No easy ride: Motorcycle industry is in deep trouble and needs help fast

[KrisCook]

Yep, good funny motorcycle commercials are a little rare these days.

I do think a commercial like this one would;
1. Stick in your brain. 
2. Get non-motorcycle riders talking.
3. Might actually get them to look out for us.

Maybe this could be talked about in the next ABATE/MSF meeting?

cough, cough, @KrisCook   :D The message is at the very end...no pun intended.

Dude, I'd ride around Birmingham naked until I got thrown in jail, if someone could assure me that it would cut Alabama's motorcycle fatality rate in half every year!

[springer]

 Well a little bit of Google revels this from 2010-2016

https://www.statista.com/statistics/252261/us-motorcycle-salesin-units/

A pretty steady up-growth in sales. 2016 slacked off a bit though.

And I do have to agree, blaming the consumer is not the right way to go.

We buy what we want, when we want. According to the shop that I bought my 2017 Honda Africa Twin at, what we want is the higher end 4x4 type of vehicles that are bling out. They sale more of them than anything else. THAT is the reason they carry more 4x4's now.


BTW, see if you recognize the actor in this one.  :D

 

[springer]

Dude, I'd ride around Birmingham naked until I got thrown in jail, if someone could assure me that it would cut Alabama's motorcycle fatality rate in half every year!

You need to show it at the next meeting!  ;)

A funny one like that would get folks talking and the distribution of the video/commercial could be done inexpensively.

No real need to spend the money to put it on T.V., cause who watches TV? ;)


I would spread it around on social media (with a request to "Share" it), Youtube, car, truck, and motorcycle forums. 

[klaviator]

I think the statistic that the industry is most concerned about is not the sales figures for the last few years but the fact that the average age of their customers keep increasing.  Unless they can attract more younger customers they will have a major problem.

[KrisCook]

We did, a few years ago.  It may have been long enough ago now that it will be new again.  Good idea!

[KevinB]

No real need to spend the money to put it on T.V., cause who watches TV? ;)

Good point...I just realized I rarely watch T.V. There may be dozens of motorcycle commercials these days I've never seen.  :)

[springer]

I think the statistic that the industry is most concerned about is not the sales figures for the last few years but the fact that the average age of their customers keep increasing.  Unless they can attract more younger customers they will have a major problem.

And so you GO to where your CUSTOMERS go.

Everyone bitches about the 20somethings with their nose in their smartphones....so you go there. Lend support to activities that your customer is already active in.

Gotta get out of the box where the middle age is at and jump into the box where your future customer is at.

 

[springer]

Good point...I just realized I rarely watch T.V. There may be dozens of motorcycle commercials these days I've never seen.  :)

I have one...it hasn't been on in 10 years.

I want to toss it. But it is a old 36inch tube TV and that sucker is heavy!

[Brian A]

Although I think the mere hinting of testosterone is a put-off and offensive to the generation the manufacturers are trying to market to now.

The whole matter is a big, complex issue with many factors having an effect on motorcycle popularity and sales.

But I believe Kevin nailed one of the issues I think is really at play with his statement.

Maybe I am thinking like an "old guy", but I don't believe so. When I was a kid it seemed BB guns and slingshots and bicycles and GI Joe and playing outside and building forts in the woods, and dreaming of the day you were old enough to have a motorcycle, well, those things just all seemed natural. They seemed like the thing to do without having to be told or convinced they were the thing to do.

Seems that isn't the case with a large segment of today's youth. It's facebook and snapchat and pushing buttons on some electronic device to play a game.

Now I know my nostalgic views on what it was like being a young boy and then a teenager are still alive in some segments of life today. But, apparently, that segment is a diminished segment when compared to life 30-40 years ago.

My thoughts on the matter extend well beyond motorcycling and my perception of diminishing interest on the part of many males in the younger generation. It is a bigger picture issue for me and lest I get way up on my soapbox, I'll avoid going any further and just refer back to Kevin's observation.

[jrobinson]

1 thing Springer touched on, ATVs. When I was young and wanted to go Vroom, it was either a motorcycle or a Go-Kart. On the motorcycle, I rode on the street, on the trails and across the playground at school. The Go-Kart was pretty much on street or a church parking lot.

Fast forward to today, you have motorcycles, Go-Karts, ATV, SXS and water craft to go Vroom.

If you ride on the street, you'll get a ticket. If you ride offroad, you're trespassing and fine/jail. If you ride on the school playground, OH Lord, I don't even want to think about that!

Due to liability, no one will let you ride on their property. So that's out.

I ride because my Dad did. We need to show our kids and grandkids how fun riding is.

[Nice Goat]

"Optimistic moron"? How about Yamaha built so many of that particular bike because they saw so much interest being paid to that style and wanted to offer what people were actually showing interest?

