Harley-Davidson and the push to expand their riding academies

I ran across this on CBS News-
Harley-Davidson hopes riding academies will lead to new riders

MILWAUKEE - Harley-Davidson (HOG) is placing a renewed emphasis on teaching people to ride as part of its efforts to attract more customers. The Milwaukee-based company's decision to expand the number of dealerships with a Harley "Riding Academy" comes as the industry grapples with years of declining sales and an aging customer base.

The program launched in 2000 with about 50 locations, and now 245 dealerships in the U.S. offer the three- or four-day course. The company said about a quarter of those launched since 2014.

Harley sold 124,777 new motorcycles through nine months in 2017, down from 135,581 during the same period the previous year, according to the company's most recent earnings report.

It doesn't mention any problem with a logo

Some interesting sales statistics. The whole CBS Money article here- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harley-davidson-riding-academies-teach-new-riders/

OM

Sounds to me like they want to get you in there to "drink the Harley Kool-Aid" and get new riders sucked into the whole "lifestyle thing". Of course unless it's free to any potential customer they will be selling it to the same customers they have now and they still won't be able to attract new customers ...

Hmm, I wonder what the required riding gear will be? Apart from having Harley logos plasterd all over, anyone have any ideas?

Sometimes when driving past the Des Moines Harley dealer I see them giving the course.

http://www.bigbarnhd.net/we-teach-you-how-to-ride--new-rider-class

BC1100S said:

Hmm, I wonder what the required riding gear will be? Apart from having Harley logos plasterd all over, anyone have any ideas?

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You'll need to bring the following:

A heavy, long-sleeve shirt or jacket
Jeans, chaps, or leather pants
Over-the-ankle, sturdy footwear
Full-fingered gloves
A helmet that meets DOT requirements
Eyewear

WHAT TO EXPECT
When you take a New Rider Course at the Riding Academy you’ll:

Learn to ride on a genuine Harley-Davidson® motorcycle.
Get in-class and on-range instruction from Motorcycle Safety Foundation® (MSF) and H-D® Certified Coaches.
Learn to safely accelerate, shift, brake, and turn, along with maneuvers like controlling skids and surmounting obstacles.
Earn an MSF Basic RiderCourseSM Completion Card, which may (varies by state) exempt you from the riding portion of your license exam and score you a discount on motorcycle insurance.

Omega Man said:

I ran across this on CBS News-
Harley-Davidson hopes riding academies will lead to new riders

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The Toronto Globe & Mail ran the story today, as well. It will be interesting to see how Harley makes out with the program. Maybe other manufacturers will follow suit, and BMW has an ideal machine in the 310.

Ridding course

Another chance for people to take a ridding course good, cost at gateway Harley in St. Louis area $299 not so good.
We make fun of Illinois a lot but in Illinois the motorcycle rider safety program is free!
Basic Rider Course: free
intermediate Rider Course: free
Basic Rider Course 2: free
Advanced Rider Course: free
Sidecar/Trike Course: free

When I took the basic course their was a $25 reservation fee which if you showed up took course you got back ( everyone in my class donated money back)

Looks like I'll be busy next year teaching then!

Harley-Davidson has decided that part of the solution to their sales slump in North America is to create more riders. Earlier this year they tried to teach everyone in Ryder ND to ride. It will be part of a promotional campaign. We can and will make fun of them for doing this. We will smugly make jokes about ATGATT or its absence.

Harley-Davidson has been successful with rider campaigns in the past. Their dealers worked with rider schools supplying their Blast model for training more than a decade ago. In 2008 and as the sales crash grew with the recession, they targeted women riders. The campaign moved some passengers from pillion to pilot and brought new women to the brand. I don't have the numbers at my fingertips, but there were some impressive numbers for an effort many made fun of at the time.

I'll admit to being a bit dubious about this, but I will give them credit for trying something.

mika said:

but I will give them credit for trying something.

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Amen.

I'll give them credit as well, of all motorcycle brands that one that get's bashed the most, undeservingly so, but no one asked me. At least its a plan, their not just sitting around wringing their hands, their going to try something.

Attracting new riders going forward will be a real challenge, young peoples attitudes and interest's have changed from years past, not to mention the financial landscape is drastically different. I was speaking with the owner of a MC dealership, he told me 13 years ago he was selling 4 or 5 new Suzuki motorcycles per week, banks only required $200 down and anyone could qualify for credit, and they flew out the door, youngster could finance the down payment on a parents or their own credit card if they were inclined to do so. Today, they sell 4 per month, banks require minimum of 20% down IF you have good credit, more if you've no credit history. But the biggest difference is the young people themselves, he couldn't put a finger on it exactly just that their interests in anything motor-sports related had changed quite a bit. His dealership has also started to focus on "lifestyle", hosting "Victory Motorcycle Club" events and chapter meetings. He also recognized the importance of customer service and was very interested to hear how his staff waited on me during my visit, and that he understood how customer service will make or break a business going forward.

