No doubt. Apparently HD thinks "loud and obnoxious" is a good enough substitute for "powerful", because a typical Hog will lose a drag race with a minivan.
Any company that can sell essentially the same product, with new paint, for more money every year, for 100 years, has to be doing something right I suppose.
I keep waiting for resale values to plummet, when people figure out they've been duped, but it never happens.
When the post AMF days management, went to the investment bankers on Wall St. seeking funding to turn HD Motor Co. into an employee owned enterprise, one of the possible investors remarked to other bankers that; "Harley" is the only brand people are willing to tattoo on their arm. "That's loyalty". They got the money, the rest is history (leaving out the tariff wars).
Reliabilty? My Springer has 63,000 miles on it. The speedo cable broke twice and the negative ground on the battery broke once. That's about it. My wife's 94 Low Rider has 40,000 miles and has had the base gaskets replaced twice, under warranty, because Harley tried to cheap their way out. Once the bike had James base gaskets installed and the case decked, as it should have been the first time, the base gaskets stopped leaking
I've ridden to Canada twice, Every state on the East Coast, down to Key West and New Orleans. Heading out to what's left of Rt 66 in June
Some cars should be reliable as Harley's. But it's like anything else, don't take care of it, and you'll have a piece of crap on your hands.
Of course, some folks just don't like Harley's no matter what. It's a matter of taste I suppose.
Ahem, I have to take issue with you on your point of horsepower. I have a 2000 Buell Lightning. Buell is a newer sportbike made by Harley. Mine has a Sportster 1200 and boasts 102 horsepower. This baby has more low-end getup and go than any of my old Jap Bikes: KZ-1000, Ninja 750, CBR 600 and CBR 1000.
Spoken like a man who knows absolutely nothing about modern Harley-Davidsons.