This week, I took the time to go to Harley-Davidson and look at the new lineup for 2024. It’s not something I usually do, as cruisers and baggers just aren’t my style. But irrespective of my personal preferences, I thought it worth going to see exactly what HD had to offer.
As I wandered over to the bikes on display, I recognized Mark, a young man in his early thirties (I’m guessing) who had ridden with me two years earlier when I started a motorcycle club in Winnipeg after moving back from Calgary. He was sitting on a Harley Low Rider ST ($30,499 CDN with optional paint but no PDI included), as I found out later when I wrote this article. We spoke for about five minutes and caught up on each other’s lives. I simply said, “Nice bike,” about the Harley he was sitting on, and he just smiled, answering, “We’ll see,” while looking at the salesman. After another walk-around, I waved at him across the showroom and then I left.
Later that afternoon I dropped in to the Honda dealer, which is in the same general area as the HD dealership as I was interested in looking at one of their new bikes for 2024. So after stopping for a coffee, (which I drink way too much of), I dropped into the dealership to look a little more closely at Honda’s new lineup, just for comparison. Parking my bike in front I recognized what looked to be the same Honda Shadow parked outside the building that had been parked at the Harley dealership. I entered the store and bumped right into the same man that I had left, just an hour or two previously.
I said hello again and asked, “So, are you buying a new bike Mark, or just looking, like me? I asked. He simply held up a sales folder with the warranty, owner manual, and sales receipt. “I just did,” he said, beaming. I offered him my congratulations and asked him where he was headed. He said, “Nowhere in particular”, as the dealership was finalizing the pre-delivery before he took possession. “First I have to run down the road and register it and get new plates,” he said.
“Awesome, so what did you buy,” I asked?
He opened the folder and proudly handed me the manual for his Honda Rebel 1100 Touring bike. I spent a few minutes perusing it while he talked to the servicing manager. Then he walked back over and said. “I have about an hour to wait. Are you up for a coffee?”
I passed him back his manual and said, “Sure. I’m retired now, so every day is pretty much wide open. I’ll follow you to Tim’s and we can catch up.” He just gave me a thumbs up and we headed for the door.
I remembered that Mark had indeed bought a 2022 Honda Shadow because two years earlier the two of us had taken a day ride together to Northern Ontario to take in some of the more decent roads and great scenery found there. I followed him to the coffee shop and headed in while he grabbed us coffee.
After sitting down, I asked if I could take another look at his sales brochure, as I wasn’t familiar with the Honda 1100 Touring. As I went through the brochure, he was telling me about the differences, all positive, except for the loss of shaft drive on his Shadow, something he liked, but was prepared to live without, as the bigger displacement Rebel 1100 Touring was lighter than his Shadow 750.
We discussed all the positive attributes of the new Honda, which included great wind protection from the batwing fairing, the availability of a DCT automatic transmission (for an extra $1000 from the price below) which he chose not to get, a low seat height of 27.5 inches, and an 80 hp/68 lb-ft torque liquid-cooled parallel twin engine, all for the price of $15,866 including PDI and freight.
I haven’t ridden a Rebel 1100 Touring, but based on the reviews I’d read it seemed like Mark was getting a lot of bike for the money, particularly when I reflected on the HD that I had just seen a couple of hours earlier. Except for the displacement difference, I really couldn’t get over how much more HD wanted for the Lowrider.
It seemed to me that the Harley-Davidson’s wind protection for the Low Rider ST would be similar to Honda’s Rebel 1100 Touring. With no available automatic transmission, (though in this case, it would have made no difference) and a seat height of 28.3 inches, with 103 hp and 123 lb-ft torque, the price of $30,449 not including PDI, seemed pretty high to me.
Interestingly, HD calls the Lowrider a sport-tourer (ST), as most of us who ride sport-tourers don’t imagine that any 720-pound motorcycle delivering only 103 horsepower would be particularly sporty. Most sport tourers produce 140 to 170 horsepower and weigh somewhere around 500 pounds, producing not just acceleration but amazing agility.
I’m at my limit in terms of weight for a bike. My Honda 800 VFR came in at almost the same weight as my Kawasaki Ninja 1000sx, weighing 518 lbs. I simply wouldn’t want anything heavier for a host of reasons, my age being just one consideration.
I found it interesting to note that even though the Honda has 23 fewer horses than the HD, it has a higher power-to-weight ratio of 0.147 to Harley-Davidson’s 0.143. This would suggest that they’ll both have similar performance in terms of acceleration. Harley’s edge in torque likely would be its main advantage off the line. The power-to-weight ratio isn’t all that surprising once you consider the Honda’s 202 pound weight advantage. However, the mileage for each bike is essentially identical at 48 mpg.
I asked Mark somewhat bluntly why he didn’t buy the Harley-Davidson and his answer didn’t surprise me, as I’d already done the financial math myself. His response resonated with me though, as this is the problem that HD is facing in the market for most of its large-engine bikes. And on top of this, soon, Chinese baggers are going to arrive in North America, either in late 2024 or early 2025, which I’m sure will be cheaper than even the Honda.
Mark responded to my query saying, ”You’re kidding, right? It’s essentially a comparable bike from Honda, with the same warranty, same mileage, and as far as I’m concerned, better reliability, yet at half the price. Some guys may well be willing to spend twice as much for HD’s cachet, but I just can’t justify the expense.” It would seem that surveying the younger buying public is something HD needs to pay more attention to.
Harley Davidson really needs to find a way to lower the price of its heavy motorcycles. If it can’t, then it’s obvious that the future won’t be as bright as during Harley’s heyday years. Sales of Harley’s have fallen by 50% over the last ten years and competition is increasing, especially with the introduction of Chinese and Indian motorcycles. And while most of Harley’s owners of heavy touring bikes won’t be their buyers, many young riders who either can’t afford a Harley, or who simply don’t see value in their products, will.
“What about HD’s image?” I asked.
“Image isn’t worth dime one to me”, he said. The Honda will take me exactly where the HD will, and probably last longer.”
I can’t say that his argument doesn’t hold water. The Honda offers an awful lot for the price, as I know. Until I purchased my Kawasaki Ninja 1000sx, my VFR was in my mind the best motorcycle ever to come to market. But now my biases are showing.
Ciao…
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