#1 seller of bikes over 650cc to the 18-34 crowd?

[atadaskew]

Discuss.

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/2011/04/harley-davidson-courts-the-youth-market-seems-confident-about-future/

.... what’s the best-selling brand of streetbikes to 18-34-year-old buyers? Honda, with its CBRs? Kawasaki, with its friendly Ninja 250R and race-winning ZX-6R? Surely, then, it must be Yamaha, because what red-blooded 21-year-old wouldn’t want to blast off down the road on the svelte and sexy YZF-R6?
Wrong, wrong, and wrong. The correct answer is actually Harley-Davidson.

Weird, most peeps here say it's only old geezers buying them....

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose

[chilipeppernorm]

I question the premise on two points. One, except for the Sportser exactly what in the line-up price wise or appeal wise is there for the youth market? Buell was just getting it's feet set in the batter's box on this one when HD threw them in trash bin. Seems to me that the Sporty is the only "sport like" choice if you want an HD, and the number of 1000cc + twins in various configurations from Europe that will flog the Sportser on virtually every level including comfort, acceleration, braking, handling, and quality is quite large. Second, if HD is capturing the youth market, they must be buying and riding their new Harley's somewhere else other than the SF Bay Area cause I'm not seeing them.

[gradus]

Of course the #1 seller of bikes over 650cc isn't going to be the ZX-6R or YZF-R6.  

[xdavemanx]

Of course the #1 seller of bikes over 650cc isn't going to be the ZX-6R or YZF-R6.  

I facepalmed so hard at these figures I lost teeth.

Rerun the demographics at "250cc and up" and see what happens.

[atadaskew]

Of course the #1 seller of bikes over 650cc isn't going to be the ZX-6R or YZF-R6.  

 

 

[gritsngravy]

The split second  the heavy rains stopped  here in Nor Cal I was impressed with the sheer number of late model sport bikes that appeared in my neighborhood.   R1's, GSXR's, CBR's etc were out in force, nice machines with upgraded exhausts, wheels etc.   Had no idea so many guys had such nice rides tucked away.   Most of my neighbors are in their late 30's and 40's so maybe the tide has turned and the youth have discovered life in the slow lane.  

[Blunder]

I'd say it's about 50/50 around here. If the younger crowd that favors cruisers can't afford a Harley they've got their older Shadows, V-Stars and the like. The other half has the typical sportbike, usually blinged out with carbon fiber stickers, fender eliminators, neon lights and stuff.

One thing the majority of the younger crowd does have in common with each other is a marked inability to ride for more than an hour before having to pull off to the side of the road for unknown reasons. I think they have to socialize, or something. They also don't venture far from town. There is some of the best motorcycling in the world to be had around here but locals who grew up and lived their entire lives here can be heard to exclaim, "I've never been on this road before."  

[Jet Jock]

There are 3 kinds of lies:

White Lies

Damn Lies

Statistics

This is the latter.

Using statistics I can prove to you that Rhode Island is bigger than Texas.

By choosing 650cc for this, they've biased it BIG TIME to the HD side of things. Make it 599cc and the numbers would be profoundly different.

Gee, wonder who paid for this survey? Three guesses and the first two not beginning with "HD" don't count.

[DogBoy]

By choosing 650cc for this, they've biased it BIG TIME to the HD side of things. Make it 599cc and the numbers would be profoundly different.

Or even 649cc as the Ninja 650 engine is 649cc and the SV650 is 645cc.

[Kootenanny]

Make it 599cc and the numbers would be profoundly different.

You got any numbers to prove that?  Oh, gee, of course--you don't need to actually check, because you just know it's true!

You're apparently making assumptions about the youth market, and that mythical "I'm under 30 and MUST have a SUPERGSXRZZRRXX1500 sport bike" mentality is presumed to be hard-wired into every human brain at that age..? Mayhaps a discussion with some of the bike-buying youth in question would yield results of understanding.

I'm with frenchie, youse guys are making assumptions and talking out your asses.  The results of a survey don't line up with your beliefs, so...the survey must be wrong!

[Galo]

 

[BamaBiker]

I'm with frenchie, youse guys are making assumptions and talking out your asses.  The results of a survey don't line up with your beliefs, so...the survey must be wrong!
[/quote]

Its not that the survey is wrong, just that the guidelines biased the results.

[kevin_stevens]

I can't pull a single specific statistic out of that mess to agree OR disagree with.  They define the age group in one place, then some stat from 2006 in another, then say "all street models in 2008".  Then there's "market leader" vs "best-selling brand", which don't mean the same thing and they may actually mean "best-selling MODEL", which I could believe the Sportster is.

If Harley wants to convince itself or its shareholders it has a bright growth market going, that's fine, it doesn't affect me one way or the other.  

KeS

[Blunder]

Language.  

[Snowbird]

I thought for sure the answer was going to be Moto Guzzi.  

[JSharp]

I see a preview of their next product in the article. You can go 'riding' without leaving your garage. This should be a big hit with the 700 miles a year crowd -

That’s why a program called “Jumpstart” seems particularly effective. It’s a setup that allows aspirational consumers to “ride” a fully-functioning motorcycle strapped down to a stationary frame. They can start it up, shift the gears and gun the throttle without being tossed down the road. The rigs are in dealerships, but H-D’s people also take them to events like concerts, Ultimate Fighting Championship matches, or other extreme sporting events.

I've heard them described as not fast enough to throw you off. I guess they've made improvements...

[Bravo12]

"over 650cc" excludes the enormous amount of 600cc sportbikes sold to that demographic.

[919]

I have no problem with their numbers, if they say that is true and it is; doesn't effect me.  If they say their numbers are true and they are lying; doesn't effect me.

Are the parameters of their study specifically designed so that they could look good to investors?  What company doesn't?

 I will never forget the first day of my first statistics class when the professor described the art (not science) of statistics as "The dark art of mathematics".  There are rules in statistics just as in any other concentration of mathematics, however in statistics you pick and choose which rules you want to imploy and which you want to ignore in order to keep the data you want and get rid of the data that disproves your intended result.  

Some statisticians do not have an intended result in mind of course, they put together the parameters before hand like a true scientist and then see how the data fits together and what conclusions can be made.  Then a company like H-D can come along, look at it, and say "get rid of any bikes under 650cc becuase anything less than 650cc is not really a direct comparison to what we have to offer", then the conclusions of the study change to make share holders happy.

Like I said before, doesn't affect me.  I don't believe statistics unless I see all the data and the parameters through which it was pressed through.  When ice cream sales increase so does the murder rate; therefore ice cream is the cause of murder.

[SalsaShark]

A couple of things I found interesting

according to H-D’s data, which shows the number of 18-34 year-old riders is actually growing.

- well now we know who paid for the results

H-D became number one with young adults in the heavyweight (650cc and bigger, and yes, it includes dual-sports) category in 2006, and added all street models to its trophy case starting in 2008.

- 2006? Ok... 5 year old data?

Incidentally, I can’t confirm any of this data with the Motorcycle Industry

- So what good is it if it can't be validated?

These types of surveys always make me laugh. If you define the criteria by a strict enough standard, you get the results you want.  

Always reminds me of this:

[Geoff]

You're apparently making assumptions about the youth market, and that mythical "I'm under 30 and MUST have a SUPERGSXRZZRRXX1500 sport bike" mentality is presumed to be hard-wired into every human brain at that age..? Mayhaps a discussion with some of the bike-buying youth in question would yield results of understanding.

Good point. Folks who are obsessed with a sportbike mentallity will never appreciate Harleys.