I saw one of these yesterday at the liquor store. The guy riding it looked to be in his 30's.

Sure has worked out well for a lot of companies.

no kidding... when the "in the closet occupier of the Oval Office" repealed don't ask don't tell in 2011, he let all the matching jacket cats out of the bag...

Knowing their audience is what kept HD behind the times. I have nothing against HD, but I can't think of a worse design for an air-cooled engine than a fore and aft vee twin. But HD's audience revolted against liquid-cooled engines, so HD resisted building them for years. HD's quality and customer service was fine, but their powerplant design was outdated. As was the attitude of many of their retailers. I recall parking my Honda VTX at a HD dealership once to talk to one of the techs there (who rode a liquid cooled Japanese vee twin, by the way) and was told by the sales manager to move it from the front lot because it would hurt their image. EPA mandates finally forced HD to start building liquid cooled engines to meet noise and emissions requirements. But they surely didn't want to......

Harley made the liquid-cooled V-Rod back in the late 90s - early 2000s. I thought it was cool, but I don't think it sold very well.

Anytime HD steps outside of their leather fringed V twin formula, they generally fail. It’s all about the look. When my son started racing Superbike in the late 90’s, HD had fielded a Superbike team. They had multiple flashy 18 wheelers, beautiful hospitality area, great looking pit, and some great riders on beautifully prepared bikes. I don’t really recall them finishing on the podium, and like a lot of HD things, they disappeared quietly.

If you are pushing woke agenda you certainly want companies that should be the least woke to fall into the woke BS.

These companies need to start telling the DEI bunch to F off. There is plenty of business to be had. Anyone can buy a Harley or not.

I noticed the other day that the big Harley Dealer on IH-59 in front of Kingwood had closed. Evidently they weren’t making it. Story is they consolidated with the HD dealer on I-45 in The Woodlands.

When I was in the market, I purchased the best cruiser for me that I could pay cash for, which happened to be a 2023 FXST. Mid controls, pegs and a 29" seat height is what I was looking for. This seemed to fit the bill. I looked at many others, I liked the HD. Still do. The Corpus dealer seems to be doing OK. I picked up a windshield about a month ago. They seemed to be happy. I didn't see any rainbow stuff hanging around.

the air cooled v-twin motorcycle is not about being the most efficient, producing the most power, being the most reliable machine on the road... it is an old tractor motor with two wheels taking you from one place to another...it is mechanical, you feel the vibration, you feel the road, you hear the motor thumping, the wind in your face, your skin is overwhelmed by the stimulus of being exposed to the environment, you smell every smell, you feel the varying temperatures going up a hill and down in a valley.. there is a freedom and a feeling of being alive...and unless you have ever ridden a American air cooled v-twin motorcycle through the countryside to experience this - you have no f'ing opinion on what made the Harley Davidson motorcycle the special machine it is!!!
God Bless America !

frigg'n water cooled jap bikes are lifeless, soulless machines... wouldn't pi$$ on one if it was on fire...