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Mark Hinchliffe·
Harley DavidsonBy manufacturerMotorbikes
··3 Comments·2 min read

Harley-Davidson exploring many avenues to reach new audience

Harley-Davidson 115th anniversary 110th 105th

Founded in 1903, Harley-Davidson motorcycles is an iconic brand, one which many thought would dominate the USA and areas of the rest of the world forever. But times are moving forward extremely quickly these days, and the gas-guzzling motorcycles like Harley-Davidson are expected to fall behind.

Luckily for fans of the classic brand, Harley-Davidson remains popular among prospective motorcycle buyers, and the company has big plans to stay relevant in this ever-changing world.

Harley-Davidson has turned their gaze from focussing on the ‘baby boomer’ generation to also appealing to the new demographic of ‘millennials’. Addicted to the internet with all of their social needs met by single, pocket-sized devices, millennials can be a hard group to crack for classic companies.

Going green

Harley-Davidson exploring many avenues to reach new audience
Source: Leslie Kay’s Inc, via Twitter

Saving the planet, reducing carbon footprints, and using less increasingly-expensive fuel are all important factors that many millennials consider when purchasing a vehicle. With its loud, growling engine and rebellious reputation, Harley-Davidson bikes are often thought of as not very eco-friendly.

In 2019, that will all change. Harley-Davidson has announced that it will debut its electric motorcycle next year, according to theverge.com, hoping that it will appeal to a wider audience of bike fans. Other electric motorcycle companies like Zero Motorcycles have found success with their products so, hopefully, the name of Harley-Davidson, as well as news of this new move, will help the legendary manufacturers.

All the kids are doing it

Harley-Davidson exploring many avenues to reach new audience
Source: Pixabay

If there’s one thing that millennials seem to be increasingly obsessed with, it’s online gaming. From playing their video games online with their friends to playing games at online casinos, the internet has opened up many new and exciting forms of gaming, which millennials have embraced.

Harley-Davidson has recognized this and, in collaboration with IGT, released a very special Harley-Davidson Motor Cycles Freedom Tour branded online game. Featuring iconic bikes and the best gear, the Harley-Davidson game has joined a very popular genre of branded games at slot-machines.ca casinos, like Tomb Raider, Game of Thrones, Jimi Hendrix, and Jurassic World. It’s a very clever move to raise brand awareness among this new demographic.

Harley-Davidson’s tactics appear to be working

With a brand that’s recognized all around the world, Harley-Davidson has always had a base as a classic and trusted manufacturer. Despite motorcycle sales as a whole dipping, the heavyweight bike company shows that they have managed to appeal to millennials.

2015 marked the eighth consecutive year that Harley-Davidson was the top seller in the USA to 18 to 34-year-olds, as well as to their recognized customer base of riders aged 35-plus. CEO at Harley-Davidson, Matt Levatich, says that more millennials have bought their motorcycles than the ‘baby boomers’ did, per jsonline.com.

If Harley-Davidson can continue to adapt its strategy with innovative ways to reach out to millennials, the legendary brand could be around for decades to come.

(Sponsored post)

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3 Comments

  1. They’ll most likely never find an audience with me. Perhaps people are finally waking up to the fact that the product is poorly made, overweight, out-dated rubbish. Even though there are many areas in which the USA leads the world, Americans, just like Australians, cannot make decent cars and the Americans can’t make decent motorcycles (although Polaris, owner of Indian Motorcycles, might change that). The new Ford Mustang is one of the most dangerous cars on the road (ANCAP safety rating of two stars!). Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge and Tesla all have reputations for building poor quality vehicles with poor after-sales service (probably even worse than Holden and Ford). I’d be interested in buying an electric bike if it had the range to get to town and back and could handle our gravel roads. The Australian-designed Fonzarelli scooter has some appeal, but the tiny wheels would not cope with our roads and the limited range means I probably would not even get to town; certainly not there and back. I think H-D is on a winner putting resources into a viable electric motorcycle, but I wouldn’t have much faith in their build quality. If they could address that, there might be a case for buying one of their electric bikes.

    1. No, they are not poorly made and not rubbish. I owned a Harley Springer Softail I bought it for cruising and fun riding. For 4 years I traveled Australia and rode 80,000 klm. I rode it hard at times and kept it well maintained, it only once failed to proceed on a journey from Sydney to Melbourne. I fixed it on the side of the road whilst my Wife had a smoke, just a battery lug broke, I spliced the cable, re-terminated and back on the road again.
      So the fact is they are very well made, have a very high build quality, go the distance, keep their price and do the job. They are fit for purpose.
      I have owned Ducati, Moto Guzzi’s Yamaha Kawasaki. All great bikes, all fit for for purpose.
      I buy the bike I want to do the riding I feel like doing. I want to sport ride now, so I bought a sport bike. And it is a great sport bike, it was made for sport riding.

  2. I just like that HD Aus has 2.99% loan available right Now until the end of May thus giving everyone a chance to own a a machine (sportster Roadster, the go for me!) if it is true, where you write “the product is poorly made, overweight, out-dated rubbish”, well they are selling an awful lot of it – i don’t like horror movies, (… its the six thirty news) so I don’t watch, if you don’t like the brand don’t buy – simple off for a ride with the group nice day for it.

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