Not just E-Bikes — a lot of E-Scooters as well (the kind you stand on). Noticed a lot in the subways in Asia these days and even in the villages in Europe. The ability to just fold down the handle bar into a flat compact board and wheel it onto a bus or train is really compelling to a lot of new users. Just yesterday on the MRT a person was sitting with the e-scooter folded and vertical between their legs basically completely within their own physical footprint — can’t do that with any bike formfactor
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talk about freedom vs. “freedom”. 
Unlike in the EU, H-D riding Americans do have freedom. They can ride with no shirt and no helmet wearing flip-flops.
Sturgis accidents 2025 - not gorey, just sad.
Ditullo: I thought the same thing. Maybe lower sales, but sports bikes are making up a bigger share of the smaller pie?
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It seems to be a little more complicated:
What States Have Motorcycle Helmet Laws? | Law Tigers.
Most US state laws require riders to wear a helmet.
I think this is based on necessity, most Latin American and Asian Countries do not have a good transportation system, and yet some superbikes can be sold to enthusiasts, yet there’s not enough public for H-D kind of bikes.
They should get their bikes redesigned or pivot into something that can actually use and afford those big strong motors.
You make a compelling point. I was speaking in terms of HD here in the USA. In general, our winters have always made motorcycles an impossible transportation choice in our northern areas. At all times, in our cities, we have gridlock. And while navigating through gridlock is possible on a 2 wheels, it is much more dangerous than sitting in an SUV. I am in Texas, and the temperatures are generally too hot to enjoy riding motorcycles. I always expect HD to go bankrupt - the amount of people buying motorcycles in the USA is not very large, and there are many more OEMs that make better motorcycles than HD. HD knows that it is more a cultural phenomena than a viable alternative to an SUV.
I am surprised they made it this long. I am a 43 year old diehard Harley enthusiast with enough disposable income to purchase anything they make. The problem is they haven’t made a bike i’d even be remotely interested in purchasing since 1994. Miserable product design failure. Don’t get me started on the marketing.
Good thing for people like me you can get any Harley you want for pennies on the dollar in the secondary market. Ridiculously cheap.
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HD still probably has a decent fuel-to-noise conversion ratio, especially on the used market.
Another take on the decline - Harley-Davidson Dealerships Are Shutting Down Across America: Here's Why
My take away from that article @iab is that their unit sales are down but their average transaction dollar amount is way up so it is somewhat masking what seems to be some major structural issues.
Fewer units sales means a fewer number of sales commissions which means fewer sales people, leading to a smaller footprint.
I’d also assume those larger dollar transactions are going to richer, older customers which means the brand is not in a healthy spot long term. always sad when you see an icon slowly fade. Overall US ridership continues to decline so it doesn’t seem like there is much of a path for them.
Every few weeks I meet up with 15-25 other industrial designers (mostly Nike/Adidas/Under Armour and Hoka designers, but also a fair amount of independents like me) at a motorcycle themed coffee shop here in Portland, https://www.onemotopdx.com . There is always a rotating roster of bikes in the shop. What is in the front window right now? An electric motorcycle.
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I asked a fellow designer and HD enthusiast (has at least three of varying vintages) the questions in this topic, and his take was surprising. It’s that the design sucks. Not just that big American road machines are losing their demographic, but that even for their typical buyers or owners, the designs are flabby, heavy, inelegant. I think he said the only model worth looking at was the Road King. But the Nightster was a travesty. Something about “the Puma guy” they put in charge which screwed up the styling.
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Hmmm. I agree they look heavy, but they have always been large. I’m impressed at the attention to detail on the different elements, exhaust, headlight surround, engine though. Always hard to evaluate a category that is so out of my wheel house.
My wheelhouse is bicycles, specifically Italian bicycles. As most of you don’t know, Campagnolo, an Italian components brand, is laying off 40% of their workforce because of a 24 million euro loss over the last 2 years.
I mention this because back in 2014/2015 they announced they are a luxury brand, no mid and lower tier products. You cannot have a functional brand, like Harley or Campagnolo, survive without new customers. An image brand can be “luxury” - fashion, scents, jewelry, even some automobiles, etc. Won’t work for power tools, bicycles, motorcycles and other functional items.
So HD will go the way of Campagnolo if they don’t get young people buying into the brand. Heritage and high cost is no way to attract new people.
And maybe it doesn’t work in automobiles either. The CEO of Porsche said recently their business model no longer works (anyone want to spend $1k on an upgrade for, checks notes, colored logos?).
Don’t forget the company was about to go out of business until it launched the Boxster, a cheap(er) entry product. And the Panamara and Macan were making the bulk of the sales for a bit, but all of those products got much more expensive with successive generations.
Interesting. I wonder if Porsche is the canary? Car culture is going the way of the dinosaur, atmo, not attracting young people. I have wondered how Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lambo, etc would survive. Maybe their demise will be quicker than I thought?
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I would have assumed (incorrectly) that it was due to Campagnolo opting to mold their signature parts in carbon fiber instead of sticking with their lovely forged aluminum components. That’s perhaps just a symptom of the larger strategy and one that preempts the viability of prior good-quality lines like Athena or Veloce. I’ve seen a handful of new bikes spec’d with Ekar but (like Porsche and prob H-D) who will service it, who has spares.
I remember the ex Cadillac head talking about how it will be hard to differentiate EVs. Now, I’m surprised at how little companies are trying to distinguish their EVs. I still see gas car commercials with trucks going through mud. I see gas car racing. Put some passion into it.
As for H-D…kinda surprising that they never made an entry brand. I feel like the Italians uses to have a motorcycle brand for every budget, why not H-D?
Porsche, it’s hard, but why did VW never have a Seat - handling by Porsche or something? It feels like there could be some cross branding somewhere that would have helped both brands.