I was talking about the quantity of units built.  Some people bought them and love them.  Popular bike for customizing as well.  But it seems like every Yamaha dealer has three or four leftovers that they can't give away.  So, yeah, they were overly optimistic on the QUANTITY based on some marketers' projections.  Honda screwed up with the NC700, the CTX700, and the CTX1300 also.  A few people love theirs, but there are hundreds of leftovers all over the US that can be had for a song.

On another thread in here, 'Lawnmower' stated that he's going to build some Café style bikes for the "hipsters" in the area. Is he being an "optimistic moron"?

If he builds a couple thousand more than he can sell, then yeah ... but I wouldn't call him that to his face, 'cause he's a big Scot.

The manufacturers offer a staggering array of styles for the public, and they're not selling nearly as many of ANY of them as they hoped.
I' spent the majority of my adult life in the motorcycle industry. I've seen and heard customers during that time. They talk up big about what they want and what they'll buy. Then the time to put up the cash, they have an all too common habit of not following through.

Back to blaming the consumer.  Maybe they just didn't buy their bikes from you.  Again, 500k units per year every year for NINE YEARS is stability, not crisis.

Perhaps the anger being expressed here (and on other motorcycle forums) is that the vehicles WE like are fading in comparison to those we don't.

Not fading.  Not growing, but not fading either.  Perfectly stable selling basically the same number, every year, like clockwork.  The innovation you see is just scrambling for market share.  The pie is not getting any bigger (or smaller), so they are trying to steal pie from each other.  That's how they sell each new model to upper management.


If I've learned nothing else from 24 years of management in various industries, it is that businesses are exceptionally poor at foreseeing the future.  Everybody says that the market is on the brink of implosion because riders are all aging out of the market.  But the US population continues to grow, and we continue to receive hundreds of thousands of immigrants every year from countries that have a different view of motorcycles as practical transportation.  Isn't it just as likely that the collective US view of motorcycles will become more worldly over the next 20 years?  Honestly, I think that is the more likely scenario than the entire industry disappearing because we all just lost interest or died off.

[Brian A]

Some of the comments give me hope.  ;)

[bblass]

As a millennial and an economist, I'd like to stir this pot a little.

o Marginally declining new bike sales is a sign of market saturation. The market approaching saturation is a good thing for engaging new hobbyists due it leading to lower prices on new and used models.

o Kids today still think motorcycles are cool, it's our job as ambassadors of the sport to engage them.

o Motorcycle enthusiasts are some of the worst tribalists - this does nothing to help promote our hobby, especially when speaking to others. I.e. - "damn squid, harley trash, hipster, look at the old fart in the aerostich on the beemer, etc." (I am as guilty of this as anyone, but it's still not good practice to immediately tell someone with an interest in the sport why your favorite niche is superior).

o All sales issues could be resolved with legislation that allows filtering/lanesplitting. Get on it lobbyists!

[KrisCook]

As a millennial and an economist, I'd like to stir this pot a little.

o Marginally declining new bike sales is a sign of market saturation. The market approaching saturation is a good thing for engaging new hobbyists due it leading to lower prices on new and used models.

o Kids today still think motorcycles are cool, it's our job as ambassadors of the sport to engage them.

o Motorcycle enthusiasts are some of the worst tribalists - this does nothing to help promote our hobby, especially when speaking to others. I.e. - "damn squid, harley trash, hipster, look at the old fart in the aerostich on the beemer, etc." (I am as guilty of this as anyone, but it's still not good practice to immediately tell someone with an interest in the sport why your favorite niche is superior).

o All sales issues could be resolved with legislation that allows filtering/lanesplitting. Get on it lobbyists!

Your lobbyists are working this year to introduce legislation to require a riding test to get your M endorsement.  If you want lane splitting legislation, join us!   Our agenda is driven from the bottom up, not the top down.  It is set by the consensus of participating members. 

I wonder how long it took to be accepted as the norm in California?  I need to do a little research on that.  I'm all for anything it will take to keep motorcycling from fading away or being pushed out of existence by the safety-crats.  I want it to exist, and be a cool thing to do, when my millennial daughter's kids come of age, so that I can lead them to the good life! 

[springer]

Your lobbyists are working this year to introduce legislation to require a riding test to get your M endorsement.  If you want lane splitting legislation, join us!   Our agenda is driven from the bottom up, not the top down.  It is set by the consensus of participating members. 

I wonder how long it took to be accepted as the norm in California?  I need to do a little research on that.  I'm all for anything it will take to keep motorcycling from fading away or being pushed out of existence by the safety-crats.  I want it to exist, and be a cool thing to do, when my millennial daughter's kids come of age, so that I can lead them to the good life!

1980's at lest. I lived in San Diego 1985-1986 and if it wasn't legal, then I broke the law a lot.  ;)