If American blue-collar workers were the source of much of HDs market, you’d have a point.
Unfortunately, HD began pricing their bikes out of that range long ago.
Increasingly, HDs are becoming “high-end” purchases relegated to those with high discretionary income or those willing to make the sacrafice.
Neither of those groups is doing particularly well in this economy.
Maybe the cost of those “well paid manufacturing workers” has some bearing on HDs price points?
I'm not so sure about that anymore. Most of the H.O.G. folks I know are very upscale, Mercedes Benz type people nowadays.
Blue collar workers, tend to buy older bikes, or S&S bikes, custom bikes etc. Much more bang for the buck if you are informed, and most blue collar folks tend to be informed about bikes and the like.
Plus, the last Harley I bought new (1992) had more imported parts on it than my Nissan. Yes, it was “assembled” here, but almost everything was imported.
Decisions like that have turned allot of blue collar folks off to Harley.
My wife quipped that Harley riders of late tend to be white collar managers, who think that being blue collar is somehow “romantic and nostalgic”.
The only notable exception to this would seem to be Vietnam era vets (who are very loyal to brand), but they too seem to regularly buy used as opposed to buying new for the most part (and they quickly pull off the foreign exhausts and trim and replace them with American parts). Just my thoughts on it, I'm sure the flames await.
How are you enjoying the collaspe your policies brought us? Curious minds would like to know what yall free trading, out sourcing is good, Chicoms lovers are thinking?