Posted on 21st Dec 2018

Are Millenials Purchasing the Same Types of Bikes as Baby Boomers?

Downward Trends

The motorcycle industry has been in a decline. Sales have gone down for both road bikes and offroad bikes as seen in the graph below. In order to help sales, Harley-Davidson and Honda have designed bikes to attract the new generations with smaller, lighter, and more affordable bikes. They are also selling the idea of a new lifestyle which attracts the millennial market. Both companies are rebranding as well as the industry as a whole to attract and keep new customers for years to come.

Harley-Davidson and Honda aren't the only ones making smaller bikes. Kawasaki, BMW, and Ducati all redesigned their classic, big-engine bikes as smaller frames and engine bikes.

Marketing

Although all are re-branding and re-designing their bikes, the market isn't latching on very well. The work the companies have been doing came too late. The baby boomer generation which was the biggest part of the market bought bigger, powerful bikes. That market is dwindling down and the next biggest market doesn't care for those bigger, stronger bikes. Now, these companies are selling smaller, less-powerful bikes that you can buy add-ons for. This is to fit the rider. The rider decides what they want on their bike instead of having to purchase the expensive bike fully equipped. At least, that's what Ducati is doing with their Scrambler.

Maybe a new type of motorcycle like the one that runs on algae oil is the key?

For more information and other stats visit the Bloomberg article.