Big and Powerful Motorcycles Are Not The Sole Driving Force In the Motorcycle World Anymore. Manufacturers are taking smaller motorcycles a lot more seriously. Harley-Davidson with the Street, Indian with the Scout Sixty, Ducati with the Scrambler, Triumph with the Bonneville, Thruxton & Scrambler models, Royal Enfield and many other brands are working hard at attracting new categories of riders into the market with less intimidating bikes. It includes hipsters, women, minorities and yes, even some baby boomers.
The common denominator shaping the way new models are conceived is a better riding experience through an approachable power, maneuverability and low seat height. Whatever their styles, lighter motorcycles for the road and the city with quick acceleration to pop in and out of traffic. The top-end motorcycle’s powerful appeal and aura is somewhat fading. (Even the new adventure tourers to be introduced this winter are getting physically smaller with also more control over combustion due to tightening emissions regulations)
Harley-Davidson. Checking In On Brand Allegiance. Fighting Hard To Gain Relevance with New Consumers. Thanks to the great recession, to eventually realizing that baby boomers are almost halfway through their retirement phase, to the arrival of a new competition (successful rebirth of Indian, maybe more than Harley expected…), and to the marketing efforts of foreign brands in the US to push their midsize models, the Milwaukee manufacturer had its aha moment: to be perceived as the granddaddy of motorcycling will not be enough to remain relevant with a new generation of bikers. Until the severe 2008 economic downturn, Harley-Davidson was essentially talking to its core clientele, soon-to-be or already baby-boomers. Almost completely ignoring younger adults, female riders, minorities…and competition from Indian, Triumph and Victory in the USA. The consequence has been a softening of Harley’s overall sales and a denting of their market shares on several motorcycle segments. Harley knows that the company must engage with those who have a motorcycle license but no past history and “proximity” with the brand. Either because they were too young or were not interested by its communication and/or models. Let’s not forget that some young people still think that the venerable hog is “a sound effect masquerading as a motorcycle”…
Harley is already offering the Street series, but it will probably take more than producing a couple of models stripped down to their mechanical essence to attract enough of these new consumers. In addition, in the short term, catering to budget-minded millennials does have its drawback, the profits being much less on midsize bikes than on traditional cruisers and tourers. Harley already announced a 65% global marketing budget increase to reach these new potential riders where they are. For sure online where they spend most of their time glued to a digital device screen and also where they are spectators or participants of some sport or musical events, like the X Games and the SXSW festival with which Harley was already involved this past year. In 2016, it will be very interesting to observe which marketing language Harley will adopt to stir youngsters’ quest for freedom and self expression and how convincing the company can be at making them pay a premium for its products, the company stating during the last quarter that they will not discount their models. Harley knows that they face some potholes on the road and that 2016 is a crucial year for its future.
The Dark Custom Movement Evolving Deeper Into The Heritage Revival Movement. The “Dark Movement” (black minimalist machines) originally inspired by pro-custom builders has already been embraced and overplayed by almost all motorcycle manufacturers. As a new way for bikers to state their rebel soul and motorcycling roots, the Dark Movement, thanks again to custom builders, has already evolved into something much richer. The “Heritage Revival Movement” where modern custom motorcycles are modeled after the bikes that filled their grandparents “good old days” or are drawing inspiration from the bikes Legends rode to victory in major races. New modern but vintage inspired motorcycles that tell a story in reaction to the fast pace of our times. These customs are in need of retro looking parts offering today’s quality and reliability. Hence a potentially big new market for this type of classically designed parts made to current performance standards.
