Is the cruiser on its way out?

There is an article by Fred Rau in the April 2007 edition of
Motorcycle Consumer News that points out some interestiing stats
regarding cruiser sales. While they still make up the bulk of US
motorcycle sales, Fred points out that they are in the midst of a 4-
year state of decline as a bike category. All this at a time when
motorcycling is experiencing a 26-year high in popularity. Hat tip to

I think that the overall boom in bike sales was due to baby boomers who
always wanted a bike and could now afford one. The boomers are getting older
and want more comfort and maybe want to do some serious touring ---like me.
Wayne
86 Venture

Richard at Two-Wheeled Texans for the following synopsis of Fred's
data:

- Total cruiser sales have flattened and, for some manufacturers, have
already declined

- The industry reports that the value of Harleys has recently and
suddenly dropped by nearly 15 percent across the board, which is the
biggest downturn in the value of a used Harley in over 20 years

At AZ Bike Week, the Harley demo fleet was in full operation. There
was a a group waiting to ride all the time. Yamaha, Victory and
Kawasaki all had to spread their rides out a bit in order to send out
a full group. Seemed like the Harley's were the most popular. I myself
rode three Harley's but only one each of the others.

Ken in Albuquerque

- BMW has abandoned its cruiser line due to poor sales

That, and BMW's official reason was that, following a management
change, they wanted to emphasize performance and didn't have a
suitable motor in the line to build a high performance cruiser. The
BMW cruisers were always a bit of an oddball for a touring-oriented
company anyway, so it's not much of a surprise that they weren't
exactly loved.

Not to mention the fact that they were hideous.

- Two smaller cruiser manufacturerss have gone belly up (Excelsior-
Henderson & Indian)

- Victory's latest motorcycle is not another cruiser -- it's a touring
bike

- Manufacturers have stepped up sale prices and rebates, and some are
offering discounts of up to $5000 per bike on cruisers

- Yamaha is heavily discounting the Roadliner and Stratoliner models
that were so hot just two years ago

- The Harley V-Rod has completely tanked, going from up to $3000 over
MSRP a couple of years ago, to having hefty rebates and discounts
today

- Honda has dropped the Valkyrie, and sales of the once-mighty VTX are
steadily declining

- Motorcycle rentals of cruisers (which is the best indicator of
future sales) have declined steadily for four years. But rental of
touring bikes, in particular the Gold Wing, is rising sharply.

Seems that cruiser popularity is fading fast. I wonder what the true
impetus of the market change has been.

This is interesting.
I would think it will stop declining and plateau any second now. Seriously,
they were HOT for a while. (Kinda like the housing market.)
I am curious if the sales are declining because of shows like 'American
Chopper' and "Biker Build Off.'
To me those shows represent motorcycle manufacturing with minimum quality
and little precision.
Perhaps the consumer now things the same thing.

Now, if folks would begin to come around to realizing just how BAD a
motorcycle a roadracer is on the public roads....

I strap my snorkeling and bodysurfing gear (wetsuit, fins, camera,
towel, etc,) to the rack so I still have room for groceries in the
saddlebags on the way home. If you're serious about riding all the
time, there isn't much you can't carry on a bike. I go weeks without
driving my truck.

I've got the gal at my local French bakery trained. She knows to cut
baguettes in half for me.

The image of a poodle ripping at a bag of hotdogs comes to mind.

Now that depends on the rider and the roads. If it's all wide multilane
highway all day, I'd agree with you, but if it's twisty 'B' roads it's
roadracer time.

Cheers,

Tim Kreitz
2003 ZX7R
2000 ZX6R