Harley-Davidson Motorcycles' Appeal May Be Lost On Millennials

There are a number of cool movies that feature the awesome and iconic Harley-Davidson motorcycle. You'll find a list right here. A number of Google search lists point to "Easy Rider" as the bikers' best. How can you disagree?

But maybe you can if you're a millennial. In fact, maybe motorcycles aren't your thing at all. Too bad. Yakima has a great bike shop -- Owens Cycle, 1707 N. First St. -- and the Yakima area has a number of active and charitable motorcycle clubs.

But on a national basis, millennials aren't "getting their motors running!"

Harley-Davidson has taken a significant hit in the past four years, and is struggling to attract new and younger customers. A recent survey from UBS of 2,100 adults over age 21 found older generations purchased motorcycles for recreation or as a hobby, but people ages 21 to 34 say they'd consider purchasing one for "ease of transportation." In other words, younger people would mostly buy a motorcycle for practical reasons.

Industry watchers calculate it could also be that the younger generation simply doesn't have the cash to purchase motorcycles.

CNBC reports the average Harley-Davidson consumer is a married man in his early 50s with an annual household income of $90,000 or higher. A report by economists at the Federal Reserve found that millennials, by comparison, are "less well off than members of earlier generations when they were young, with lower earnings, fewer assets and less wealth."

Yahoo news reports that in an effort to snag younger riders, Harley-Davidson introduced its first electric motorcycle, LiveWire, available for purchase this summer in the U.S.

Source: Harley-Davidson Motorcycles’ Appeal May Be Lost On Millennials

Filed Under: harley davidson, motorcycle, motorcycles

Categories: Yakima News