While texting a friend the other day, I wondered why cruiser motorcycles were so popular. He and I have different tastes in motorcycles, and he wondered why I and everyone else like cruisers.
Why are cruiser motorcycles so popular? Many factors have influenced the popularity of cruiser motorcycles like pop culture, large motorcycling events, and the history of Harley and Indian. Cruiser popularity is on a decline though.
Let me make one point very clear. Cruisers are still very popular, the trajectory of the trend though has changed. We will talk more about that later, but for the time being it is good to understand why the cruiser is popular.
If I miss something in this post let me know. It is always good to hear opposing views and thoughts.
How Pop Culture Influenced The Popularity Of The Cruiser
We have all seen a few iconic scenes from different motorcycle movies or select scenes from modern movies.
For the boomers, you will know Easy Rider, The Wild Ones, or Hells Angels On Wheels. Boomers do not forget about Wild Hogs.
Are you Gen X? Perhaps you know Biker Boys, Beyond The Law (a favorite), or Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man. Do not forget the scene in Terminator jumping the Fatboy off the bridge.
Gen Y? Well, I am sorry but you get the sucky Ghost Rider movies. No wonder you are not really into cruisers.
Popular TV shows also help drive the image we have of bikers. American Choppers, The Great Biker Build Off. Guess what these guys and gals made? Choppers, a form of a cruiser (arguable.)
The point in listing all these movies is to show the influence of pop culture. Each one creates an image of what we think about bikers. How they look, walk and talk and how they behave.
What do consumers do after seeing these things? We emulate what we see. Guess what these movies have in common. That’s Right. All of them but one have cruisers in them.
Subconsciously, how can we all be influenced by this pop culture? I looked on Reddit for pop cultures most famous bikes. Some top results include:
Terminator’s Fatboy
Easy Rider Harleys
The Great Escape Triumph
Top Gun’s GPZ
There were a few other models but the biggest winner seems to be the Terminator Harley. We could say it was more the movie, the scene, or something else. The reality is we have seen the bike many times. Frequency influences our tastes.
What People Think Of Cruiser Riders Affects Popularity
Moving this influence over the real world and we see how movies help cruisers come to dominate the US market. Stop for a moment and ask someone to describe a biker? If you are outside of the US, you may need to clarify by asking the person to describe a US biker.
What phrases did they use? Leather jackets, freedom of the open road, loud exhaust. Ask this same person what that biker rides. Likely a Harley. Maybe the same person thinks all cruisers are Harleys. If you are reading this post, you know this to not be the case.
Not to beat a dead horse, but look back on what we see in the movies and it reflects what the average person things of cruisers.
Large Motorcycle Events Make Cruisers Popular
Now it is time to talk about the large events that come around year after year. You know the ones that create annual pilgrimages to Daytona or South Dakota. We cannot forget the influence they have on the popularity of cruisers. Here is a brief rundown of how the most popular events contribute to why people like cruisers.
| EVENT | CONTRIBUTION TO CRUISER POPULARITY |
| Sturgis | Started By Harley Racers and Riders. 700K+ Attendees. |
| Daytona Bike Week | First major event of the year to drag the bike out of the garage. 500k+ Attendees. |
| Laconia Bike Week | The oldest bike rally in the US. Great local cruiser style riding. |
| Rolling Thunder | Newer rally for military vets. Vets love cruisers. |
Sturgis
The biggest motorcycle rally in the United States and probably the world takes place in a little town in South Dakota. You can google the history yourself or take this bit away with you.
Way back in the day, a few riders had gathered at a house near Sturgis to do some riding, hang out, and enjoy each other’s company. They rode Harley-Davidson motorcycles. They all had a good time and came back the next year.
Over the years and decades the event grew to 700,000 attendees we see and hear about every year. You can watch some documentaries about this event to get an idea of what it is like.
The police have to hire additional help just for the event. Afterwards, you can imagine the huge clean-up efforts the town must go through to get things back to normal.
Personally, I like the quiet nature that comes along with riding (other than the pipes on my bike.) Crowds are not my thing and there is plenty to see and do there just about any time of year. You should know though, it gets cold there in the winter.
The Sturgis rally takes place in August every year in case you wanted to attend.
Daytona
The best way to describe Daytona is a spring break for bikers. This is the first event of the year that make people, especially northerners, want to push away the cabin blues. This is Daytona.
Remember what it was like going on spring break in college. It is the same thing but through in bikers, motorcycle racing, and cruising.
The Daytona event differs from the Sturgis rally in a few ways”
- There is more diversity in the style of motorcycles that show up. More than just cruisers come to this rally. Perhaps it relates directly to point #2.
- Racing is the focus of the rally. Partying and to a lesser degree riding are the focus at Sturgis.
- Being close to the ocean brings another element you do not get at many other biker rallies.
Other Prominent Bike Rallies
Rolling Thunder
In terms of age, this gathering is more like a toddler than anything. People come from all over to Washington D.C. on Memorial Day weekend to honor veterans, our servicemen, and women.
The event also has other satellite events.
