American Thinker:
By Thomas Lifson
I can’t think of a worse example of a corporate CEO misreading his customer base than this via the Robb Report (Hat tip: Ed Driscoll, Instapundit)
“At some point in time, Harley Davidson will be all-electric,” the executive [Harley-Davidson CEO Jochen Zeitz] recently told Dezeen. “But that’s a long-term transition that needs to happen. It’s not something you do overnight.”
Zeitz’s pronouncement seems guaranteed to make a not-insignificant portion of the manufacturer’s customer base cringe. For many enthusiasts, the thing that really sets a Harley apart from other motorcycles—American-made or otherwise—is a thunderously loud internal combustion engine. But the company knows that no matter how important those large-displacement mills might be change is on the horizon.
Maybe by “long term” he means several generations from now. If not, this is a surefire recipe for disaster. MORE
I think I’m gonna buy put options in HD.
Does the guy even ride?
He obviously doesn’t know his customer.
Can you picture the tree hugging soy boys riding a Harley?
My Harley owning brother will be shaking his head.
Live Wire 1: $23,000 Canuckistan
Del Mar Version: $17,000 C
Pink Dildo for the top of your helmet: Free with Purchase
Good Luck!
Maybe they’ll put a few subwoofers in the fake tailpipes?
Too many idiots have most of the money and power…
I’m picturing the reactions from Hell’s Angels and other similar m/c gangs. 😂😂😂
If it’s not shaking bolts loose while idling at a stop light or in your driveway, it’s not a Hogley.
Are they gonna offer those little tassel things for the hand grips too?
They should get their bankruptcy forms filled out now because that’s where this is headed. It will save them time.
The deep V-Twin rumble replaced with a Singer sewing machine “zzz-zzz-zzz”?
I’d check out an Indian or an older bike. Which will undoubtedly become more expensive soon.
Harleys are overpriced and mystique-heavy for some unknown reason anyway; about time they Dicks’ed themselves.
How will they duplicate the puddle of oil in your garage floor?
Harley-Davidson must have a death wish. Currently they sell about one thousand electric motorcycles per year. Back about 20 years ago they were selling about 350,000 motorcycles a year. Now less than half that. Even aside from their dumb LiveWire bikes, the new Nightster is absolutely hideous. I mean, I have been around motorcycling for over 50 years, and it is the ugliest bike I have ever seen. NO ONE will buy it.
Go woke, go broke.
Harleys ceased being motorcycles when they replaced the chain with a rubber band…
@beachmom,
“Can you picture the tree hugging soy boys riding a Harley?”
Nope, that’s why they’re going electric. CEO actually DOES know his incoming customer base.
However, one critical mis-step in an effort to pander to soy boys. 99.9995% of them will never slide their ass on any motorcycle, even if it is so-called “climate friendly.” This generation does not take risk unless it involves removing or adding parts that define gender. Even then, they’ve been convinced it’s risk-free and completely reversible with no side-effects.
ecp
“If it’s not shaking bolts loose while idling at a stop light or in your driveway, it’s not a Hogley.”
If it shakes apart and leaks oil, it’s the loose nut on the seat.
When my son started rider a motorcycle, I asked him, “Which car is trying to run over you?”
He looked around at the cars, I said, “All of them”.
Vaughn Beals brought HD back from the dead with his “made in America” attitude. It was on it’s deathbed.
Now some eurotrash globalist shitbird will euthanize it for good.
Does it come with cloths pins and a deck of playing cards?
And a pack of baseball cards.
Harley hasn’t been your grandpa’s motorcycle for decades. They know their customer base.
I have a Harley. I have never met another Harley owner that is the least bit interested in an electric motorcycle.
Can you imagine trying to make the most basic motorcycle run (like Daytona or Sturgis) with an electric. You’d never get there from here or anywhere else.
This would cater nicely to the woke Hell’s Angels segment, dressed in their pastel color jackets?
Weren’t they owned by a bowling ball company a while back?
First of all, does anyone seriously think that gasoline motorcycles are really a climate issue???
Yeah I know… the climate zealots do!
Secondly, not including the Iron Asses out there, motorcycles for the most part are recreational.
