notice rob I said "it is of my opinion"
"it looks nothing like a Harley"
if I wanted a bike like this (which I wouldn't) I would probably go with one of the leading Jap manufacturers that are proven
so im guessing the weld down the centre of the tank, all the plastic bits, the radiator and poxy lookin exhaust "seem ok for what it is"
oh, and their reliability is yet to be proven
again, "what it is" (in my opinion) is a shitbox, nothing like a HD

The reason i like Harleys is simple ,, there built for short arses like me . I ride my adventure bike , a lot more because i like it a lot more , but the seats like a brick and i'm squirming after 200 klm , long journeys are out on this thing ,, Changing the seat will make the bike taller and i've already lowered it , so its my bike of choice for playing in the hills and short journeys ,, but for long range comfort , cruisers rock , and harleys are the best cruiser out there

Biggest thing for Harley to attract new riders? Stop being elitist cunts to them. If a young bloke comes into Harley looking at a street or Sportster, the salesman trying to upsell him as hard as possible to a fatbob doesn't help. Convince your customers your entry market is shit, and they'll go buy something else.

Not very good Salesmen if thats the case.

Theres lots and lots and lots of reasons ,,,You could say young fella's cannot afford them , but has Flip said they can afford expensive cars . But the mystique of owning a harley has gone ,, my youngest lad still on his L's rides a learners yamaha , 650 ,, drag bars , forward controls , vanc hines noise makers , he reckons people think its a harley and give him the thumbs up ,hE LOVES IT AND CANNNOT WAIT TILL HE GETS HIS LISCENCE AND GETS A HARLEY .

My eldest lad rides a sports bike , i asked him don't you like Harleys ,, Would'nt be seen dead on one he said ,, He reckons there for old fat growly type guys ,, and weekend warriors trying to look like hells angels at the local coffee shop and then refered to a guy we both know , who fits that bill excatly

Then theres the price of them ,, although they are more affordable now , there still some models that are just not worth the money ..Last but not least i think the dealers themselves have done a great job of putting people off Harleys , They still seem to think that its a harley it will walk off the showroom floor . .

Ide like to add something to this as well due to recent events.
Harley Davidson dealers would do a lot better if they honoured factory warranty without some fuckwit service manager treating all customers as if they are new to motorcycles and new to HD.
I'm having a bit of a war at the moment with my local guys over lack of care when servicing my bike and also parts just about falling off a short time after paying astronomical hourly rates and slow mechanics, to be wrenched on to my bike. Not going into details but the last fuckin thing I need is some poonce that is on his first Harley telling me that the factory wont honour aspects of my complaints. If I pay some one to do work at $145 an hour I don't expect the parts to almost fall onto the road less than 1 k kilometres afterwards. I've had issues when my tyres have been fitted such as rims being scratched and last time gouged, scratches on triple trees and handlebars from slinging the bike up to change front tyres without a lift After raising these concerns I spoke to the principal of the dealership and he fully denied any wrong doing or responsibility. To be told " Its a motorbike after all" is not working for me, Its also a motorbike that costs 3 times as much as most and I expect at least the dealer to honour there work and there product.
Maybe this is why many go another route. Myself. I cant wait another year to be out of warranty and will be doing all my work in future as I reckon I can do at least if not better than the so called pros. I ts not fuckin rocket science, Its a v twin with double under head cams and push rod driven valves and a efi system. Disregard the fuel system its virtually an ancient easy to maintain motor ffs not some exotic like my Duke. How they justify the service fees when all they do is change oil and filters and check error codes is beyond me.My local guys have seriously sexy fingers as every thing they have touched they have fucked. Getting in touch now with HD Australia to let them know of my displeasure. Its not my bikes fault, just the fuckwits that I pay to do shit to it.
Stay safe.

know of blokes in my area having the same experiences with dealership workshop regarding work quality Rob

I forward them to my local independent HD mechanic where they have satisfaction guaranteed on all work for $88 p/h.

they never return to the stealership workshop again

they touch us up enough in the front part of the store, virtually rape ya out the back in the workshop

Robbdasnake - Local dealership took 4 attempts to fix an intermittent leccy fault on my old man's bike. After replacing half the loom they checked the battery - yep, it was spazzo. I never understood why it takes 5 years training to become a master HD tech on such a simple bike but now I know why.... maybe it should be 10 years just to be sure.

Back on topic. After 15 years flanging (and crashing) superbikes it took a little maturity and self-preservation to kick in before I realised there is another equally enjoyable form of motorcycling. I gather that's HDs biggest problem attracting young folk.

Maybe it's more to do with the product and what you are actually getting for the money Lets face facts it's a brand name with a cult following your paying for not a top quality product.

