A funny thing happened on the way to the recovery, motorcycles (and boats) missed the party. In 2008 the economy collapsed and the effect was devastating to the automobile market which fell over 30% in one year. Last year saw record new car sales and a fully recovered auto market but the motorcycle market has been stagnate for going on 9 years. I'm talking total sales over 600cc street bikes all brands. Why? In my opinion it's scooters. Enter the millennials that large generation who...
A: Don't want to work hard enough to earn the money required to purchase a real motorcycle (whatever brand)
B: Don't want to put in the effort required to learn to shift a motorcycle transmission and learn the skills needed for a bike capable of highway speeds.
C: Don't mind being seen on a PeeWee Herman scooter...no, I take that back because they always wear full face helmets even though their machine tops out at 35 miles per hour.
D: Are so dumb that they think a scooter is safer than a motorcycle. News flash you can get killed just walking across the street you don't need 2 wheels.
E: A real motorcycle requires one to get a real motorcycle license.
Bottom line is today the streets are literally crawling with cheap, slow, Chinese scooters ridden by 25 year olds still working part time at McDonalds hoping their state will double their minimum wage...and still living in mommy's house. Recognizing the problem Triumph and Harley Davidson have introduced good budget motorcycles but they don't stand a chance with millennials. Even Honda can't sell their scooters because no-name Chinese junk is good enough for this generation.
Last edited by outerbanks; 08/22/2017 9:36 PM.
