Dedicated Yamaha road bike dealers don't exist
Dedicated Suzuki road bike dealers don't exit
Dedicated Honda road bike dealers don't exist
Dedicated Kawasaki road bike dealers don't exist.

More zinc, exercise, and water might help with that "small" problem. You don't appear to be very good breeding stock.

>19 yo Taco Bell employee wants to go fast
>things everyone else in the world is now the same

Sure buddy.

It's happening with almost every company that stood to benefit from the corporate tax cut. Walmart Stores Inc closed 60 Sam's Clubs, despite clearly benefiting enough from the tax cut to grant their employees a bonus. The economics of an individual business are based mostly in choices made in the past, in HD's case poor choices. They don't know how to market to a new generation of riders because they've never had the opportunity or foresight to.

I agree. I am interested in getting a bike but as a young guy I see HD as pure cringe. I don't listen to rock n roll, I wasn't in 'Nam, I don't smoke cigars and drink Bud Light and wear leather and bandanas and have tattoos and I don't have a hideous wife/ gf. If you have a Harley people assume all those things about you.
So I'll probably get a Honda Shadow or nothing at all.

I don't think he meant they should've adopted a v4 for more power (because more cylinders doesn't necessarily mean more power) but because they're smoother. Older Harleys are horrible with the vibrations.
Look at all those unsold bikes lmao.

>Dedicated Yamaha road bike dealers don't exist
Incorrect.
>Dedicated Suzuki road bike dealers don't exit
Incorrect.
>Dedicated Honda road bike dealers don't exist.
HAHAHAHAHA!
>Dedicated Kawasaki road bike dealers don't exist.
Incorrect.

Don't worry, user, Indian will be here to represent the US after Harley goes under.

All those bikes will be sold.
Jap dealers can't even risk having more than 4 bikes out on lot before they sit for years.
All those Harley's are 2018's
No other dealer in USA can do this.
So to answer the OP question of what went wrong.
Nothing. Harley is the quintessential American motorcycle.

Indian? The uber-boomer brand? HAHA HAHA

No

Still don't understand how tax cuts = stores closing

At least they aren't going bankrupt. :^)

It's called cutting the fat.

>sales are down 9% in one year
>profit is only 8 million for a billion dollar business that's been around for decades

Yeah they're doing great.
They'll be bankrupt within a decade. Honda and Yamaha won't.

Still don't understand

what are you even trying to say?

This.

>Implying Honda sales didn't tank also

Their USA motorcycle presence will be gone long long before HD's ever is.

It's okay kiddies go back to ur superior engineering and durrr it's faster corner.

But don't ever pretend like ur brand is anything else but a niche

I'm just looking to get one of the trikes since I can ride a normal bike due to a fused spine.

Guess I'm getting a Goldwing trike.

You don't keep underperforming stores open

Harley Davidson cash and cash equivelents December 2013: $1.05bn
Harley Davidson cash and cash equivelents December 2017: $687 million

Hold on let me get a calculator...

They put all their eggs in a basket that doesnt' start until you reach your 50's and assumed the boomer was eternal.

>Japanese/Euro brands focus on engineering and performance.

>Boomer brand that focuses on nothing but it's try-hard metrosexual image.

>B-but your brands are n-niche.

Sure.

>kiddies need to look up market numbers that mean nothing cause they know I'm right.
You've been blown out
Go back to ur containment thread so u can validate buying a shitty used Craigslist bike

shitty marketing. the bikes are fine, but shitty marketing.

they kept marketing toward baby boomers, who are slowly dying off / becoming too old to ride bikes

>S-stop responding fellas! I need the last word!

This is you on the left?

Are trike riders made fun of by bikers?

They usually are, yes. Either as try hard Mad Max rejects or rich, cowardly middle-aged men.

Not at all. In fact 3 out of the seven dealers that I know at my local shop ride trikes. I can see the appeal, they're comfy as fuck.

>the bikes are fine
>Needs porsche to build them an engine because they can't figure out water cooling
>Still turns out to be inferior to a japanese 600cc
>They even stick it into a giant bulky frame that tips the scales at around 700lbs
>Fire the only guy making decent, normal motorcycles
it's like a clown bit where neither is the straightman.

The modern vtwin gets ur license taken away in like 2 seconds

We get it. You guys love sport bikes.
Stay on dbt and circlejerk it.

>The modern vtwin gets ur license taken away in like 2 seconds
Those noise laws are a bitch aren't they?

He's gone quiet. I think I hit too close to home.

I used to until I rode one. Those things are maximum comfy.

Go back to sleep kiddo

>K-Kiddo
lmao kys

ITT: kids that need to ask mommy for a loan to buy a bike or Craigslist vent about people who have a tax-paying job spending their money on a motorcycle or their choosing.

Dope sells it self, remember that when you see a big HD sign every where you go. You don't have to like it or agree with it

well look at the troll he had to work with, it's impressive he came at al.

>IF YOU DON'T LIKE THING, IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE IMMATURE!
says the bastion of maturity and poise.