I guess it comes down to the rider, i was 24 when i got my first harley, that's a 09 softail yeah i spend a bit of cash on it. If the person wants something they will get it. I still have that softail I bought it brand new and when I was 30 I bought my 2nd harley as a work/fun bike I ride everyday that a 14 sporty 72. I think price and bike mean nothing. I think it comes down to the rider. Most guys that I know my age are on sportys or vrods.

Ill add, Harley and their dealerships dont really do themselves many favors, especially weekends the 'wannabe bikie crowd' are a massive turn off for a lot of people, I do my best to avoid the douchebag show that is most HD dealerships on Saturdays, a lot of us like bikes (been riding 20 years), like Harleys but dont like the 'scene' and unless you can have a personal attitude of fuck it who cares, its hard to break through that.

While on one hand the 'bikie image' has attracted a lot of people to HD, its become a real liability for them too.. 

Hell.. I ride a flaked sportster 72, its my daily ride rain or shine, I cop it from the Harley crowd for being a 'faggot hipster', I cop it from the hipster crowd for 'built not bought', cop it from non harley riders for 'gay arse harley rider'.. cant win.. dont care!

I'm with you on that one ,, I like Harleys but hate the image and wannabee hard man shit .. Tell you a story about saturdays at the dealership ,, couple of years ago my wife and i were travelling Australia ,, south aussie , up to cairns all along the coast , great trip ,, anyway we went to this dealer , we were thinking of trading the bike in for a new Road King , so off we toddles to this dealer on a saturday morning ,, BIG MISTAKE ,,, you could'nt get anywhere near a salesman ,, so were outside looking at the bikes , and theres this nice street glide all shiny and new , with its bagful of accessories ,

Were stood looking and admiring this bike , carpark is full of people , the owner of this bike comes walking out , he had on his leather pants , harley jacket , new harley boots, german helmit in his hand all to go with his shiny steed , So in a freindly manner i said to him , g'day mate , nice bike , he grunts , and i ask him how are they , WHAT t he says , so i say , nice bike , how do you find it .. ,, He answers , right where i left it ,, and turns away and ignores me ,, now i'm feeling a bit embarressed then and start to boil , i'm quickly tossing up in my mind, has to walk away from the arrogant, ignorant fucker , or pull out the best equalizer in the world , a fucking good left hook .,

Then while he's putting on his tough looking Germeeen helmit , my wife quick has a flash jumps in and says to him ,, That was very funny , you should be on stage , try the entertainment centre , there looking for someone to sweep up ,,, Well i burst out laughing ,, lots of guys stood around who seen and heard the whole thing burst out laughing , and this dickhead well he could'nt take of quick enough , he , took off like a bat out of hell , , then the fucker missed the drive , went of the kerb and dropped his shiny steed ,, everyone was pissing themselves laughing ,, he could'nt pick it up so i walked over looked at it and said ,, not a good place to leave it mate then walked off ,, NO ONE offered to help him ,, the salesman helped him pick it up , and told us he had only owned the bike a week , he had just ordered thousands in extras , and when he was'nt looking tough and being a arrogant prick he was alawyer or something

The other thing HD is going to have to deal with is emissions if they want to stay in the world market. Another poster said engines arnt changing much, just getting bigger, True, but there also running leaner and hotter in newer HD bike engines. At least the air cooled v twins anyway, Sooner or later Europe and Australia then progressivly other countries ect will continually toughen emission control design parameters with massive fines for those riders in these countries that change the factory emission output or design of all vichials and bike engines. It will be fines with a bluey stuck to your bike so you wont be able to keep your bike on the road unless you change back to factory state with expensive inspection certificates. I can see it comming. The tv news reported today that Australia has had the hottest year on record which will give green groups more ammo to do deals with the Australian government to pass whatever ledgislation that the government of the day want to pass. The greens only gotta win a few seats to have crossbench voting power. No matter your view on the greens, they are experts at lobbying the government and public media spin. American manufactures might be the last in line to build lower emission vechials and bikes but they will eventually toe the line with european countries, but no matter how much kicking and screaming America do, thet will play ball on emissions cause free trade agreements will eventually contain such regulation.

Maybe HD are testing the market as to exceptance by HD buyers by releasng those bikes with the water cooled heads on the baggers. I do think the air cooled v twin will become a relic sooner rather than later. (But I hope not)

I do think we will be able to keep out air cooled v twins on the road for years but im not sure youl be able to buy a newy fro HD in the near future. 

If they released the 750 street I'd be all over building one for trails. The 500 though? Meh. Hopefully the resale tanks on them over the next two years and I might pick one up cheap haha.

If they released a adventure style bike for short asses , i would have one in a heartbeat ,, They are my favorite style of bike at the moment , take one in heavy traffic , you have narrow for lane splitting , they tour well , 400klm inbetween filling up , see a dirt track no problem ,, great all round bikes , EXCEPT there all so tall , i would love a tenere , or a bmw 1200 , vstrom 1000 , but there too tall ..