In 2016, expect me to announce a lot more of these new retro bolt-on parts that will only require simple garage tools and minimal technical knowledge to install. With any of these vintage looking parts, the average rider will be able to customize his or her motorcycle in one or two weekends. A trend that will develop or reinforce the desire of many to work on their own motorcycle, fulfilling the desire for self-expression we all have inside us. A very positive trend, benefiting the whole custom motorcycle industry and for sure influencing the way will be designed the new factory models to be released these coming years. On the pro custom building side, expect a new wave of young American builders working on common street motorcycles of all brands, and creating affordable retro styled bikes in all categories, from bobbers to trackers to desert sleds to resto mods, etc
Polaris Motorcycles. Capturing the Hearts Of Passionate Riders Everywhere. It took some time for Polaris to figure out how to position Victory versus Indian, and not the opposite. For Indian, the marketing position statement was quite clear since April 19, 2011 when Polaris acquired “Indian Motorcycle. Manufacturing” and relocated it to the Polaris production facility in Spirit Lake, Iowa. The new Indian slogan “Honoring Our Past. Powering Our Future” was for all bikers easy enough to understand to know what the new models lineup would always be about. For the Victory brand, already mixing cruisers and tourers, it took the launch of powerful cruisers, the brand involvement in racing – NHRA drag racing, Pikes Peak Hill Climb Project 156 with a prototype engine, Isle Of Man Victory/Brammo electric bike, to eventually deliver a clear brand statement to its potential customers. Victory is and will always be all about ‘American Performance’
In 2016, both brands will face new challenges. Since its official relaunch in 2013, Indian has succeeded in offering in a record time a couple of new models in each main market segments. With the midsize Scout & Scout Sixty, the cruisers Chief Classic and Dark Horse, the baggers Chief Vintage and Chieftain and the touring Roadmaster, the company has attracted a lot of buyers with 70 to 80% of them trading-in a Harley (according to UBS Investment Research.) Of course, Harley has noticed and this coming year the marketing war between the 2 brands will amplify on 4 fronts: communication, models, price…and racing. We can expect the models rivalry to focus on the midsize market on which manufacturers need to build their future in the US, Europe & Asia. Logically expectations are high, maybe more with Indian than any other brands. So, in 2016 will we see more than a variation of existing Indian models, a brand new one able to take more on Harley? An “Indian Springfield” model? (Polaris owns the name trademark since 2014) Because customization creates the aura of all motorcycle brands, in addition of pro custom builders doing their own things, we can also expect that both Indian and Victory, independent vendors and builders will offer a new and much wider range of custom bolt-on parts.
On the Victory side, with its tourers and cruisers, the brand has always attracted a lot of customers riding metric bikes, as a matter of fact more than those riding a Harley. Performance being stamped on the new models, Victory should be able to expand to more Harley, Japanese sport bike and even adventure bike riders. Victory is also very serious about becoming a pioneer and leader in electric motorcycles. In succeeding on all these fronts, Polaris Motorcycles would be capturing all types of bikers of all ages in all market segments. A motorcycle manufacturer dream. 2016 will tell us if Polaris Motorcycles is on its way to such exceptional achievement.
Another Critical Year For Electric Motorcycles. Most don’t realize that the automotive electric technology has advanced more during these last 5 years than the internal combustion technology did in 100 years. If the magic carpet experience of flying along with little sound is not yet appealing to a majority, things can change very fast. The way to get people to consider an electric vehicle, car or motorcycle, is to let them drive one. If like me you can ride one, you will probably get thrilled. Ask those who got a chance to ride the Harley LiveWire or the Victory Empulse TT or one of the Zero bikes. And when the design, price point, range and network of rapid charging points will be right for most, the reason you may want an electric motorcycle doesn’t need to be saving the planet, but simply the thrill, low-cost and no-maintenance aspects.
2016 may be the year when speed, performance and range are announced as vastly improved, much more than you expected. So, if Harley, Polaris, BMW, Zero and others announce soon-to-be produced projects and offer riding tests, whatever your love for the combustion engine, please try one. In 2016, more acceptance of the electric car as your main 4-wheel vehicle will also leverage your acceptance of the electric motorcycle. New batteries with more storage, requiring less space at a lower price will make many of you realize that a shift to electric technology is much closer on the horizon than you initially thought. Pro custom builders, be ready for a new customization adventure.
