Why Millennial Motorcycle Ownership Is Skewed

Over past few days the internet has been flooded with articles stating that millennials are not buying motorcycles, which in return is killing the motorcycle industry.

These articles are only sharing a partial view of the reality of motorcycle ownership in North America.

To understand the current motorcycle industry we need to understand how it has shifted.

CNBC recently released an article called, "Millennials don’t like motorcycles and that’s killing Harley’s sales".  The article highlights that Alliance Bernstein (a global asset management firm) downgraded Harley-Davidson’s stock price as they show a decrease of sales with a 1.6% decline since last year.

They continue by stating they believe the motorcycle industry will continue this trend for the next five years due to the notion that the younger generation doesn't want to ride as much as their parents did, despite the rising median age of ownership.

Here is where the gripe begins:

These assessments don’t take into account, that the economy these "millennials" entered the workforce in, is one of the most hostile times in U.S. History.

A time where having a college degree only guaranteed a substantial debt. Not a comfortable standard of living.

Because of these tough times, they were forced to change the outlook or the norm in key areas such as ownership. 

They had to spend money more wisely and be more frugal. They gave rise to the craze of tiny houses, which oddly enough has quite a lot of appeal to many, including non-millennials.

This thought process of “less is more” has affected other industries including the motorcycle industry. We have seen the rise of smaller more “urban-esque” style motorcycle in recent years.

Motorcycles such as the Harley Davidson Street series, Indian Scout, and other 500cc sportbikes like Kawasaki Ninja 500.  

These bikes aren’t mean to cruise down the open highway like their parents Easy Rider days but instead are meant to rip through city streets where they live. They are bare boned, stripped down,  and have attitudes that demand respect just as millennial riders do.

They are not into packing as much chrome as they can on their bikes but instead prefer vintage cool that would make James Dean and Steve McQueen proud.

They buck the trend and sometimes piss of the established, just as the liquid-cooled V-Rod or Street did with the Harley faithful.

Sometimes they even resurrect the dead with modern vintages like the Ducati Scrambler.

I know what you are thinking. How does this prove that a younger generation labeled "millennials" are into motorcycles?

Well, let’s throw some facts at you:

If they weren’t then why have we seen the rise in up-to $10,000 category?

Why have we seen new models released such as the Triumph Bobber and Indian Bobber?

Why have we seen more focus on making the 500cc class more cool? A class that was once laughed at as real bike.

So if millennials aren’t interested then why would these motorcycle manufacturers waste R&D and marketing money?

These lower class bikes are what they are looking for... Cheap transportation with low entry cost, that gets great gas mileage making them environmentally friendly.

Just a few months ago, we wrote an article listing the top 10 purchased motorcycles of 2016. Many of those bikes were under $10k. This supports the argument that the industry is changing not dying.

Most new riders are not looking for robust hogs to roll anymore. They are looking for practical and inexpensive cool.

But these articles don’t share these viewpoints as they see that Harley-Davidson’s wins and losses are shared across the whole industry.

If this was the case then why did Triumph Motorcycle record their most profitable year last year? And how did they do this? By selling vintage cool motorcycles for under $10,000.

Indian motorcycle also release a press release early this year showing a 20% increase in sales last year, no doubt in thanks to the hugely popular Scout lineup.

This just goes to show that yes, Harley-Davidson may be a little down but it doesn’t speak for the industry as whole and there is no need to freak out.

It just shows that they need to change with times which they have done with Street line and several public announcements of new motorcycles in the coming years. But it is taking a little longer to gain traction then they would like.

So, instead of blaming millennials for the failures, thank them for forcing the motorcycle industry to go back to their roots of innovative cool.

Thank them for forcing more budget friendly options. And thank them for carrying the two-wheel torch into the future.

Now if we can just get them to stop the vaping and get rid of the man-bun... 

Reference Links:
http://www.cycleworld.com/triumph-sets-all-time-sales-record-in-2016
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/12/millennials-dont-like-motorcycles-and-thats-killing-harleys-sales.html
http://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-are-hurting-harley-davidson-sales-2017-7
http://www.polaris.com/en-us/company/article/polaris-reports-2016-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-results