Wranglers a lot like Harleys

[FUHL]

2016 Beta Xtrainer 300 2-stroke.

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[mazeppa]

@FUHL
I was checking the specs on your bike out, very nice.

"Smaller Than a 125cc Motocross Bike But With 300cc Power"

 

[FUHL]

@FUHL
I was checking the specs on your bike out, very nice.

"Smaller Than a 125cc Motocross Bike But With 300cc Power"

It is such a fun bike on single track mountain trails.
I have a lot of videos on YouTube.

 

[Capt-Zoom]

Im more a motorcycle guy and just purchased my 3rd wrangler. I swear to god Jeep has a gold mine on its hand with the massive never ending consumer base purchasing aftermarket equipment. I wonder from a dollars sense who rakes in more dough in the end. I mean I dont see any other brands close to the brand loyalty these two guys have in the business. Most like high end like Ferrari, lambo or high end bmw or merecedes just dont have the massive volume Jeep and Harley push out. I would say Harley has an edge with event promotions like sturgis, rallies and just harley related events at bars, dealerships etc and selling the lifestyle. logistically Harleys have an edge because you can easily fit hundreds of thousands of bikes in sturgis vs trucks or at local events and watering holes. But man Wrangler brand and customer support is impressive.

God help us but no. HD is losing customers faster than you can shake a stick at. Aging out and leaving for better designed bikes and better customer service. Melennials as a group hate everything hd represents. Hd is closing factories and will likely need another government bailout in the next decade.

 

[mazeppa]

God help us but no. HD is losing customers faster than you can shake a stick at. Aging out and leaving for better designed bikes and better customer service. Melennials as a group hate everything hd represents. Hd is closing factories and will likely need another government bailout in the next decade.

I’m now a 62 year old kid, that started riding a minibikes around 10, sold my last bike a couple of years ago. I had several types of motorcycles through the years from off road to touring, even had a two HD Road Kings that were very nice bikes for their intended purpose. Except for the two HD all of the other bikes I have owned were Japanese or European (Axis Bikes). I probably will not ever own another motorcycle except maybe an around town scoter. I do keep up with the current motorcycle offerings by various manufactures and there are several bikes that I wish were offered 10-20 years ago, nothing HD offers interest me. I really hope HD can survive, but I my opinion HD needs to wipe the slate clean and start manufacturing motorcycles that are completely different, lighter, handle better, and have real brakes, the Easy Rider days are over.

 

[Todkavonic]

I’m now a 62 year old kid, that started riding a minibikes around 10, sold my last bike a couple of years ago. I had several types of motorcycles through the years from off road to touring, even had a two HD Road Kings that were very nice bikes for their intended purpose. Except for the two HD all of the other bikes I have owned were Japanese or European (Axis Bikes). I probably will not ever own another motorcycle except maybe an around town scoter. I do keep up with the current motorcycle offerings by various manufactures and there are several bikes that I wish were offered 10-20 years ago, nothing HD offers interest me. I really hope HD can survive, but I my opinion HD needs to wipe the slate clean and start manufacturing motorcycles that are completely different, lighter, handle better, and have real brakes, the Easy Rider days are over.

I'm confused. You currently don't ride and you acknowledge that you'll probably never buy another motorcycle, but you're also disinterested in Harley, ergo, they should completely revamp their iconic brand because you personally don't care for their products? Does that seem a little, um, extreme? May I humbly suggest that you go to a dealership and take one out for a spin? They're much, much nicer than they used to be. Like leaps and bounds nicer. You may be surprised. Disclaimer: I'm not a Harley guy (had a sportster in college) but I am an avid rider. Despite this I had the exact same reaction at a Harley dealer recently as I had when I test-drove my JL---Wow! These are MUCH better than they used to be!

 

[mazeppa]

I'm confused. You currently don't ride and you acknowledge that you'll probably never buy another motorcycle, but you're also disinterested in Harley, ergo, they should completely revamp their iconic brand because you personally don't care for their products? Does that seem a little, um, extreme? May I humbly suggest that you go to a dealership and take one out for a spin? They're much, much nicer than they used to be. Like leaps and bounds nicer. You may be surprised. Disclaimer: I'm not a Harley guy (had a sportster in college) but I am an avid rider. Despite this I had the exact same reaction at a Harley dealer recently as I had when I test-drove my JL---Wow! These are MUCH better than they used to be!

HD does manufacture very nice bikes now, the newer models are advanced and improved compare to the older bikes. I have friends and acquaintances that currently own and ride them. If I were in the market now HD does not manufacture the type of bike that would interest me. I did ride a few different demo HD about 3 years ago, although you really don’t know about a bike until you spend about a month or so riding it, demos are not long enough.

I don’t notice younger people riding HD, but there are many bikes being ridden that I don’t see or notice. I don’t know how many bikes HD sells and to what age demographic. It only my opinion they need to manufacture and market to the newer generation of riders with a job. HD does know a lot more about marketing and their best investment in the their future than I do.

