Europeans: Harley-crazy???

[SWriverstone]

Here's a question for you Europhiles (Orson, Alex, etc.)...I've often heard that the motorcycling scene in Europe is so much more "enlightened" than here in the U.S., e.g. everyone actually rides for transportation, they have so many more bike choices, dual-sports and similar bikes are far more popular, etc.

I also had the impression that cruisers were virtually non-existent over there...but I just got off the phone with a friend who lives in Germany, and (to my amazement and horror) he said Harleys are BIG in Europe. He says Germans think Harleys are THE bike to ride, and are the coolest, baddest, most awesome bike there is!

IS THIS TRUE??? Are Europeans fast in danger of becoming...*gulp*...like Americans: CRUISER JUNKIES???

Apparently the obsession with Harleys parallels the European (possibly global?) obsession with all things "cowboy" in America: the "open road," the "freedom," etc. (gag, gag)

Has HD's marketing juggernaut finally conquered Europe too? Say it isn't so!

Scott

PS - Apparently the Germans are EATING UP that absurd HD commercial that was floating around here a while ago...the one with all the "stick it to the man" talk that shows a bunch of HD clones riding down some desert highway together...

[bizarro]

Why do you care what Germans ride? They like David Hasselhoff's music and that pretty much tells you all you need to know about their sense of taste.

[keystonejenks]

Why do you care what Germans ride? They like David Hasselhoff's music and that pretty much tells you all you need to know about their sense of taste.

 

[Gaolee]

It will be the end of Harley if the French decide they are cool.  The French probably don't think Buells are weird enough.  I love the French.  They make me look like I have good taste.

[Global Rider]

I also had the impression that cruisers were virtually non-existent over there...but I just got off the phone with a friend who lives in Germany, and (to my amazement and horror) he said Harleys are BIG in Europe. He says Germans think Harleys are THE bike to ride, and are the coolest, baddest, most awesome bike there is!

Scott, the makeup of bikes on the roads there is about even, give or take.

You see all types atop the mountain passes; sport, cruisers, dual purpose and big bore naked bikes that we don't even get here. On the rare side are Honda's ST and GW.

Scott, if your German friends think HD are THE bike...time to pick new friends.   My German friends over there think they are junk, but then they spend their Thursday evenings on the Hockenheim track having fun.

Has HD's marketing juggernaut finally conquered Europe too? Say it isn't so!

It ain't so, not even close. Their market share is peanuts.

[Ant]

There are indeed a lot of cruiser riders both here and on the continent.
However it isn't just HD, there are a lot of the Japanese cruisers around here as well. I think the biggest difference is the attitude, in my experience the cruiser crowd around here just choose to ride a different bike (something some of us forget when the HD bashing starts) and they're always just happy to be on a motorbike. At bike meets it is always a mixture of cruisers and sports bike and dual sports bikes, I'll have to take some photos next time I go to my local. If you nod at a cruiser rider they'll always nod back etc

There doesn't seem to be the same elitist culture in either camps (sports/cruiser), just different choices when it comes to what and how they want to ride
Fair play to 'em!

That being said, I'd say there isn't much danger of us abandoning the Japanese/European brands any time soon in favour of cruisers

[Real Bad Attitude]

It will be the end of Harley if the French decide they are cool.  The French probably don't think Buells are weird enough.  I love the French.  They make me look like I have good taste.

Not sure that ever could of happened  

[Ant]

You see all types atop the mountain passes; sport, cruisers, dual purpose and big bore naked bikes that we don't even get here. On the rare side are Honda's ST and GW.

 

[atypical1]

I also had the impression that cruisers were virtually non-existent over there...but I just got off the phone with a friend who lives in Germany, and (to my amazement and horror) he said Harleys are BIG in Europe. He says Germans think Harleys are THE bike to ride, and are the coolest, baddest, most awesome bike there is!

IS THIS TRUE??? Are Europeans fast in danger of becoming...*gulp*...like Americans: CRUISER JUNKIES???

Methinks you need to stop thinking about and caring about what other folks ride. I mean it just doesn't really matter does it? You seem overly obsessed with what others do and I am trying to figure out why. I mean is work slow or something?  

I can see the attraction of a HD in Europe. Not for around town necessarily but when I wanted to cruise around in the country. It would certainly be a nice departure from the scooter that I would normally ride in town. It would also be something unique in a sea of sameness. In the US it is just the opposite though. Most bikes are cruisers so to be unique you have to ride something different than a cruiser.

Frankly I am at the point where I am thinking about a cruiser if for no other reason than to piss off you guys on "traditional" touring bikes.   Well, maybe I won't go that far but still. Hmmmm...maybe I will rent one for WCRM 4.5


james

[Jake Harsha]

Who cares?  

[Ant]

Who cares?  

Why post if you don't care?

[Jake Harsha]

Why post if you don't care?

It was a rhetorical question intended to voice my displeasure...  Just getting sick of the Harley Obsession that seems to have developed over the last few weeks here on ST.N.



Jake

[UFO]

So what?  You're way too obsessed about it—calm down.  Why do you care?

