Finally, the Harley Davidson death rattle.....

[Seventy One]

If electric bikes are anything like my experience with cordless tools it'll go like this:

Season 1. Use it ten times. Think it's the greatest thing in the world.
 
Season 2. Try to use it but it's dead so it needs to be charged up. By the time it's charged up it's raining and I don't wanna use it anymore.

Season 3. Plan ahead and charge it up. Go to use it and discover it's still dead and needs a new battery. Go to dealer, learn that they've obsoleted the battery by coming out with a new one that holds an extra 2 volts. New battery requires new charger. The whole shootin' match costs more than a new bike which, unsurprisingly, is in stock and comes with a two year warranty.

Season 4. Go back to the old way of doing things.

Some people thinks carbs are unreliable. I tossed all my cordless power tools a few years ago and haven't been happier. I sure hope H-D isn't planning on selling me an electric bike. 

[Kev m]

I tossed all my cordless power tools a few years ago and haven't been happier.

Cordless tools have only been getting better. Hell we've got a cordless leaf blower, hedge trimmer etc.

Decent stuff.

Oh, not HD, but hmmmm:

https://www.facebook.com/MotoGP/videos/10156556174300769/

[rodekyll]

If electric bikes are anything like my experience with cordless tools it'll go like this:

Season 1. Use it ten times. Think it's the greatest thing in the world.
 
Season 2. Try to use it but it's dead so it needs to be charged up. By the time it's charged up it's raining and I don't wanna use it anymore.

Season 3. Plan ahead and charge it up. Go to use it and discover it's still dead and needs a new battery. Go to dealer, learn that they've obsoleted the battery by coming out with a new one that holds an extra 2 volts. New battery requires new charger. The whole shootin' match costs more than a new bike which, unsurprisingly, is in stock and comes with a two year warranty.

Season 4. Go back to the old way of doing things.

Some people thinks carbs are unreliable. I tossed all my cordless power tools a few years ago and haven't been happier. I sure hope H-D isn't planning on selling me an electric bike. 

I used to feel the same way about electric starters on bikes.  I got over it.

I keep saying in these 'lectrification discussions that NOTHING significant can happen until battery technology is improved and standards set for battery sizes and terminals -- just like AA, AA, C and D cells are all standard.  Until this happens all electric vehicles are operating under the threat of becoming instantly obsolete when the standards do happen.  That's the side of automotive history I don't want to be on.

The battery issue is universal.  It's not a Harley issue and it's not a Tessla issue.  The way to increasing electric vehicle range is to hot-swap batteries at fueling stations.  That can't happen without standardization.

[JeffOlson]

I believe there will always be a market for internal-combustion Harley-Davidson motorcycles, at least in the United States, and at least as long as internal-combustion motorcycles are allowed on the roads. The market may be small, but it will exist.

The key for Harley-Davidson will be to downsize, reduce debt, and make a profit on lower volume. Theoretically, it can be done (possibly with the help of a bankruptcy filing).

[Seventy One]

I used to feel the same way about electric starters on bikes.  I got over it.

I keep saying in these 'lectrification discussions that NOTHING significant can happen until battery technology is improved and standards set for battery sizes and terminals -- just like AA, AA, C and D cells are all standard.  Until this happens all electric vehicles are operating under the threat of becoming instantly obsolete when the standards do happen.  That's the side of automotive history I don't want to be on.

The battery issue is universal.  It's not a Harley issue and it's not a Tessla issue.  The way to increasing electric vehicle range is to hot-swap batteries at fueling stations.  That can't happen without standardization.

I have no intention of ever "getting over" my issues with bad designs or poor reliability. No thanks, I'll let everyone else be beta testers.

Standardization limits innovation.

[rodekyll]

I have no intention of ever "getting over" my issues with bad designs or poor reliability. No thanks, I'll let everyone else be beta testers.

Standardization limits innovation.

I agree about standardization.  Nothing has limited innovation over the last millennium like standardization.  Units of measure, nuts and bolts, tooling, service voltages..... The list is endless.  Technology surged forward in the years before Sam Colt standardized his factory.  Since then, innovation and production has gone into the dumper.  I long for the days when we were free to cut our own threads to whatever pitch our whims dictated.  When no other product or parts were compatible with mine because I marched to my own drummer.  Ah, the good old days!

[JJ]

Meanwhile...at the HD Museum...

[Rough Edge racing]

Cordless tools have only been getting better. Hell we've got a cordless leaf blower, hedge trimmer etc.

Decent stuff.

