Best American Motorcycle Brand. And The Winner Is….

For the first time ever, J.D. Power and Associates has publicly released brand-performance results from their annual Motorcycle Competitive Information Study. Over the past years, the firm has conducted this research to help the industry’s major motorcycle manufacturers improve. Now, portions of their recent 2006 study have been made. The study, now in its 9th year, measures ownership experience with new motorcycles and examines the major components of the overall ownership experience. Each brand is scored based on the number of problems that customers report experiencing with their new motorcycle. A higher number of "Power Circles" (maximum 5) indicates a higher level of quality (i.e., fewer problems experienced). Here the results for the 3 American brands. 1-Product Performance: Harley-Davidson (3) Victory (5) Buell (3) 2-Cost Of Ownership: Harley-Davidson (2) Victory (5) Buell (5) 3-Quality: Harley-Davidson (2) Victory (4) Buell (2) 4-Sales Experience: Harley-Davidson (5) Victory (4) Buell (2). Headquartered in Westlake Village, California, J.D. Power & Associates quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. 

7 Responses to “Best American Motorcycle Brand. And The Winner Is….”


  1. 1 badmojodog Jan 5th, 2007 at 1:31 pm

    Best ‘American’ Motorcycle Brand should have been the title to this. Let’s see some numbers on all the major motorcycle manufacturers.

  2. 2 Cyril Huze Jan 5th, 2007 at 3:08 pm

    You are right. Title just corrected.

  3. 3 Pop Jan 5th, 2007 at 8:33 pm

    What a bore. Yet another marketing study to help giants tweak their fe fi fo fum for greater mass appeal.

    No mention of Crocker, no Kiwi, no Triumph.

    JD Powers isn’t scratching below the surface at all. There are proprietary engine manufacturers out there turning out some snuff rides, still more if you include V and straight 8 derivatives.

    Another bit of that thinking that doesn’t go out on a limb.

    Not even a tip of the hat to Confederates and the radical edge of HD derivatives (although Buell being considered a stand alone manufacturer is kind of a hoot.)

    What would be a good bathroom read isn’t more stats about the dealership experience, but about how the boutique brands are pushing the edge, both retro and SOTA.

    But of course I’m kidding. I live for the red hot rivalry between HD dealers and Buell dealers. Oh yeah, I forgot.

  4. 4 Eddie Jul 30th, 2009 at 3:48 pm

    Harley Davidson is not even made in America anymore, most of their parts are made in china and put together in America, Victory is the real American motorcycle

  5. 5 michael Sep 25th, 2009 at 9:13 pm

    hey pop, Aren’t triumph british though?

  1. 1 beatnikbiker.com » Blog Archive » JD Power and Motorcycles? Pingback on Jan 12th, 2007 at 12:01 am
  2. 2 The Sportster And Buell Motorcycle Forum Powered By Vbulletin Trackback on May 17th, 2007 at 5:00 am
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Cyril Huze