 

[Ant]

It was a rhetorical question intended to voice my displeasure...  Just getting sick of the Harley Obsession that seems to have developed over the last few weeks here on ST.N.



Jake

It wasn't a dig at you... just an observation. Harleys are motorbikes though last time I checked so they have as much place here as anything else! As far as I could tell this wasn't a "OMG HARLEY SUXORS" thread and more an observation about the differences in biking culture between Europe and the States. Why certain bikes are available in certain markets and whats popular and why etc

[Ant]

So what?  You're way too obsessed about it—calm down.  Why do you care?

 

There is always one  

[Jake Harsha]

#5 Get a life.  

[chornbe]

Has HD's marketing juggernaut finally conquered Europe too? Say it isn't so!

Why do you care?  

[Rogue]

I can't remember which UK mag it was.  Ride?  TWO?

It was a comparison among three:  H-D Roadking vs Honda Goldwing vs BMW R1200RT.

They all chose the H-D Roadking.

I think that many of you people, meaning those here on ST.net, seem to believe that what is said about motorcycles here in ST.net is gospel.  In addition, I'm sure many here will believe that the overall taste and attitudes of bikers here on ST.net is a good representation of most everyone else.  That is so far from the truth.  Riders on ST.net or who subscribe to the ST.net philosphy is but a small portion of the overall motorcycling community in N.A.  Remember that over 60% of the bikers in N.A. ride cruisers and most of that is H-D.  Like it or not, there is a certain mystique to H-D motorcycles you just can't get anywhere else.  It has nothing to do with pirate clothing or chrome.  It has everything to do with a product that contains certain intangible characteristics.  In my opinion. a H-D motorcycle brings forth a raw emotion that I like to call "Freedom".  Freedom is not really an emotion but a noun.  Yet, whenever I see H-D it brings forth those feelings that reminds me of being free in a great land.  It is that freedom to ride anywhere; freedom to roam around a huge continent; freedom to pursue happiness without anyone messing with you.  In a way it represents America--its land, its people, its history.  Some may call it feeling like a cowboy.  Yes!  H-D puts this flavor into their bikes by making their motorcycles feel cool, composed, relaxed, and confident.  That's what H-D motorcycles represent to me.  I think it is what many Europeans feel about H-D's too.  It is in essence, motorcycling in its most raw form being enjoyed in a vast, free land with big skies, big roads, beautiful scenery, with roads that go on forever, alongside your fellow brothers in bikes.  

Of course, other people have twisted that attitude into different niches.  Others hate it for whatever reason.  But I think H-D "owns" that attitude and it is buried deep into the personalities of their motorcycles.  And for those people who desire the same type of freedom, no other motorcycle can claim that attitude because they're NOT H-D nor do they have its history.  

In the meantime, H-D is able to give this attitude to its customers in a modern, well behaved, refined & muscular (notice I didn't use the word fast) motorcycle.  No matter what you all think, today's H-D's are as modern as any.  No.  It doesn't have the performance of an Agusta F4 nor an FJR 1300.  That's because it is never meant to be nor is it a desire of its customers.

[SWriverstone]

My initial concern wasn't anti-Harley...but that the good European balance of ALL types of motorcycles that Ant, Orson and Alex spoke of could very well be destroyed if Harley has their way.

We all know that cruisers in the US make up...what?...something like 80% of the motorcycle market? I don't hate cruisers...but I do hate a monoculture of anything. We all know that HD has a VERY powerful marketing machine (far more powerful than any of the Japanese or European brands). And we all know what happens when that kind of marketing gets exported: the "McDonaldization" of the world. (Just look around and you'll see it in plenty of other industries.)

Some folks trot out NSR#2: So what? (Meaning so what if all of Europe goes Harley-crazy?) Well, in case you've never learned anything about the world, diversity is good! Monocultures are bad. (In food crops as well as motorcycles.)

So that's where my original post came from—nothing against HD, but just a concern that one day we could go to Europe and see nothing but black-leather-clad, tassle-bedecked cruisers everywhere from the Alps to the Via Appia Antica to the Welsh countryside! (Think it won't happen? Nobody thought it would happen in the US either before the first UJM appeared...)

Scott

[SWriverstone]

In my opinion. a H-D motorcycle brings forth a raw emotion that I like to call "Freedom".  Freedom is not really an emotion but a noun.  Yet, whenever I see H-D it brings forth those feelings that reminds me of being free in a great land.  It is that freedom to ride anywhere; freedom to roam around a huge continent; freedom to pursue happiness without anyone messing with you.  In a way it represents America--its land, its people, its history.  Some may call it feeling like a cowboy.  Yes!  

I'm sure you'll disagree with me Rogue...but everything you just said is a result of one thing: MARKETING. That's the entire purpose of marketing: to sell an idea—not a product. Plant an idea in peoples' minds...and they associate it with a product and buy it. It's got nothing to do with the product, and everything to do with HD's marketing people!

People generally hate to admit they've been manipulated...but if Yamaha had started pounding the same "Freedom of the Open Road" message about their bikes decades ago, then you'd be saying the exact same things about Yamaha today!

 

Scott