HD vs Indian vs Victory : Will HD Lose Market Share?
Yesterday I got sucked into a discussion and after this long answer ( below ) , I for some reason saved it off in a file. Apparently, the heat was a lil' more than a few HD Lovers could stand, so they deleted the entire thread. Wow.. Really? Good news is I kept it ... so wtf, I'll share.
The QUESTION is .. over the next 10 years, can Indian Motorcycle sales hurt Harley Sales.... The unequivocal answer is :YES . Indian isn't going to put HD out of business, and vice versus ( well, not this time around, but that's another story that most don't know/understand) . The HD hardcore are misguided by the love of their Iron in their garage. Many of the Indian hardcore rant for similar reasons. To get on a soapbox, what makes my opinion diff' from most others? I own stock in HOG and PII. I have HD , Indian and Victory bike(s) in my garage right now as I type this. Trust me when I say, most people just don't get it , with these arguments. Here's the landscape as I see it. HD is the 800lb gorilla. It's got a old design of the motor that is getting bandaid'd to compete. That's why they now have half @ss liquid cooling on the new touring bikes. Victory is superior in many ways, but due to it's edgy modern styling and name "Victory", it's just never truly caught on with the "American Iron" crowd.... and Indian.... Back in the day, It was superior to HD, then they went back and forth, one better one year, one better the next, etc, etc.. WWII threw a curve ball in the mix and .... 1953 is the final year of that chapter.
Fast forward to 2014, and HD has Hardley' changed ( yes, thanks to AMF we got the EVO) and the TC motor is somewhat dated. Styling to the average rider, they couldn't tell the diff' between a '95 and a '14 touring bike except for the paint and stereo ( the new 14's and '15s are obviously , awesome bikes). The Fourth Generation Indian built out in Spirit Lake, Iowa, has gone the retro route with it's touring bikes and it's been a hit. Many folks are moving up from previous generation Indians, old/new HDs, and other various brands; many of these folks are adding to their stable . The old school look ( think 40s and 50s) hits home for them. It hit's home with the population as a whole, as any Indian Rider will tell you , by the attention they get just parking their bikes out in public. Indian's jewel is their triple cam 111ci motor that is on par ( some would argue better) than the TC110. The TS111 is Air/Oil cooled, not liquid cooling. For 2015, they reintroduced the Scout , with liquid cooling. A lot of bashing going on ( from hard core Indian crowd and many in the HD crowd) , but maybe because HD's VROD never caught on, and yet HD just introduced two new baby versions of it ( 500 and 750cc), which has been getting good reviews. The Indian folks wanted to see a true retro Scout, but that doesn't sell well to the majority of the public. The Scout is a modern/ semi-retro 69ci bike, similar to those HD models. Difference is ... they are all about sold out, out the gate. .....
So, back to the QUESTION.. and the answer is YES. There is room for all 3. Question really is.... will Victory survive? I think... yes, but it won't be as large as Indian or HD. HD ten years from now will still have market share... but... just 51 % qualifies as market share. The smart person out there, will park their ego and figure out if/when they should move their IRA/401k funds away from HOG to PII ? Market share drives Stock prices, due to emotions.. that is what PI has been doing so well. Indian drives emotion in those that aren't HD hardcore, just like HD does for their hardcore . .... for those that don't ride.. or even like, either of the 3, and say "what matters is we all ride!" .. you are correct... except, that wasn't the question / subject posed. That was what I addressed. And , as a previous owner of multiple 'rice burners' before becoming infatuated with American Iron.... if you don't get it, you'll never understand? BTW... park the ego's an go ride all three.. hell, go ride the other 4 plus major brands. They will ALL put a smile on your face. They are all good bikes. The question really is... which one gives your butterflies? Which one get's your heart pumping.... .. which one has you drooling as your stare at it.. ... giggling like a kid when you ride it? Now... pull out your wallet and go with your gut feeling!
The QUESTION is .. over the next 10 years, can Indian Motorcycle sales hurt Harley Sales.... The unequivocal answer is :YES . Indian isn't going to put HD out of business, and vice versus ( well, not this time around, but that's another story that most don't know/understand) . The HD hardcore are misguided by the love of their Iron in their garage. Many of the Indian hardcore rant for similar reasons. To get on a soapbox, what makes my opinion diff' from most others? I own stock in HOG and PII. I have HD , Indian and Victory bike(s) in my garage right now as I type this. Trust me when I say, most people just don't get it , with these arguments. Here's the landscape as I see it. HD is the 800lb gorilla. It's got a old design of the motor that is getting bandaid'd to compete. That's why they now have half @ss liquid cooling on the new touring bikes. Victory is superior in many ways, but due to it's edgy modern styling and name "Victory", it's just never truly caught on with the "American Iron" crowd.... and Indian.... Back in the day, It was superior to HD, then they went back and forth, one better one year, one better the next, etc, etc.. WWII threw a curve ball in the mix and .... 1953 is the final year of that chapter.
Fast forward to 2014, and HD has Hardley' changed ( yes, thanks to AMF we got the EVO) and the TC motor is somewhat dated. Styling to the average rider, they couldn't tell the diff' between a '95 and a '14 touring bike except for the paint and stereo ( the new 14's and '15s are obviously , awesome bikes). The Fourth Generation Indian built out in Spirit Lake, Iowa, has gone the retro route with it's touring bikes and it's been a hit. Many folks are moving up from previous generation Indians, old/new HDs, and other various brands; many of these folks are adding to their stable . The old school look ( think 40s and 50s) hits home for them. It hit's home with the population as a whole, as any Indian Rider will tell you , by the attention they get just parking their bikes out in public. Indian's jewel is their triple cam 111ci motor that is on par ( some would argue better) than the TC110. The TS111 is Air/Oil cooled, not liquid cooling. For 2015, they reintroduced the Scout , with liquid cooling. A lot of bashing going on ( from hard core Indian crowd and many in the HD crowd) , but maybe because HD's VROD never caught on, and yet HD just introduced two new baby versions of it ( 500 and 750cc), which has been getting good reviews. The Indian folks wanted to see a true retro Scout, but that doesn't sell well to the majority of the public. The Scout is a modern/ semi-retro 69ci bike, similar to those HD models. Difference is ... they are all about sold out, out the gate. .....
So, back to the QUESTION.. and the answer is YES. There is room for all 3. Question really is.... will Victory survive? I think... yes, but it won't be as large as Indian or HD. HD ten years from now will still have market share... but... just 51 % qualifies as market share. The smart person out there, will park their ego and figure out if/when they should move their IRA/401k funds away from HOG to PII ? Market share drives Stock prices, due to emotions.. that is what PI has been doing so well. Indian drives emotion in those that aren't HD hardcore, just like HD does for their hardcore . .... for those that don't ride.. or even like, either of the 3, and say "what matters is we all ride!" .. you are correct... except, that wasn't the question / subject posed. That was what I addressed. And , as a previous owner of multiple 'rice burners' before becoming infatuated with American Iron.... if you don't get it, you'll never understand? BTW... park the ego's an go ride all three.. hell, go ride the other 4 plus major brands. They will ALL put a smile on your face. They are all good bikes. The question really is... which one gives your butterflies? Which one get's your heart pumping.... .. which one has you drooling as your stare at it.. ... giggling like a kid when you ride it? Now... pull out your wallet and go with your gut feeling!
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