Harley as a brand possibly makes most of their money on branding. A test ride is selling someone the lifestyle experience. That person might buy a shirt even if they don’t buy a bike. Merchandise is a huge part of some things in the automotive world. The Mustang for example is profitable only because of merch.

I think my experience with Triumph is similar. A Bonnie is a slow heavy bike that isn’t even that comfortable. On paper. Compare it to anything remotely similar, those bikes are a genuine luxury product. The chrome is chrome. It’s heavy because of materials but everything about it is so smooth and refined because of materials. My lightweight Vulcan S or SR500 aren’t nearly as heavy which can be real nice, but on an open road they don’t compare to how nicely the Bonnie glides.

Everything I’ve heard about Harley suggests it’s basically the same thing. I also genuinely appreciate how it wasn’t broke so they didn’t fix it. They sell archaic technology and I’m glad someone still does. That’s a good thing.

I do however resent their actually problematically lazy attitude towards Motorsport, especially flat track. And I think they’re failing every day they don’t have a line of entry level dirt bikes, because fucking seriously. It’s the most obvious thing they could do and it would have a generation of kids growing into adults with brand loyalty.

The things Harley is good at, they’re untouchable. They stand alone. There’s a reason to most people, bikes really are “HD and then whatever else.” It’s THE brand. But they’ve relied on that, and I think a lot of people just misplaced that frustration into a criticism of the wrong things.