Oh, not HD, but hmmmm:

https://www.facebook.com/MotoGP/videos/10156556174300769/

 When longer lasting higher power cord less tools came around in the 1990's it changed construction like the hydraulic man lifts did years before...
  I really like the lighter weight lithium battery tools...

 Electric car or bike? Not for me... two years ago I bought my first vehicle made in this century, 03 Chevy truck...

[twowheeladdict]

I hope not. It would be a very sad day...

I have my eye on a new Road King, with wire wheels, white wall tires, hard bags that open and close easily and do not leak, a removable windscreen... Sort of like this one:

Beautiful machine.  I really enjoy my Road King.

[twowheeladdict]

Some of you guys missed the point of the article.  It has nothing to do with a shortage of gasoline.  It has all to do with the weight of Harleys, the age of their buyers/owners, the image of HDs and the sound of HDs.  Like many of us most HDs are too heavy as we age and no electric MC is going to have that potato, potato sound.  Neither are electric bike riders going to have that macho image.  All these things are essential for HD to prosper on.

I exercise 3 hours a day to make sure I am strong enough to continue to ride.

[twowheeladdict]

Odd.

In all my years in motorcycling I've never seen a Harley-Davidson dealer (of NEW bikes) that also had new bikes of other manufacturers, Japanese or otherwise.  I always assumed they were prohibited by contract per H-D, but I never asked.

I have seen USED bikes in a Harley dealership that were not Harleys.

I've seen Kawasaki with Harley quite a lot around the country.  I believe they only sold side by sides, ATV, and watercraft from the Kawasaki line though.  They did keep separate entrances. 

Indian requires a separate entrance at the multi-manufacturer dealers.

[twowheeladdict]

Cordless tools have only been getting better. Hell we've got a cordless leaf blower, hedge trimmer etc.

Decent stuff.

Oh, not HD, but hmmmm:

https://www.facebook.com/MotoGP/videos/10156556174300769/

I have some Kawasaki cordless tools.

[Yukonica]

Cordless tools have only been getting better. Hell we've got a cordless leaf blower, hedge trimmer etc.

Decent stuff.

Oh, not HD, but hmmmm:

https://www.facebook.com/MotoGP/videos/10156556174300769/

Wondered when MotoGP electric bikes would enter into the conversation. Their World Cup was announced today.
Here is the the follow up to the FB trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59ZMMPcnNqY

[Arizona Wayne]

I love MotoGP E ...............now wasn't that exciting?   

[Kev m]

I've seen Kawasaki with Harley quite a lot around the country.  I believe they only sold side by sides, ATV, and watercraft from the Kawasaki line though.  They did keep separate entrances. 

Indian requires a separate entrance at the multi-manufacturer dealers.

Oh they had the bikes only back then, were intermingled, and one entrance.

I wonder what the layout is at the Indian/Guzzi/Motus/Zero dealer in North Jersey?

Those details may vary by state and agreement.

[Rough Edge racing]

 Cycle Stop in Rochester has been a HD dealer and Yamaha dealer since at least the early 1980's I believe... Recently they also  have Triumph and Kawasaki..

  I'm originally from NJ, there was/is a Harley dealer near Newark that sold Yamaha in the 1970's

[Kev m]

Cycle Stop in Rochester has been a HD dealer and Yamaha dealer since at least the early 1980's I believe... Recently they also  have Triumph and Kawasaki..

  I'm originally from NJ, there was/is a Harley dealer near Newark that sold Yamaha in the 1970's

Off the top of my head I remember visiting Harley/multi-brand dealers in PA (the aforementioned one), TN (Knoxville), and Ohio (Upper Sandusky). All set up a bit differently.

But I'm sure there were more, and I've certainly heard of others.

Yeah they became the exception, not the norm, as Harley sales tripled in a decade or so and they had the strength to force many of their dealers into larger floor-plan, stand alone facilities. But I wouldn't be surprised to see more of them crop up with the downturn of the motorcycle market and slippage of Harley sales.

[twowheeladdict]

Off the top of my head I remember visiting Harley/multi-brand dealers in PA (the aforementioned one), TN (Knoxville), and Ohio (Upper Sandusky). All set up a bit differently.

But I'm sure there were more, and I've certainly heard of others.

Yeah they became the exception, not the norm, as Harley sales tripled in a decade or so and they had the strength to force many of their dealers into larger floor-plan, stand alone facilities. But I wouldn't be surprised to see more of them crop up with the downturn of the motorcycle market and slippage of Harley sales.

And some got around it by building a separate Harley store next door or across the street like what I saw in Pensacola and upstate New York.

[Kev m]

And some got around it by building a separate Harley store next door or across the street like what I saw in Pensacola and upstate New York.

