This year is the 35th anniversary of the Clyde Fessler founded Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.). Willie G and Nancy Davidson were members # 1 and 2. The first chapters were created in 1985 after total membership reached more than 60,000 (H.O.G. didn’t start in Europe until the early 1990s, and boy, do we here at AMD know a story about that!). The first H.O.G. event in Europe was a rally in Cheltenham in the UK at which some 3,500 enthusiasts appeared from nowhere. These days H.O.G. is the world’s largest manufacturer supported membership club with an estimated 873,00 current and active members worldwide (some 12% are Ladies of Harley), with some 1,300 H.O.G. chapters.
Germany is said to have some 24,000 current and active H.O.G. members, with 2,700 in Austria - again, some 12% are Ladies of Harley.
Harley owners in Germany can now extend the standard four-year unlimited mileage warranty to five years for a modest fee of between $200 and $300 for the extra 12 months, subject to model. New Harley buyers in Germany additionally get a first year “Harley Assist” breakdown cover for free. A factory warranty is now also available in Germany for appropriately maintained pre-owned Harleys.
H-D was in fifth place in market share terms in Germany for the first six months of the year, having sold 7,198 units for a 10.06% in-class share (+20.47% in unit sales over the first half of 2017); putting it ahead of the likes of Yamaha, Ducati, Suzuki and Triumph. Top sellers were the Street Bob, Fat Bob, XL 1200X and Breakout 114. No surprise, but BMW is market share leader in its home market.
H-D was in fifth place in market share terms in Switzerland for the first six months of the year with 809 units sold for a 8.54% share. KTM is motorcycle market share leader.
Earlier this year, EagleRider, the motorcycle rentals and travel specialist, announced that it had nearly tripled its rental locations.