To conclude this article about 2016, I can make the certain prediction that this new year will be longer. 2016 is a Leap Year that has 366 days as opposed to a common year which has 365. Nearly every 4 years is a Leap Year and February 2016 will be extended to 29 days to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical year.
I Wish You All A Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.
I must say it’s a remarkable market analysis by Cyril Huze. Need to read again later.
Yep, at understanding the industry, Cyril beats everybody else. Just an observation, it will take a little bit longer for electrical motorcycles to take off due to the fact that bikers are usually very conservative.
Extremely well observed and written!
It’s kind of funny that Cyril is talking about the resurgence of smaller motorcycles. With my baby boomer friends we were talking about this because we don’t tour anymore across the country on big FL’s and were thinking about riding smaller bikes. Our legs are getting weak too… So, if youngsters and boomers go for smaller bikes to ride in and around the city, it’s a growing market for manufacturers.
very deep… To say the least on the future of motorcycling. The debate shall continue, as will their opinions, of them and us.
I say buy all off of all that’s trnding. PLEASE!
Leaves more for us.
I had said along time ago on the blog that i had felt that if harley would have ventured into atv’s and mx bikes it would have brought brand loyalty to the youth market. I know many don’t agee. Tell me how many hunters out there wouldn’t also love a hd branded and colored hunting / camping atv. harley does make its marketing presence in the ufc which gives an edgy feel to the manufacturer. Younger people and old watch ufc. More and more there is no loyalty to american brands because of the world market and the honest fact that as america becomes more immigrant based, the import brands are all they have ever known.
IMHO there has only ever been one truly successful motorcycle ad campaign. In 1962 Grey Advertising created “You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda” and that ad which ran from 1962 to 1967 created the audience we have been selling motorcycles to for the past 50 years.
The placement of the ads was not in the motorcycle media of the era or in niche events. The Honda ads ran in Look and Life and at the Academy Awards and on all major network TV. That campaign created NEW motorcycle riders, erased negative images and changed the public perception of two wheels. It wasn’t a motorcycle, it was a HONDA. What Harley, Polaris, BMW and others are engaged in is brand conversions. Nobody is making new customers. Honda made new customers and that is why it is the benchmark by which all other marketing efforts should be judged.
Those newly born riders, they grew from 50ccs up and then when they got to midlife they remembered fondly that experience and became the Boomers who’ve driven the market since the 1990s. Funny how the negative perceptions of bikes was part and parcel of the market’s rebirth. Blame the biker B-movies I guess and Ronnie Reagan.
Today’s buyers were lost opportunities 20 or 30 years ago, the Generation X didn’t get that positive impression the Boomer did. In the You Meet ads, normal people in normal clothes doing normal things rode Honda. Not so today. Plus I find a high level of risk aversion among the Millennials.
I think an issue that will face us in a few years is smart cars, smart roads and equal access for human driven vehicles and vehicles that do not communicate with other road users. Will there be rules that prioritize smart car safety over human operators or motorcyclist’s access? Already there are futurists saying there will be a day when self driving might be banned as the robo-driver would be safer.
Something to think about…..
Harley may be down a bit, but they are a long ways from being out. Still one of the most recognized brands in the world. The attraction to their brand is far more spontaneous than any other motorcycle; but they do need to adjust their focus somewhat…the CVO crowd is aging. Interesting times ahead
Mostly agree with all the above.
Very astute observations Cyril! My advice to Harley in the short term would be to discount their premium pricing or increase their quality control (you can’t have it both ways). With constant recalls and reports of bikes missing parts or pieces falling off you have to wonder if customers dedicated to the bar and shield are beginning to question whether Harley is returning the favor or not.
Great piece Cyril and the comments are insightful too. But here’s another thought. As Steve Jobs said, customers don’t know what they want until you show it to them. Then is it smaller bikes (women aside) or price?
There’s something happening in the cities that really concern me about future motorcycle riders.
