Triumph Today v Harley Today

So, based on that website, looks like Harley sells about 2x the number of units that Triumph sells, and has much higher revenues (higher per unit dollars, for sure). I'm sure Harley's apparel sales, licensing, etc are many multiples of Triumph.

BMW sells more than Harley by a good amount, but again Harley might beat them on a total revenue basis.

But, good news, Triumph sells about 3x as many units as Ducati!

 

I knew someone who about 15 years ago produced a licensed Harley decorative item. The license cost $1,000,000 up front and 8% of the gross. It has been rumored for a long time Ferrari and Harley profit more on their product licensing than on sales of their core product.
A few years prior I had a client who owned the then largest Harley store in the country. One day he was by and bending my ear for a while how my boss was screwing up so bad. Bob said 30 people came to his store every day and only one or two had the money for a motorcycle. He said everyone has 10 or 20 bucks and I want it. So I sell them an ashtray or a T shirt. He said your boss wants a home run every time. He went on. I have 20,000 sq feet of sales department and 3,000 of it is motorcycles.

Its good to be famous.

I once asked if he would give me a good deal on a motorcycle. He said Brian I cant afford to. I make way too much on them to be someones friend. He said you know my buddy Arlen Ness. He buys 50 retired CHP motorcycles at a time. He'll give you a smoking deal on one of those.

 

Hard to compare really. If you're just looking at sales figures then I'm sure Harley are killing it. But if you're trying to identify the better bike maker then I think it's pretty easy. Triumph are really making strides in the adventure, motocross, sports bike and entry level corners of the market while Harley really phone it in with these segments.

I'm pretty biased but I think they really rest on their laurels... I've ridden a few and was blown away that someone could happily pay exorbitant money for a bike where the manufacturer couldn't even be bothered grinding the spackle off the ****ty welds before painting. The quality is pretty terrible and the engines only became comparatively good in the last decade.

And their entry level bikes are a joke. I think eventually the old guard will die off and they'll have no choice but to develop decent products if they want to attract new riders to the brand.

I bet there's a lot of HD lovers here so I'll brace for the ear bashing I'm gonna cop but seriously tell me I'm wrong

 

It's a culture- they don't care about quality/fit&finish or even performance for that matter- it's all about culture and comredery- I lived that life for years- all fun from a social standpoint and riding around in packs- but had a Ducati 916 when I actually wanted to go ride

 

Totally. How else can it be explained.

I think I just never 'got' it. I like noise, I love the romanticism of machines and their history, I loved Easy Rider and HST's "Hells Angels" but always felt let down by the ride when aboard a Harley... Sadly a lot of owners don't know and refuse to explore any different. I'd love to be impressed by one some day...

 

So Sonny Barger <leader/President of HA- RIP> (Paraphrasing here) infamously said that "if we know what we knew then what we know now we'd all be riding BMWs"

That being said, I've owned multiple Harleys and loved them- owned two Ducatis- Loved them- several Japanese bikes- all great but no emotion

If I were to buy another bike it would be a BMW