I always saw myself riding one of these when i retired. They were always the ‘Rolls Royce’ of motorbikes. On sale here in the Uk but the prices…
The shares have reached junk status apparently 
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I bought a Yamaha V-Star 1100 when I was in my mid-fifties. I had a Honda minibike when I was a kid and rode other people’s dirt bikes a lot back then. I didn’t think my wife would enjoy riding that much, but she did/does. So I upgraded the seats and backrests to make it more comfortable for her, but the bike just wasn’t comfortable on road trips.
The local HD shop is always having promotions, so my oldest son and I rode down to partake in the activities one weekend in 2018. I told him before we left not to let me do anything stupid. He failed. I had to call the wife to bring the checkbook because I bought an Ultra. It’s a nice bike. It’s far more comfortable on road trips.
Financially buying a bike doesn’t make sense. However, the fun times and memories are priceless.
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Back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth and I was in my early 20’s, some friends and I rented a farm house with woods next to the farm fields. Bought a dirt bike to go riding in the woods.
I learned that trees had the right-of-way. Glad I got it out of my system while I still had a few functioning reflexes and I’m grateful I didn’t break my neck.
Have fun guys! 
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It seems that sales nose dived, but I can’t find out why they suddenly fell out of favour with the biking community:
Harley-Davidson’s less than impressive 2025 financial report, released last this week, indicates that the company sold fewer bikes, saw lower revenues and decreased income versus the already quite poor performance it saw in 2024.
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Their targeted demographic is aging out.
Harley has priced themselves out of reach of the entry level rider.
Young people don’t start riding motorcycles as much as they used to. And if they do, they are going more for e-bikes.
Their brand is polarizing - not everybody wants to cosplay a pirate.
There are better (mechanical) machines out there.
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I occasionally played with the idea of getting a motorcycle. But then I just look back at all the trauma patients I treated from MVAs and you realized there was a reason they were called “donor-cycles”. Seemed like more often than not the car/truck didn’t see the motorcycle. Then throw in today’s distracted drivers paying more attention to their cellphone than the road, no thanks.
I was given a ride through the China countryside one time though and it was awesome.
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Reminds me of a book I read a few decades back. Very good read! Talked about how truly awful HD motorcycles were from a quality standpoint, and what it took to get them back on track. What their buyers put up, just to say they had an American bike, is something no vendor should ever bring upon their customers.
Talked about how truly awful HD motorcycles were from a quality standpoint, and what it took to get them back on track.
It’s more than just that. There are limits to what can be done with their engine design configuration… which gives the “oh so important” potato-potato sound. The traditional Harley bike configuration is also a factor making it suitable for interstate cruising but not for fun riding on twisty roads.
Every time in the past when Harley tried to break from tradition, their core customers had a conniption and their dealer network actively shunned the new models.
I hated H-D for its awful design. The sound was not music to my ears, but shrieking obsolescent incompetence masquerading (as obsolescence so often does) as the pinnacle of coolness.
I loved my Honda 750. I could ride through a band of H-Ders and they would not even notice my existence. It never needed anything but the most basic care and maintenance.
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They’ve leaned on “heritage” for a long time.
I started on a small Honda (Japanese), then a mid-size Ducati (Italian), and now for my long-distance old man “adventure” bike a big BMW (German).
I would disagree with that statement. We take ours to Northwest Arkansas every year just to ride the many twisting roads there. The bike handles great on the curves and hills. We usually stay at Beaver Lake and ride one day to the General Store in Oark (not a misspelling). Another day ride down around Jasper. We’ll try to swing by Branson Missouri if time allows. There’s ferry service on Bull Shoals that we plan on riding to this year.
We also like riding in the Colorado Rockies. The grades and curves are longer but are not as challenging as the Ozarks. The scenery is better though.
Interstate cruising is good. You can set the cruise control, turn up the jams and run all day with the fastest traffic. It’s just not very challenging.
If any of you have looked at my avatar, it’s a picture of my wife and me on the bike. it was taken by the Google Earth car. We passed it in Moline Kansas in September 2021. We were on our way to Pawhuska Oklahoma.
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Sorry, I wasn’t trying to dis on you or your machine. If I was looking for a big cruiser I’d take a Harley out for a spin. I’ve interacted with a lot of guys out on the road with nice looking and sounding touring H-Ds.
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Why would I buy a Harley if an electric bike can accelerate faster and run rings around it?
intercst
Harley’s are mostly for baby boomers. Their numbers are declining.
Polaris bought Indian motorcycles a few years ago and now are spinning them off. They have potential to do better with their excellent dealer network for ATVs, jet skis, and snowmobiles. Their products appeal to a younger audience. Parents will buy them for their children to enjoy.
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Sounds like they had a niche market that isn’t there anymore. A bit like Jaguar in the UK. My other ‘dream machine’ was a restored E-Type. Look at the stuff Jaguar are coming out with now:
Production and development costs are a secret. I think that they may be making a colossal commercial mistake. We shall see.
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If acceleration is your thing, you wouldn’t. I would expect a lot less maintenance with an electric bike too.
Funny how people want what they don’t have. Us bikers in Kansas travel to the Ozarks to experience the hills and curves. Top speed rarely gets over 45 or 50, but the twisting and turning are an incredible sensation. I have visited with local bikers in the Ozarks. They are envious that Kansas has long isolated stretches of straight back roads that allows a person to run at very high speeds. Well over 100 for a good length of time if you have the nerve.
Like everything electric, range.
Most of my friends that have motorcycles don’t use them for everyday home/work trips. They use them for road trips. Like, let us ride Route 66, take off to the Florida Keys, etc. Not sure this is the norm or not, but if you’re going to spend a long weekend cruising, you don’t want to have to stop every 150 miles to recharge. Plus, same with cars, more likely to find a gas station in the middle of Wyoming than a charging station.
But what about that wonderful music the Harleys produced:
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My wife, who is very fond of twisty roads, is loyal to BMW for a bike to use in navigating them … she has a reputation of being quite good at it.
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