H-D kills off more models ? | Page 14 | GTAMotorcycle.com

H-D kills off more models ?


i-do-not-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means.jpg
 
Because I like taking peoples money....
Speaking of golf.
Update on my grandkids HD stacyc adventures. Mommy took them down the street to a nice park with big hills and sand pits. Kids loved riding the bikes down the hills wfo. Grandson did a big flying w into a sandpit that was sort of hidden beside some really nicely mowed grass.
She sent me a vid of them going crazy. Said to her.... By any chance was this place maybe a golf course? Ooops.
Westmount GC is a very private and very expensive club with great hills for dirt bikes!
 
As a current HD 48 owner, there is nothing in their stable that i would want.

Indian, on the other hand, 2021 line up looks great.

Looking for a SS to add to my garage
Yeah other than "bold new colours" HD hasn't done much. Indian has done much better as is their attention to detail which will help bring over more customers.
 
Yeah other than "bold new colours" HD hasn't done much. Indian has done much better as is their attention to detail which will help bring over more customers.
They are stuck in neutral while other companies moved on . Part of me thinks it's business model. You buy a bike and right away you need to fix the suspension . Then you nee to upgrade the motor . Younger people coming from other brands already have descent suspension and the best motor the company makes . The hesitation to move to liquid cooling is crazy . The emissions will eventually force them into liquid cooling . Part of the hesitation to moving to liquid cooling is . Do they have the mechanics to work on these bikes . Most only have worked on ail cooled. Usually there was one guy per dealer that worked on Vrods .
 
Part of me thinks it's business model.

It's refreshing to see some actual HD owners are starting to realize that.

It IS entirely their business model however. Sell the bike and then sell the bike half over again in $$ for accessories and upgrades.

I think the unwillingness to move on with things like engine technology is rooted in heritage however. They don't want to upset their target audience with what many of them perceive as "unnecessary and complicated" things like liquid cooling when air cooling is good enough. And as you touched on many of the HD only dealer techs seem to fear the stuff as much as some of the customers.

Meanwhile competitors like Indian have moved on and seem to be doing just fine mixing heritage of technology together. I have a few riding buddies with Indians and they're smart looking bikes despite being way ahead on things like engine tech and enjoying 40% more power in a similar displacement category, while getting often better MPG to boot.
 
They are stuck in neutral while other companies moved on . Part of me thinks it's business model. You buy a bike and right away you need to fix the suspension . Then you nee to upgrade the motor . Younger people coming from other brands already have descent suspension and the best motor the company makes . The hesitation to move to liquid cooling is crazy . The emissions will eventually force them into liquid cooling . Part of the hesitation to moving to liquid cooling is . Do they have the mechanics to work on these bikes . Most only have worked on ail cooled. Usually there was one guy per dealer that worked on Vrods .
I know some car dealers do that with their super-car performance drivetrains, but that's more related to specialty tools, race tuning and drivability setup training.

Air vs liquid cooled isn't an an issue for any mechanic. If HD dealers had one mechanic for VRODS, that was probably a heritage or status thing, not a capability issue.
 
I know some car dealers do that with their super-car performance drivetrains, but that's more related to specialty tools, race tuning and drivability setup training.

Air vs liquid cooled isn't an an issue for any mechanic. If HD dealers had one mechanic for VRODS, that was probably a heritage or status thing, not a capability issue.
Tuning is one thing on a car . Installing new cams and pistons for a stage 4 in HD is a bit different . You are spending and extra 5K plus . For something the factory should have installed from the beginning .

I have to disagree with the air cooled vs liquid cooled . You specialize on air cooled for years . Your liquid cooled wrench skills will not be up to par for modern engines . Motorcycle air cooled engines are one of the easiest engines to work on .
 
Is draining and refilling the coolant, and removing/replacing the various components involved in the cooling system, really that hard for a halfway decent mechanic to figure out? Even the electrical systems involved in cooling fan control aren't that hard to figure out.

I've never owned an air-cooled motorcycle of any sort ...
 
It's refreshing to see some actual HD owners are starting to realize that.

It IS entirely their business model however. Sell the bike and then sell the bike half over again in $$ for accessories and upgrades.

I think the unwillingness to move on with things like engine technology is rooted in heritage however. They don't want to upset their target audience with what many of them perceive as "unnecessary and complicated" things like liquid cooling when air cooling is good enough. And as you touched on many of the HD only dealer techs seem to fear the stuff as much as some of the customers.

Meanwhile competitors like Indian have moved on and seem to be doing just fine mixing heritage of technology together. I have a few riding buddies with Indians and they're smart looking bikes despite being way ahead on things like engine tech and enjoying 40% more power in a similar displacement category, while getting often better MPG to boot.
No reason to drop 5 to 10K on stages if your bike came with 160 hp off the floor. They know that the majority will get at least the first few stages at super high margins.
 
Is draining and refilling the coolant, and removing/replacing the various components involved in the cooling system, really that hard for a halfway decent mechanic to figure out? Even the electrical systems involved in cooling fan control aren't that hard to figure out.

I've never owned an air-cooled motorcycle of any sort ...

This, 100%.

Liquid cooling isn't rocket science...it's not like the electronic ignition / OBD revolution of the 90's or something where guys who had only worked on cars with points and condensers for their entire lives suddenly needed to learn how to diagnose things with a code reader, etc.
 
I won't lay the Italian tumbled marble in the bathroom because i don't want to see the "learning curve" install.
I don't want a 16 year old making $16 hour working on my bike for the same reason.
 
I won't lay the Italian tumbled marble in the bathroom because i don't want to see the "learning curve" install.
I don't want a 16 year old making $16 hour working on my bike for the same reason.
lol well. they all start somewhere, someone has to be the guinea pig!
 

Back
Top Bottom