Harley-Davidson is getting crushed under the weight of its cruiser-centric business model.
Over the last three decades, it's spent billions on pushing over-weight, over-priced HOGS to rich Boomer dentists who wanted to cosplay as Hells Angels members only for the Motor Co. to now be up a creek without a paddle and staring down a full-grown grizzly bear. And it's most definitely not Yogi and Boo-Boo.
Instead, Harley's looking at an aging demographic that either no longer rides, and therefore won't need a brand-new $30,000 bagger, or else younger riders who cannot afford a $30,000 bagger or just doesn't want that weird piece of American pie. Yes, I know I'm mixing metaphors, but stay with me.
And that's shown in Harley's financials. Though the brand has stayed solvent, the company is selling fewer and fewer motorcycles. LiveWire, the brand that was made to bring youth to Harley, has all-but failed, and the company is catching strays from right-wing shit-birds who see the brand as an easy target. At present, we've got front-row seats to Harley's downfall.
But, funnily enough, Harley-Davidson might already have the means to escape its death spiral. No, it's not another full-dress cruiser, cheaper LiveWire EV, or even another Sportster. It's actually something Harley-Davidson refuses to sell to the American people: the X350.
Yep, a small displacement Harley-Davidson that's cheap, approachable, and I'd argue better looking than nearly its entire lineup. It absolutely could be Harley's ace up its sleeve.
The X350 is only currently available in the Asiatic market, including China, Japan, Australia, and a few other spots, and it's built in collaboration with QJ Motors out of China. The design, however, is pure Harley-Davidson as it's meant to mimic the brand's iconic flat-track motorcycles with a more upright seating position and controls.
It's powered by a 353cc liquid-cooled parallel twin, an engine shared with Benelli's 302S, and gives riders a whopping 23 horsepower. I jest, obviously, but that's pretty in line with other small-displacement motorcycles. You don't need much to get these bikes moving. And most importantly, it's cheap AF.
In Australia, the Harley-Davidson X350 is priced at $5,500 converted to USD. That's nearly $10,000 cheaper than literally any other motorcycle Harley-Davidson sells. That's not just a screaming deal, it's a screaming deal that could literally save the company, as it solves two of Harley's most nagging issues: pricing and new rider acquisition.
As RideApart's reported over the last few months, Harley's in deep trouble. Its sales have been declining for decades, but recent years have really put the magnifying glass atop them. Ridership has declined as the brand's struggled to find new customers in more youthful generations, both because of the baggage of Harley's past and because the bikes are so freakin' expensive. High interest rates, low wage growth, and other factors have further contributed to Harley's decline.
And yet, those forces and issues have all-but been ignored by Harley's executives. Instead, they're doubling down on cruisers and full-dress baggers. They're upping prices and pretending they're a luxury brand, something along the lines of Cartier or Bentley, all while cheapening the products to increase profits. It's why there's been oh-so-many recalls of Harleys as of late, and why one person waited an entire year for a single stupid part.
But Jochen Zeitz, Harley's CEO, and the rest of the brand's board have ignored these macroeconomic factors and just made bad decision after bad decision. All while having the X350 right there, waiting for them to bring it to the States where more and more riders are choosing small displacement motorcycles. Everyone's on that train, including BMW, Triumph, Royal Enfield, Kawasaki, KTM, and CFMoto.
And what's really annoying is that, technically, Harley's baby bike is already here.
See, though Harley-Davidson won't sell you an X350, the company is more than happy for you to learn how to ride a motorcycle on one, as they're the motorcycle Harley uses in its rider training program. And that program, i.e. Rider Academy, a program that the company even celebrated earlier this year as it crossed over 1 million riders trained through it.
Now I'm no financial guru—clearly—but wouldn't you think more people would be likely to purchase a motorcycle after they get trained on said motorcycle? A motorcycle they're comfortable with? A motorcycle they learned to ride on? A motorcycle that's light and nimble versus immediately going to something that's 800 pounds and lumbers along like a fat pig? A motorcycle as inexpensive as the X350? I mean, that sounds like a winning combination to me, but what do I know?
And if Harley wanted something slightly bigger to sell to Americans, it also has the Hero-made X440. It has options.
I get that the current iteration of the Motor Co. is one of baggers and cruisers and big bikes, and online weirdos and the brand's board will be all like "BUT WHAT ABOUT OUR HISTORY!", but there's historical precedence for smaller displacement motorcycles, too. Harley-Davidson could recount its small displacement motorcycles from the 1910s to 1930s (not the Aermacchi era that everyone hates, to be clear) and use it to sell these bikes to a new audience, one that's primed to purchase an inexpensive motorcycle to get them into the brand. It gives customers a new entry point into the franchise and allows them the space to learn and grow and then maybe get into the higher-priced, bigger bikes that Harley-Davidson is known for. It hooks them, and that's just good business.
This is clearly the way forward for Harley, but watching what the brand's been doing, saying, and fighting in recent years, I doubt anyone would listen. I actually reached out to Harley and asked whether it had any plans on selling the X350 in the States, to which a representative stated, " We don’t comment on future product and this motorcycle is not for sale in the US Market."
Still, come on, Harley, sell the X350 here. I bet you'd start competing with Honda. Cause you absolutely aren't right now.
