[Jeff Higgins]

As usual, lots of uninformed input from the outside looking in. Typical stereotypes promoted by those who would like to display their "knowledge" of the HD scene.

The fact of the matter is, the HD demographic is actually getting younger. That, and almost half of their new customers are women. Another large market segment is the new rider, who is just getting into the motorcycling thing. Why on earth would women and new riders be attracted to HD?

Simple - they are very un-intimidating, very easy, friendly bikes to ride. They make the kind of power that is very easy to control, and feels like a great deal of power to the uninitiated. They ride very low, so even smaller folks can firmly plant both feet on the ground. They share the same riding position (and probably handlebar tassels) as the very first bicycle they learned to ride.

So what about experienced riders? There is quite a population of experienced touring riders who will ride nothing else. They have "enough" power (just enough...) for easy all day two up loaded touring. They are very comfortable, with ergo advantages afforded by the extremely narrow engine that other makes cannot match. They are absolutely dead reliable these days and, if something does go wrong on the road, dealer support is second to none.

It is actually HD corporate policy that the touring rider who meets with trouble on the road has priority at the dealership for repairs. There are hundreds and hundreds of dealers dotting the country, so a rider is never more than a few hours away from one. Of course merely having a dealer handy means nothing if they don't stock the parts, or cannot get them fairly quickly.

I've played this little game we call "breakdown" with many of my touring buddies. Somewhere along the way, usually in the middle of B.F. Nowhere, one of us will declare a "breakdown". We'll pretend, say, an alternator or something crapped out. Then each of us gets to find a dealer who can fix it and get us on our way. As a Harley rider, I have never failed to find a place that could get me back on the road the next day, including sending someone out to pick me up if need be. The Honda riders find dealerships, but even on brand new bikes, they seldom have the part - but they can order it, and it will be here in a week... The BMW riders are lucky to find a dealer outside of the bigger urban centers, and then it's the same story - a week or two for parts and an appointment.

There is a dealer support network and "family" kind of thing one is buying into that just isn't there with other makes. Maybe in spirit, but not in a real world, keep you riding at all costs kind of vein. That means a lot to a lot of people.

Beyond all of that, at the end of the day, some (certainly not all) of their bikes are truly wonderful to ride. Not the fastest, not the best handling, but there is a huge population of riders who will never push those boundaries anyway. Harleys will still out perform them, and they really don't care.

So, even if you cannot understand why, don't be looking for HD to lose market share anytime soon. Your stereotypical middle aged, gray ponytailed, freshly tatted doctor or lawyer is no longer their core market. It has not been for years. I've seen the shift from within this demographic. The rest of you are just rehashing the same tired old cliches in some effort to demonstrate you "know" something.