I have a 14 yo nephew who lives in the Bay Area, CA with his single mom (my sister) who regularly sees his father but who doesn’t have a single country bone in his body. I was shocked to learn my nephew doesn’t know how to ride a bicycle and has no interest in learning. Bicycles have no practical value in most cities, especially hilly ones, so they aren’t used for just getting around on. At most the car must be loaded up with bikes and taken out to some off road bike trail or course for most kids to even ride them.
My concern is these basic two-wheeled skills learned young stay with us for life. Far too many kids today are not getting that basic level of skill so what happens when one day they decide they want to learn to ride a motorcycle? The thought kinda scares me knowing they would be on the same road as us or those I care about.
If you are a custom builder, ask Cyril. If you are a parts vendor, ask Cyril. If you want to understand, ask Cyril…
The CVO crowd is indeed aging. I for one, am on my last CVO. A pretty decent new truck or car run around the same price. If I hadn’t grown up riding, I doubt that I would own a bike that costs so much.Now a days the average consumer wants cheap and cheaper.
Watch 2016 for a bevvy of custom Scouts that address trends. All built by our dealers, customers and the aftermarket who are clued in. It’s up to our industry to individually hold our hands out and invite new riders into the fold. It’s the community that can attract new riders – not just hardware or price. The pending wave of screen rebounders will seek actual humans to go do real stuff with. Riding together can be part of that solution. Approachable, affordable, safe and reliable bikes are part of that. Most millennial aged buyers have never driven a car with ABS, let alone a stick shift. Sometimes we do more to scare new riders away by celebrating horsepower and bravado, instead of projecting the core elements of freedom and community. Perhaps we take that for granted being the salty dogs we are – but those factors shut out new riders and reduce consideration for what we know is a great option in life.
It’s gratifying to read this story and the comments – and I hope that we all equally engage by inviting riders to come join us in Daytona or Sturgis or a weekend cruise in the coming months.
Ya’ll enjoy your weekend too.
Robert Pandya
External Relations Manager
Indian Motorcycle
Victory Motorcycles
Premium brand motorcycles are not for the “average consumer” I, for one, don’t want to be identified as riding “the cheapest i can possibly buy”. What scares me more is most kids these days have little interest in mechanical aptitude…and there goes our bikers and our hot rodders…a lot of our motorsports enthusiasm is there for the show…
After writing so well the state of the industry, Cyril should write the State Of The Union speech for our President. Seriously, Cyril’s remarks are extremely well thought and it’s a good summary of where the industry is standing.
Starkey. Do they really need mechanical aptitude is they ride electric motorcycles?
Well said R. Pandya. But will it happen the way we want?
RE:
“…taking smaller motorcycles a lot more seriously…”
Well, ya….650cc always seemed about all one ever needed.
Mike “the bike” Hailwood attributed the skills of the early Brit riders to the fact that they all cut their teeth on small, low HP scooters that require them to ride full throttle all the time to be competitive.
And so…..
“Honoring Our Past. Powering Our Future”
Can i get an “Amen”….. 🙂
-nicker-
Count me as one anxiously waiting to see if Victory’s forays into racing breeds some real American Perfornce. I’d like to see what BMW did for luxury cars happen to motorcycles. Cruisers with serious power, brakes, and suspensions. Pretty please?
Good strategy for Victory wanting to become the American Performance brand. Does it conflict with the tourer models? Or performance tourers, too? Respect for Cyril for having such a clear view of the market and of its evolution.
Robert or Cyril. Can you tell us a little bit about the next Indian?
Cyril is spot on on all the points. Greeko, you will never get any info until an official launch. Would you give away to the competition?
Thank you Cyril ….
Domino Dave
wish h-d would contract with roger goldammer for some concept bikes.
Personally, if Harley is waning it’s mostly from a self-inflicted wound-quality. As many years as they’ve had the same basic arrangement, there simply should be anything major going wrong with their bikes-EVER. The TC mill was an engineering/quality disaster to where any possible elitism or snob appeal went out the window. Reminds me of Jaguar just before Ford got involved.
