For years, the typical rider sitting astride some Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) iron was an affluent middle-aged white male, buying the motorcycle manufacturer’s touring and cruiser bikes. That rider is still the key to the motorcycle manufacturer’s success, as those big bikes give Harley a fat profit, but there’s a new rider today — young, urban, even female — that’s proving to be more important to the bike maker, and though Harley has had success marketing to this demographic, it risks having the competition steal them away.
Still the king of the road
Harley-Davidson still owns the big bike market. Across all demographics, whether it’s the core 35-and-older, white male demographic, or what it bills as its new outreach customer, Harley has a dominating hold on market share.
Overall, it owns half of the market for motorcycles 601 cubic centimeters and above, but it has a better than 55% share of the core customer demographic while its nearest competitor has slightly more than a 6% share. And when you break down the components of its outreach customer, it looks like it has little to fear there as well.
(be sure to go clean out your “Fool” cookies after Reading article)
Dancing With Fools 
I personally owned two Harleys, both 1950 vintage, suicide clutches and all. Today’s Harleys have the same exact fenders I had and are still rather primitive compared to motorcycle products from Japan, Germany, and Italy. The typical American buys a Harley in defiance of more progressive machines, then they attach an exhaust system that increases the exhaust noise defying common sense..
Sticking my neck out here but most noisy Harley riders are also Trump voters that also own diesel-burning pickups that puke soot by the pound once more defying common sense.
A dealer near me said he works on all Harleys, the Indians do not require much mechanical work as they are better engineered. I suspect Harley will have to shit or get off the pot, otherwise be left behind.
Personally I prefer my Suzukis, neither of which requires any more than normal maintenance, running reliably for many miles and years.
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Only HDs around here are passing through. Plenty of smaller motorcycles.
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Snowing again. Big, fluffy flakes this time.
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Still snowing to beat the band.
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WordPress has gone back to filling in my name and email address for comments.
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4″ of rain in 3 days here, 5 to 7″ expected next week, ugh!
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Get out the oars…
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Thinking about putting pontoons on the house.
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And an anchor…
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Shoveled the stoop and front stairs. Uses muscles not exercised by stick walking. Maybe as much exercise as 20 minutes on the sticks.
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Alternet seems to be off the webways.
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It’s working for me @ 4:52
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Alternet
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“The domain Alternet is no longer parked by GoDaddy”
Maybe specific to mobile devices?
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Alternet.org
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I suspect the truth sites will be purged under our Neo-Hitler regime.
Hiding the truth is a well known Nazi ploy.
I suspect that sooner than later dissenters will be rounded up, silenced, and stuffed into corporate prisons where they will become the “New jobs” that will make America great again.
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Snowing hard one block to the north but not here.
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😆
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Now here as well.
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Stopped.
Colder air moved in.
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Stop-N-Go-Snow
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How not to ride a motorcycle:
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Get a horse!
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Nice article! This is one of the points I make to folks who are looking to get a new bike, HD rules the roost. If you break down on the road, if you don’t have an HD or Honda… you might not be able to find a factory repair shop, if that matters to you.
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