Laconia Bike Week
Like Sturgis, they fill Laconia with bikers the week of this rally. Bikers have been doing it for decades. In fact, it is the oldest rally in the United States.
The best way to describe this gathering is a cross between Daytona and Sturgis. Many spectators come for the racing, others for the parting, and for the riding. The little New Hampshire town showcases some of the best riding in the country with spectacular views and riding along the state’s largest lake.
You can see there are events all over the country for you to participate. Come to any of them and pay attention to what you see. Cruisers will be the cornerstone.
The bikers who ride these machines will try just about anything a sport biker or adventure rider will. Not only is it great seeing this, but it also causes them trouble.
Frankly, a select subset of cruiser riders are entertaining to watch. Make sure you slow down at the next big rally and you will see what I mean.
History of the Harley and The American Way Making Cruisers Popular
When we think about the American Dream, most people mention picket fences, green yards, family, and a house. Is that our reality though?
Nope. We work hard, get behind on bills, help family, buy cars, and try to have some fun along the way. There is a lot to be proud of and elements of our history we avoid discussing.
Harley has this same history. From helping America in the World Wars by building awesome machines to creating a subset of cultural values in the biker community. These are the things Harley’s heritage is built on.
The dark times (in my opinion) are what make their and our own story great. Specifically, how Harley sold to AMF. What a dark time in the company’s history. They later bought the company back.
What about all the different things Harley tried during the 60s and 70s. They built golf carts, dirt bikes, and mopeds besides their traditional motorcycle. During this time Harley’s big bikes were also known for “marking their territory” by leaking oil.
Even with these bad parts of their history, people were loyal and stuck by the company. It is this struggle that the average American rider relates to.
Harley After WW2
Now that you have a larger 20,000 foot view of how Harley has hung in there for over 100 years, let’s talk about how it has come to this point.
After WW2 American GI’s came home and looked for things to do. Many took to the family life, yet a large group of others needed to replace the action left behind in the war. Now don’t get me wrong, they were not looking for another war, but some type of hobby to give them a sense of action and danger.
Enter the surplus motorcycles. The veterans started cutting and hacking to make the bikes lighter and faster. This is how the style bobber and chopper motorcycles started. Society looked at the group of riders as misfits. Bikers then did not care, they loved the freedom of riding their machines.
Harley also started creating models reflecting this same styling right from the factory. Give your customers what they want and you will grow. This is exactly what happened.
As they aged, some riders passed the love to their kids and younger generations. My family has been passing along this riding tradition for 4 generations now. It is one thing I am most proud of from my past.
How Riders View Cruiser Motorcycles
Now you understand why cruisers have become so popular. As Harley took off, the Japanese manufacturers started mimicking Harley’s models. The advantage of an import is the price. (We can discuss merit another day.)
As a result, a love’m or hate’m attitude develops for two decades. Harley riders hating import cruisers, and vice versa. You also have cruiser bikers hating non- cruiser bikers. It was silly.
Reality Of Cruiser Popularity Into The Future
Times are changing again at this moment. Harley new bike sales are flopping like a fish out of water and the Boomers are getting older. Harley has to make a change. Other manufactures have an advantage because of the diversity in their business.
Honda makes cars, motorcycles, and more. Yamaha makes forklifts, motorcycles and more. Even BMW makes more than just motorcycles.
The one thing all the cruiser manufactures have in common though and the biggest change is an aging population.
Changing Demographics Affecting Cruiser Popularity
Look at the trends across the globe and you only see one major country with a younger demographic, India. Yes, Brazil has favorable demographics but not the economic might.
Japan, China, and Europe are all older than the average American. We see the numbers every day about how boomers affect the overall financial system overloading Medicare, Social Security, etc etc.
This negative effect spills over into the cruiser world. All the manufactures I just mentioned, will make adjustments to their lineup and business based on an ageing world.
Harley will be hurt the most if they do not pivot. If you have not seen the announcements about making different lines of bikes to appeal to more than just boomers, take the time after reading the rest of this article. It will surprise you.
Younger Biker Values Today
Continuing with the demographic theme, younger generations have differing values than the boomer and other generations. Many of them do not fancy the “freedom of the road.” Instead, they want social awareness, inexpensive and low maintenance transportation.
Many, in fact, do not even have a driver’s license nor do they want to get it. When I was 15, I could not wait to get my license to get away from my parents, hang out will buddies, and ahem do other teenage things in my truck.
I also started saving money and bought my first street bike at 17 or 18.
I have not lost all hope. As electric vehicles enter the scene and bikes following suit, I hope all the electric scooters I see around my city will act as a transition for people to get away from the city on an electric motorcycle.
I am paying attention to see how cities respond and people use these scooters. Time will need to be taken over the next few months to check scooters out for myself.
Harley Has Been Here Before
It is worth pointing out in this wrap-up that Harley has been here before. Remember earlier in this post where I talked about all the other things Harley made while being a part of AMF?
Well this time, they have the wisdom of executing well with a loyal crowd, meaning they know how to take care of their customers. They also have the benefit of knowing what it takes for different lines of business.
I am excited to see how the new adventure bike and electric bike do. Harley will need to change their pricing model to complete in these new markets.