Yup I've seen some like that.

The one in Upper Sandusky Ohio had one building, but separate entrances and a wall between most of the metrics and the Harleys, but the wall opened up at the back near the parts counters.

I always wanted a Harley/Guzzi dealer near me.... maybe Harley/Guzzi/Ducati/Triumph - I'd be the most loyal customer ever.

[oldbike54]

 Say mister , I like your Harley Guzzi 

 Dusty

[blackcat]

And some got around it by building a separate Harley store next door or across the street like what I saw in Pensacola and upstate New York.

The owner of the Pensacola dealer sold his Harley dealership to a group out of New Orleans who owns a string of HD dealers and they sell lots of bikes.

Previous owner of HD dealership continues to run the BMW, Indian, Kawasaki......and MG dealership, though Moto Guzzi presence is down to one bike and "we will order you one" at MSRP. 

If anyone is interested, he would probably sell the current business to preserve the profits from the HD sale.

[Kev m]

Say mister , I like your Harley Guzzi 

 Dusty

Maybe I should put Guzzi Eagle decals on the RK?

[JJ]

Maybe I should put Guzzi Eagle decals on the RK?

That is a nice Road King!  Police Bike!! Guzzi eagles would look cool!  Truth be told...I miss my old Road King!   It was a good, all around, "open highway" motorcycle!   I would have no issues getting another one...

[j.r.r.]

Maybe I should put Guzzi Eagle decals on the RK?

Great looking bike Kev, I wouldn't mind to add one to my 'collection' but third bike will not fly 
Now I understand why people asking me what kind of Harley I ride :)

[JJ]

Great looking bike Kev, I wouldn't mind to add one to my 'collection' but third bike will not fly 
Now I understand why people asking me what kind of Harley I ride :)

Funny....I never get asked that question...

[Kev m]

That is a nice Road King!  Police Bike!! Guzzi eagles would look cool!  Truth be told...I miss my old Road King!   It was a good, all around, "open highway" motorcycle!   I would have no issues getting another one...

Yeah, but I'm sure your great white whale is an excellent ride. I totally understand it. Truth be told my RK is a total indulgence as I don't tour as much as I did before a household of kids and a busy wife. But I like having it available, and hell, even a couple hour mid-day ride around here turns into at least 100 miles (of largely straight roads) so no harm.

Great looking bike Kev, I wouldn't mind to add one to my 'collection' but third bike will not fly 
Now I understand why people asking me what kind of Harley I ride :)

Ha ha, the Cal-Vin is quite a looker too, but I get that.

I remember a couple of spontaneous drag races against various Harleys on my Jackal, I always got a thumbs up. And at least one guy on a Softail said "Well, if you had to kick my ass, at least it was Italian" lol.

[JJ]

QUOTE:  Yeah, but I'm sure your great white whale is an excellent ride. I totally understand it.

You don't really appreciate it until you are at least 600 miles or more from home...on the open road.

[Socalrob]

I hope not. It would be a very sad day...

I have my eye on a new Road King, with wire wheels, white wall tires, hard bags that open and close easily and do not leak, a removable windscreen... Sort of like this one:

You should also take a look at the new Heritage model(s) with the 114 CI motor.  Friend of mine who once owned a BMW shop and used to make fun of Harleys is now on his 3rd I believe HD, being the new Heritage model, and says it is an exceptional motorcycle.  He has owned a couple of Road Kings pretty similar to what you posted, and the quick detachable windshield was noted as a great feature.  Personally I think HD has made big strides in the last 5 or so years on suspension and frames. 

[Kev m]

You should also take a look at the new Heritage model(s) with the 114 CI motor.  Friend of mine who once owned a BMW shop and used to make fun of Harleys is now on his 3rd I believe HD, being the new Heritage model, and says it is an exceptional motorcycle.  He has owned a couple of Road Kings pretty similar to what you posted, and the quick detachable windshield was noted as a great feature.  Personally I think HD has made big strides in the last 5 or so years on suspension and frames.

The new Heritage (and most of the new Softails) are a nice step forward in progress for Harley. The motors are robust and reasonably powerful, not ridiculously hot, are smaller and lighter than their predecessors and handle better.

I'm particularly fond of the new Heritage and the new Sport Glide has a lot going for it too.

Though, as strong as the brakes are, I still wish they put duals on them. I can literally haul my RK down from speed with one finger!

[Toecutter]

We can hate on Electric bikes all we want (I do), but facts is facts. Writing is on the wall. The death of the internal combustion engine is coming.  If companies don't get out in front of it... they're going to be playing catch up.