I think Harley’s wounds are self inflicted, but I think marketing has as much to do with it as quality control. They quite successfully created this club like love affair that anyone could join by purchasing one of their bikes. A sort of snob appeal developed as only one kind of bike got you into the club, nothing else could be good enough. “If I have to explain you just wouldn’t understand” became a common refrain that effectively boxed the MoCo into such a small box that even Sportsters and V-Rod’s weren’t real Harleys for real Harley riders. This is the culmination of marketing a lifestyle instead of a motorcycle. It was a smashing success but it’s not sustainable. I still love the bikes, they aren’t nearly as bad as the haters would have us believe. But I am an individualist. I am a motorcycle rider. I don’t care if I dress like everyone else, get the same tats or grow the same beard as everyone else, or ride the same bike as everyone else. I wish nothing but success for Harley, but I have and will continue to ride the bikes that puts the biggest smile on my face, damn what anyone else thinks of it. Currently that’s Victory, if Harley comes out with something I like better I’ll switch back. If “the lifestyle” can’t include riders like me then “the club” will continue to shrink. No fad lasts forever.
Great overview that we all can understand. With the population growing there seems to be room for all.Consumers have more choices in all products now, more than ever. That will continue to grow. We all can no longer put all our eggs in one basket. Just as the financial consultants say, you must be diversified. The auto industry sure knows that. Motorcycle companies are finding that out.
There has been some really great advertising from Harley over the years.Like the Honda ad and more. Look at how the team under Clyde Fessler at HD approached the market after the AMF buy out. They came roaring back and met the emotion and pocketbook of so many. Built back a strong foundation for many years for HD.
Perhaps because I have an ad agency I notices these things more, However the fact is the financials say it all. Just ask Wall Street or the banker ( I personally do not like either, btw.)
All of this makes the industry exciting again. Great talent comes to the surface with new designs and energy.
Just sayin…..
A masterful job Cyril of reminding all of us where we are at this point in time versus where we were ten or twenty years ago. I have been to four of the local Tampa/St.Petersburg, Fl. H.D.Dealerships in the past month and they all seem to be selling more t-shirts and other apparel with little or no attention being given to the actual motorcycles. Crazy expensive for the quality you are getting, in my humble opinion. By the way I’m a 67 year old boomer with five Screamin Eagles at home in the garage. When we’re all gone then what?
For those who don’t know, CH is highly educated and was in a former life a very well known marketing & advertising executive in Europe. It explains his sharp understanding of markets and his skills at explaining stuff.
@Harlan: And to add the obvious; with more competition comes a better product in the long run. Marketing can only get a company so far. At some point the rubber needs to meet the road.
From a customer point of view; having 3 or more solid American made choices sure beats just having one.
If HD is smart; it will take their V-Rod engine and start developing more nostalgic type cruisers and baggers around it. Same could be said for Indian and Victory and they may have all that on the drawing board but it takes time to bring a quality product to market. The pay off to both the company and the customer is worth the wait though. Quality and reliability need to be synonymous with the product otherwise it’s a massive waste of time and resources.
RE:
“…. As a new way for bikers to state their rebel soul and motorcycling roots …”
Spoken like a true salesman.
Fact is this contemporary crop of “break-in-bikers” wouldn’t know “motorcycling roots” if those roots kicked-em in the ass……
TV is a piss-poor source for learning.
-nicker-
Cyril almost always “hits the nail right on the head” !!!
As commented on other articles
1. H-D will either learn, adapt & change to appeal
to those they have “marginalized” or they will continue to lose market share.
2. Victory is now defined as a “performance” brand
Hate to say I told you so, but I did, about 2 years ago after an interview.
Actually what was described was modern, cutting edge styling & performance
would be Victory, heritage, nostalgia & performance would be Indian.
If you don’t believe me, ask Mr Pandya, he was there !!!!
I’m very interested to see were it all goes & how it all turns out
my guess is we will see a liquid cooled Victory Tour Bike, sooner than later