Teenagers and 20 year olds. It became cool to hate American made stuff and suck off jap bikes. Sports bikes got popular and killed the cruiser. I think it's circling around now. Harley has made many good bikes and look great and ride great. Dumb kids want to roll 160mph on public roads. But as they get older they will want a good cruiser bike.

Boomers also ruined it by strapping on chaps, and vests, and riding their super chromed bikes once a month, revving the fuck out of them at every red light.

mad respect to harley for deliberately building anachronisms, srs

all you "muh technological advancement" niggas are gonna look pretty silly when your choice is between a harley on the one hand and honda's self-driving bike on the other.

>they will want a good cruiser bike
There is nothing a cruiser does that a touring bike doesn't do 500x better.

>Harley
>good cruiser bike
Lol, fuck no.
You do realize Honda and others make cruising and touring bikes too, right? And they're actually smooth and comfortable and reliable? They're not all sport bikes.

..........You realize that's a useless metric when you don't include spending for future growth.....

Maybe they invested a lot of money. Maybe ALL motorcycle sales are down. Useless post is useless.

That's a funny way to get around Harley having the top 4 sales figures in the"Cruiser" category

As a rider who has owned all kinds of bike. This is 100% not true at all.

Your opinion might be respected if you didn't exaggerate so much little kid

LOL wtf are you talking about. The honda and yamaha cruisers are all plastic shit bikes. ALL of them are uncomfortable harley knock offs. Is every bike that Harley makes amazing? No. But the jap equivalents are like bargain brand versions. You would know if you've owned them before. Spoiler, I've owned several of each. And my Harley's were SUPER reliable. So was my yamaha and Honda. But none of them broke enough to get frustrated. Just general maintenance shit.

You can't argue with dweebs who started benchracing before their first motorcycle purchase

Honda Goldwing beag the Harley in every metric
>power
>handling
>center of gravity
>Honda has an electric assist reverse
>noise, vibration, harshness
>heat generation
>longevity
>wind noise and buffeting
The Harley still has a massive, unbalanced V twin. The Honda? A buttery-smooth H-6. Honda is better in every possible way.
ridermagazine.com/2015/08/05/rider-comparo-2015-harley-davidson-electra-glide-ultra-limited-2015-honda-gold-wing-2015-indian-roadmaster/

>N-No it isn't!
nice

Just because HD still has a retarded die-hard fan base of people who want to be in a fraternity because they have no individual personality. Doesn't make it a better bike.
Wrongo friend, on every account. Check out any review of the Goldwing, even Harlry guys in the HOG forums say it's the better bike.

>makes absurd claim that is untrue with no proof
>hurrrr everyone else is stupid!~

OK Cletus. Go beat your dog.

>one bike is FINALLY better than one Harley
>all Harley is therefore a shit
KYS idiot. The Goldwing is a good bike, and retarded expensive. But 1) there is more than one cruiser that exist 2) The goldwing being good doesn't make Harley bad. Idiot.

>hurrrrr motorcyle reviewers have no vested interest in being nice to certain manufacturers that advertise with them and give them free shit
Wanna talk about how much RnT loves the Corvette too?

Why do gold wings not sale as well than?
Ohhh yeah cause they are final boss bikes for retired bankers

But can you argue with ?

I'm not surprised a American bike is the best

>hurrr Harley riders want to be in a fraternity, literally the only reason people buy them
>let me just jump on my anti harley fraternity real quick

Alright then, What does a cruiser do better than a touring bike?

More comfortable, easier to ride, less expensive (generally) to repair, easier to ride two up, not as tall (for shorter riders), and look much much much better.

Hey look at that, people have different opinions than you. Retard.

>More comfortable
stopped reading there. You don't know what a touring bike is, do you?

Fun

LOL you're a retard. Go ride a cross bones Harley to the store, then a BMW touring bike. Tell me which was more comfy to hop on and go back home. You aren't traveling in Africa you dumb nigger.

It's a wanna be trackbike detuned with luggage rack and higher bars

Next question

>harley
>more than a niche

Choose one. I know between the meth and letting another man fuck your slag that there isnt much going on, but you could be fixing whatever broke on your HD from a 10 minute ride last night. Get over yourself, no one wants a second mortgage to fix a bike they ride twice a year.

>Maybe ALL motorcycle sales are down.
Except on a worldwide scale all motorcycle are up (though small sub250cc bikes make up a substantial portion of that).

Harleys issue is they insist that the archaic farm-equipment tech is part of their image. Instead of going the route of the likes of Triumph where they keep the style and look/feel but actually put modern tech in.
But to be fair it would appear HD has finally learned the lessong with their new Milwaukee8 being air-oil cooled and much less vibey.

They've had water cooling for 20 years user

Number 1 motorcycle in the USA
>Niche
Okayyyyy budaayyyyy

>farm equipment
Your opinion is immediately disregarded. Also, good job missing the point of the post you quoted. It was that, unless you are going to post the whole picture, one metric of cash on hand is fucking uselss.

I've never seen a triumph or triumph dealer in my life
Literally an internet meme

>hurrrrr motorcyle reviewers have no vested interest in being nice to certain manufacturers that advertise with them and give them free shit

That describes Harley far more than Honda. Harley spends millions doing PR damage control on Google.