 

[Capt-Zoom]

I'm confused. You currently don't ride and you acknowledge that you'll probably never buy another motorcycle, but you're also disinterested in Harley, ergo, they should completely revamp their iconic brand because you personally don't care for their products? Does that seem a little, um, extreme? May I humbly suggest that you go to a dealership and take one out for a spin? They're much, much nicer than they used to be. Like leaps and bounds nicer. You may be surprised. Disclaimer: I'm not a Harley guy (had a sportster in college) but I am an avid rider. Despite this I had the exact same reaction at a Harley dealer recently as I had when I test-drove my JL---Wow! These are MUCH better than they

I’m now a 62 year old kid, that started riding a minibikes around 10, sold my last bike a couple of years ago. I had several types of motorcycles through the years from off road to touring, even had a two HD Road Kings that were very nice bikes for their intended purpose. Except for the two HD all of the other bikes I have owned were Japanese or European (Axis Bikes). I probably will not ever own another motorcycle except maybe an around town scoter. I do keep up with the current motorcycle offerings by various manufactures and there are several bikes that I wish were offered 10-20 years ago, nothing HD offers interest me. I really hope HD can survive, but I my opinion HD needs to wipe the slate clean and start manufacturing motorcycles that are completely different, lighter, handle better, and have real brakes, the Easy Rider days are over.

Ive been riding for 20 plus years as well. Had 3 hds and a couple of buells. Hd now focuses on yuppie amenities for their trailer queens and tshirts. Will never buy another hd again and consider my last one getting stolen a godsend. Have sinced moved onto better bikes and building my own.

Hd definitely needs to adapt or it will vanish.

 

[bbradshaw14]

I currently own a 2006 Boxster, Sahara wrangler JL and a 2016 street glide special. Each offers a unique and great experience and love them all. I agree Hd has improved but they seem to suffer from barriers to market that have been mentioned. Yes they make cheaper smaller bikes but most people trade them up within a year of riding experience. And you easily find yourself wanting a machine for $25-30k. That is a lotta bucks for something you can only drive part time (at least in my neck of the woods). Couple that to the focus on safety, people texting and driving distracted, corporate America being more demanding on personal time leaving less time to enjoy these things..... I don’t know. Plus a lot of the millennials have seen their parents loose jobs in the recession or whatever and I think they are more adverse to taking on the liability where the last generation had pretty secure jobs and regular raises. Feels like a disaster for HD to me which I hope isn’t the case since a lot of my buddies work there just down the street. Hoping they can turn it around because I love the HD brand.

 

[VolCntry73]

I'll jump in the water here. Back in the day...loved this bike. And REALLY love the Jeep.

 

[Todkavonic]

They’ve weathered worse. Jesus, once upon a time they made golf carts. I wonder if there’s a similar discussion somewhere about Jeeps? Too many yuppie amenities, not sporty enough, they don’t appeal to generation whatever, they’ll probably need another bailout, they better adapt or they’ll go extinct, etc. Or is our iconic brand so different?

 

[word302]

Love my Street Glide. Probably get another HD soon.

 

[Weedwacker]

They’ve weathered worse. Jesus, once upon a time they made golf carts. I wonder if there’s a similar discussion somewhere about Jeeps? Too many yuppie amenities, not sporty enough, they don’t appeal to generation whatever, they’ll probably need another bailout, they better adapt or they’ll go extinct, etc. Or is our iconic brand so different?

They really didn't make golf carts. AMF just pimped out the name for as much as they could. Hell during that time you could buy a H-D HiFi system to rock out to at K-Mart while you were busy getting stoned on your drug of choice too. Everything but the bike with the H-D logo on it came in from China and was absolute crap (including the bikes ). AMF did its damnedest to get every single penny, nickle, and dime out of that deal and didn't give a shit about the company they bought only what the name represented, money.

 

[Todkavonic]

They really didn't make golf carts. AMF just pimped out the name for as much as they could. Hell during that time you could buy a H-D HiFi system to rock out to at K-Mart while you were busy getting stoned on your drug of choice too. Everything but the bike with the H-D logo on it came in from China and was absolute crap (including the bikes ). AMF did its damnedest to get every single penny, nickle, and dime out of that deal and didn't give a shit about the company they bought only what the name represented, money.

Not to quibble over details, because you make some excellent points, but it looks like they started making carts in 1963 and HD wasn’t sold to AMF until 1969 http://www.vintagegolfcartparts.com/harley-davidson-history
(Not sure how much faith I have in the accuracy of this site...) Regardless, we’d agree that Harley has weathered periods of gross mismanagement and had produced and/or had their name on manifestly inferior products, though correct?

 

[Litfuse]

I guess the only similarities I see between a wrangler and a Harley is that they are both heavy and slow.

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