After five years as Harley-Davidson CEO, former Puma turnaround mastermind Jochen Zeitz has announced he is stepping down as soon as The Motor Company can find a suitable replacement. The bar and shield brand has had a rough go of things over the last decade, and Zeitz' predecessor Matt Levatich hadn't exactly left him a strong foundation to build from, and five years of horrible economic uncertainty have left H-D on shaky ground yet again. I'm a fan of the new products Harley has launched in recent years, and diversifying away from its core baggers and cruisers has led to some of the best bikes to ever leave Milwaukee.
I'm sure the Harley faithful don't particularly care what a LiveWire owner has to say about their beloved, but I'm going to make my case anyway. Here's why I would make the best CEO in modern Harley-Davidson history, and my plan to make it competitive on a global level and increase profits.
I can't really envision a time when I won't go to bat for Harley. I own and appreciate bikes from many different brands, but Harley will always hold a special place in my heart. My dad rides Harleys, my Grandpa rode a Harley, and I absolutely love mine to bits. Maybe that makes me a Harley homer, but there are very few bikes I've ridden with better fit and finish than Harley. The company builds good bikes, they're just hellaciously expensive.
Harley-Davidson
The big highway cruisers from Harley are the company's bread and butter. These high-margin bikes practically print money, and there's no reason to ever think about not building them. The problem is that Harley has continued to build these bikes in the same manner for far too long, and even the domestic bagger competition is passing them by. Indian Motorcycles recently updated its bagger lineup to be almost entirely powered by overhead camshaft watercooled V-twins. Not only does this make for a more powerful engine—the Indian 112ci twin makes about 20% more power than Harley's 117ci motor—but it's more efficient, smoother, and more characterful. I'm sure some of the old-heads would cry about a water-cooled Road Glide, but they're living in the past. And let's face it, they'll buy it anyway.
As luck would have it, Harley already has the phenomenal Revolution Max engine in its own parts bins. The water-cooled 1250cc engine found in Harley's phenomenal Pan America adventure tourer with some minor tweaks, would make a great bagger motor. In that application the 150-horsepower engine is 20% again more powerful than the Indian water cooler. This is about as no-brainer as it gets. By scrubbing the old air-cooled Milwaukee-Eight engine from production, the company can increase profit with economies of scale and reduce overhead.
Ducati
Since we're updating Harley's bagger lineup with modern tech, we might as well go all the way. Harley has done some of the work already, pushing a larger rider infotainment screen into production with wireless Apple Carplay, but that's not enough. These bikes run sometimes well over $30,000 and as a result should be at least competitive with bikes costing ten grand less on tech. Honda's highway hauler Goldwing, for instance, offers a reverse gear and a dual-clutch automatic transmission. Yamaha offers adaptive cruise control on its $16,499 Tracer 9 GT+ for example, and I believe this tech should be standard on all Harley baggers, as well as blind spot monitoring, a rear-view camera, and semi-active suspension. Why not go all the way and start experimenting with hybrid technology while we're at it?
Harley is already leaning in to MotoAmerica King of the Baggers, and as CEO I would push for even more, promoting the sport and H-D's participation in it at the same time. This is also an opportunity for Harley to build the most athletic baggers in the world with a focus on lightweight materials and creating a more dynamic riding experience for these big cruisers. I want every Harley bagger to be as good on a race track as the CVO Road Glide Race Replica.
Harley-Davidson
Back in 2019 Harley had a few ideas that really resonated with a younger audience, and I genuinely thought it was headed for a cool-era renaissance. For Harley to grow its sales with a younger audience, it absolutely has got to be seen as cool, and it's got to start younger. At CES in 2019 Harley showed off the Scrambler concept (above) as well as the "Light Electric Dirt Bike" concept, which was more or less a Sur Ron Lightbee competitor. That was a great start that never actually went anywhere.
Right now the least expensive thing on a Harley showroom floor is the $10,000 Nightster. Don't get me wrong, I like the Nightster a lot, but it's not going to pull thousands of twenty-somethings into the black and orange fold. Harley has to commit to a cradle-to-grave strategy of hooking younger riders and keeping them in the H-D family for their entire lives. That starts with smaller, lighter, and more nimble motorcycles and scooters built for an urban commute. These types of new bikes allow for a narrower stand-over width and potentially lower seat height, which typically benefits the female riding demographic most.
As CEO of Harley-Davidson, I would begin building on the success of the Pan America and push Harley into the mid-sized Adventure bike category to compete directly with something like a Ducati Desert X or KTM 890. This could also lead to the creation of a Harley-branded small scrambler and perhaps even a full-on competition dirt bike as Triumph and Ducati are doing now. Harley has been in this small-displacement game before, but had its clock cleaned by Honda in the 1970s. With the benefit of time and advanced manufacturing, Harley can give it another shot with clear eyes and a lot of enthusiasm.
Royal Enfield
Harley's sales were down 7% in 2024 over the prior year, but if the brand hadn't carried the North American market it would have been much worse. Here in the U.S. Harley sales merely sank by a reasonable 4%, but the European market fell by 11% and Asian sales dropped by a massive 18 percent. At the end of the day that means it sold $3.1 billion worth of bikes versus the $3.8 billion it sold in 2023. If Harley wants to keep up with the rest of the world, it needs to drastically grow its low end bikes. India and Southeast Asia buy more bikes than anywhere else on the planet, and I think Harley needs to be competitive here, pushing for small 1970s-style rugged-but-inexpensive bikes, similar to what Royal Enfield build.
2024 was a tough year for motorcycles in general, with the industry seeing a 15% decline in global sales. North America has been declining for decades, and that's where Harley sells more than 70% of its bikes. To maintain sales and profit, Harley absolutely must diversify and build better bikes than the competition. It's just that simple. Thank you, I would like to request a salary at least 25% above the $43.3 million that Mr. Zeitz took home as CEO in 2022. Cost of living increases, you understand. Thank you, I await your call.
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