Third, the demographics for Harley are getting older and selling them.
What this tells me is that they can’t compete with the other bike manufacturers so they’re going after the low hanging fruit(s) by trying to be “Earth Friendly” with a bike that is lighter, tamer and less intimidating. The fact that a traditional Harley thunders and shakes like a goat shitting tin cans is the culture and not a problem that needs to be solved.
Motorcycles ALREADY act as roadway cloaking devices as most drivers do not see them at all.
Now you want to take away the SOUND, so there’s no chance to HEAR them either?
…good luck with that…
*Every motorcycle accident scene (when the biker is not dead, unconcious, or in chunks)*
Harley Rider: “Is my bike OK?”
Every other brand: “FUCKING BIKE! LOOK WHAT IT DID TO MY LEG!”
Leftist Electric Harley owners will have to resort to installing game cards and having them flap against the spokes like we did with our bikes in the 50s.
“Now you want to take away the SOUND, so there’s no chance to HEAR them either?”
SNS – that’s why each customer will get a kazoo.
CJ
JANUARY 23, 2023 AT 12:58 PM
‘“Now you want to take away the SOUND, so there’s no chance to HEAR them either?”
SNS – that’s why each customer will get a kazoo.’
…makes sense, seeing as how people who’d ride electric motorcycles probably ARE quite experienced at blowing things…
English Bob: The First Harleys ran belts.
SNS – LOL
What are the rice burner builders going to do now???
HD, you just went full retard, man. Never go full retard.
The new bumper sticker: Watchout for motorcycle fires!!
After I left Triumphs in the ’70s it’s been Harleys. ’76 Sporty, ’84 Sporty, 2000 Road King, and my current 2010 Softail Deluxe. Loved them all. No shaking or oil problems. The Softail is so sweet, it is the bike I always wanted and the one that I will always have.
Fur, appreciate the stained glass Harley window!
Elam Blacktree,
Do you remember the “Rocker C” 2007-08 – HIDEOUS
Screamed poser accountant/dentist/ mostly without chrome or a bitch seat (didn’t need one)
Great! I won’t have to hear that ear-splitting racket any more!
The Japanese proved you can make a fast and powerful motorcycle under 80 decibels.
Dumped my Harley years ago for a BMW (sad)
Shouldn’t be surprised they would take the ultimate moron decision’
RIP Harley (Winnebago has kept them afloat for years, not any more)
I’ve helped many friends over the years work on their Harleys.
They always ask me why I never bought one.
Hardly Davidson’s.
Young me today are pussys, dressing like women or riding tandem on scooters. The machismo of a Harley is beyond them. All good things come to an end.
SNS is right, those loud exhausts are a safety feature, they let inattentive drivers know there’s a motorcycle in the vicinity. Sometimes up to a mile away.
That would make it a HINO.
Harley In Name Only
What happened, AMF buy back Harley?
On my 3 day “retirement” weekends, I ride 300 mile a day…. trips out in the beautiful bucolic mountains of vagina.
When I was younger it was 600 miles a day.
A piece of shit electric wouldn’t do the short ride. What would one do if out of juice 100 miles in? Plug into a cow?
The dude is asinine or more likely, just pandering…he can’t be that stupid….unless he’s working undercover for the competition.
I always wanted a murder cycle, never got one.
Now they come out with a silent electric suicide model.
Now that’s innovation by woke mandate.
I guess the best they will be able to do is a digital audio version of their trademark sound.
At Bike Week 8 years ago I test drove all of the Harleys and all of the Indians. I told my buddies that when my 06 ElectraGlide need replacing it would be with an Indian. My E-Glide has 120K miles on it and it is stronger than when I bought it. When it had 30K on it I upgraded the cam when I had the cam shoes upgraded. I also had a few other upgrades that were to ensure longevity. This 06 still has the original clutch and transmission. It is burning about 3/4 of a quart between oil changes now so an 88ci to 96ci bore with pistons and headwork may occur in a year or two. I expect to get a quarter of a million miles out of her.
Instead of “Born to be Wild” as their theme song, the new electric Barely-Davidson’s theme music will be;
https:// youtube/ 39KSHnroimY