From Old to Young
What do you do when your customer base gets too old to continue using your products? You target their grandchildren, of course. At least that’s what Harley-Davidson is doing. In the company’s quest to do a Benjamin Button-type turnaround with its customer base, it has purchased the electric stability-bike company StaCyc.
Honestly, this could turn out the be a genius long-term strategy. If you grow up zooming around on a little push bike Harley-Davidson, you’re bound to want one when you grow up. Will this bring Harley boatloads of cash in the short term? Probably not, but it could pay off 15 to 20 years down the road.
I mean, I still remember the remote-controlled Harley-Davidson motorcycle I had as a kid. To this day I still have a soft spot for Harly Sportsters. I assume I will buy one someday (it’ll be used), and I’d chalk that up to the toy I had as a kid.
Anyway, let’s talk about these bikes for kiddos. There are two different models, the 12e and the 16e (12-inch frame and 16-inch frame). Kids can push the bike around to get a feel for the balance and how it rides. Once they’re comfortable with that, they can use three different power modes to zoom around the neighborhood.
The lowest mode goes about 5 mph, the medium mode goes 7 mph and the high mode does 9 mph on the 12e. The 16e does the same on the low mode, 7.5 mph on the medium mode, and 11 mph on the high mode. Both bikes can run between 30 and 60 minutes per charge with a 30 to 60 minute charge time.
I genuinely do think this is a good long-term move for Harley. It could work out, too as long as the company doesn’t slap a super high price tag on these things as it does with everything else.
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