"A rising tide lifts all boats"UK
OM

My son took the H-D Rider Academy course this fall, got his license - and now rides a G310R.

Harley Kool-Aid

zimmermanj said:

Sounds to me like they want to get you in there to "drink the Harley Kool-Aid" and get new riders sucked into the whole "lifestyle thing". Of course unless it's free to any potential customer they will be selling it to the same customers they have now and they still won't be able to attract new customers ...

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The "Harley Kool-Aid" is no different than the BMW Kool-Aid or the Ducati Kool-Aid etc. Does this mean that since I own some BMW clothing that I have now entered a "lifestyle thing"?

Well, I guess HD has to do what they must do and I say good luck to them and it should be interesting to see if it improves their bottom line.

I let my motorcycle endorsement go inadvertently a couple of moves ago (didn't have a bike and wasn't planning to get one - silly me). I want to buy one now (preferably an RT of course) and so I signed up for the Beginning Rider Class at the local HD dealer (Dec. '17). Some folks in the "metric bike" community, borrowing a term I heard that the HD dealership, are dripping with sarcasm and I have to say I went into it thinking the same way but as no one picked up the phone for the local MSF course (Memphis) after repeated tries I caved and decided to suck it up and 'deal with' what I expected to be a non-stop marketing push at the local HD dealer. It didn't go like that at all.

I contacted Bumpus HD here in Memphis and commented that I thought the price for the class was way too high, they instantly cut it back to $99 which I eagly accepted on the condition that I wasn't committing to buy anything. No worries she said.

I show up for the first classroom session and both instructors obviously knew what they were talking about. Counter-steering, front braking, looking through the turn, look-there-go-there, etc. They never said a thing about loud-pipes or any of those stereotypes us non-HD folks like to project. They then took us down to accessories to do a review of what makes good safety gear. OK. Here comes the hard-sell for ass-less chaps, frilly vests and fingerless gloves. Grin and bear it I thought. They checked all the boxes there too: full face better than not, jackets with armored elbows, etc, boots no flip-flops, reflective gear, etc.

Next two days were on bike training. We used HD Street 500's. OK these are total pieces of junk, utterly laughable at, what?, around $8,000, but they worked and were basically new (mine had 1,000 miles on it). I've taken two MSF foundation advanced rider courses in my life and after the uber-basic stuff was completed, this class was basically the same thing.

Class completed, and motorcycle endorsement in hand the next day after immediately going to DMV (skipping the written and practical), I finally get the call I was dreading. First of many sales calls I was expecting hounding me day after day, "buy now", "prices will never be better", "...but we gave you a HUGE discount!" I got ONE call that went basically like this: "Hi. Just following up. How was the course? Great? Good. Keep us in mind when you come to make your decision. Happy holidays."

That was it. Now, there's nothing on this earth that will move me to buy a HD, but my personal experience at this dealer's version of the Beginning Rider Course could not possibly have been better. The instructors were first-class. The sales folks were polite and not pushy. Before you guys trash them generically based on a projected stereotype, you should ask around. This was a course I'd want my own children to take.

Thumbs up Harley D.

The H-D Riding Academy (formerly 'RidersEdge') is still an MSF-sponsored curriculum. Ergo, the students are still held to ATGATT for the 16-hr. duration. After that, it's personal choices.

H-D adds additional hours, so that their 'recruits' are indoctrinated to the H-D culture, fashion and bikes - no denying that.

greenwald said:

H-D adds additional hours, so that their 'recruits' are indoctrinated to the H-D culture, fashion and bikes....

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....tattoos, riding while intoxicated, perma-sneer training, crappy attitude enhancement.

greenwald said:

The H-D Riding Academy (formerly 'RidersEdge') is still an MSF-sponsored curriculum. Ergo, the students are still held to ATGATT for the 16-hr. duration. After that, it's personal choices.

H-D adds additional hours, so that their 'recruits' are indoctrinated to the H-D culture, fashion and bikes - no denying that.

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I am denying it and I'm one that literally drips distaste for all things HD. Had I not just taken the course I would have handily agreed with this statement (not being immune to passing off assumption as fact like most people tend to be). I have no doubt it happens but there was ZERO indoctrination of any kind at the course I just took. As I wrote, I was totally expecting it but they really didn't push anything and I was amazed. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, it's just not true to make a blanket claim as if that happens everywhere.