Follow the crowd, buy a Harley

**slowpoke** · 30th July 2008, 01:38

Hmmm, far from rebelling to buy a Harley it seems you are simply following the crowd. Taken from www.mcnews.com, if you take out the 100's of Honda postie bikes bought by Aussie Post then Harley were the top selling road bike manufacturer in Oz for the first half of 2008.

"-- Harley going from strength to strength

Harley-Davidson sales figures in recent years have been almost beyond belief.

Try this on for size. Harley sold 3983 road bikes in the first six months of 2008. Yamaha sold just 2650 in the same period. If it were not for Australia Post buying hundreds of Honda CT110 machines Harley would have knocked Honda off the top of the road bike charts.

The Fat Boy continues to be the biggest seller for Harley ahead of the Softail, XL1200 and 883 Sportsters, Super Glide and Softail Custom. Those models give Harley clear domination of the cruiser category.

Another category in which Harley is perhaps seen as the quiet achiever is the touring segment of the market. The top three touring motorcycles in the country all wear the Harley-Davidson badge. The Heritage Softail Classic leads the segment ahead of the Road King Classic and Ultra Classic Electra Glide. All three models individually sold better than Yamaha’s FJR1300, Kawasaki’s GTR1400, Honda’s ST1300, BMW’s R1200RT and more than doubled the numbers achieved by the Gold Wing or Triumph Rocket Tourer."

**Big Dave** · 30th July 2008, 01:48

Largely because of (in spite of what I often read on here) them being very enjoyable motorcycles to ride and own.

**AlBundy** · 30th July 2008, 02:07

Sorry, I'm not a crowd follower...

They'd have to go a long way to beat the mighty MT5...

It's not just Harley mind you... I'm not ready for any cruiser yet...

Well, except maybe for that weird BMW one...

**awayatc** · 30th July 2008, 02:20

If I would live in the States, or in Australia....I would most likely want/have a Harley to......

**Forest** · 30th July 2008, 02:30

There's a lovely expression I heard recently that describes this phenomenon. Australia is full of CUBs.

Cashed Up Bogans.

**boman** · 30th July 2008, 08:34

Yup, my father in law, who has owned many harleys, calls them belly button bikes. Every body has one. He was replacing his fatboy earlier this year, and has had to go to some trouble to find a bike that is a little bit different.

**Griffin** · 30th July 2008, 09:18

Originally Posted by Big Dave

Largely because of (in spite of what I often read on here) them being very enjoyable motorcycles to ride and own.

Absolutely spot on

**Badjelly** · 30th July 2008, 10:20

Originally Posted by slowpoke

Hmmm, far from rebelling to buy a Harley it seems you are simply following the crowd.

Well, duh!

**Papa Bear** · 30th July 2008, 10:28

Originally Posted by Big Dave

Largely because of (in spite of what I often read on here) them being very enjoyable motorcycles to ride and own.

Not a more correct word spoken.... mines for sale if anyone wants to buy it

**slimjim** · 30th July 2008, 12:22

a nd their prices a re becoming easly affordable, plus been jap lumes they stay pretty trouble free and yup keep going .... lol

**jrandom** · 30th July 2008, 12:25

Originally Posted by boman

Yup, my father in law, who has owned many harleys, calls them belly button bikes. Every body has one.

Why is that a problem?

If you're the only man in the country with a particular motorcycle, you gotta ask why that might be...

**Kiwi Graham:Me** · 30th July 2008, 12:26

Harley make a great bike, I have a Springer Softail...not as popular a some of the range but I like it. Its all about choice, I choose to ride the Harley when it's sunny and the GSX when it's not. Dont know about the H.O.G thing though Mmmmm