American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 170 September 2013 | Page 4

Say hello to the ‘Digital Boomers’ n recent months I have been writing about the changes that are taking place in the custom bike scene, and what this means for the parts and accessory industry. Specifically I have been pointing to the 'trickle down' that has now been seen from the wider changes in the economics of the world we inhabit to the pricepoint at which customizers are able to find custom bike customers. My theory is that, in effect, we are at last seeing the emergence of a "premium pathway" that answers the concern that the industry has had surrounding the demographic that the custom parts and accessory industry is dependent on. The most common concern I have heard being voiced in recent years is that our aged core market simply isn't being replaced by potential new customers at the young-rider end of the cycle. I have always pointed to the median market customer age as being a "good thing" because it means that ours is an industry whose crosshairs are firmly fixed on when wallet-books are at their fattest. I have also argued that Harley-Davidson's success in appealing to new customers in terms of women and minorities, and in particular the (surprising) success they have been having as the fastest growing motorcycle brand among 'young riders' (for several years now), are pointers to there being life after boomers. It is interesting therefore to consider the similarities between what is currently happening in the custom bike scene and what went on when the boomers first entered the equation. I see what is happening now as a direct parallel with what happened in the 1960s and 1970s. or a parallel to the emergence of the new riding values seen as the boomers emerged you can read the decline of the dominance of Japanese manufacturers (the superbike revolution having now run its course in terms of stamping a new character on the motorcycle industry); for a parallel to the emergence of the price-point 'garage build' customizing we are seeing now you can read the stripped down chopper, bobber and "I got the motor from a bone yard" values that eventually manifested as long forks and Captain America. In the hands of "emerging young talent" such as Randy Smith and Arlen Ness a low-cost riding solution for a new generation an entire industry was eventually spawned, one that tracked the wallet books of those 'kids', and there is no reason whatsoever to think that the exact same cycle isn't about to kick-in again. Of course it will look, smell and taste as different to what as gone before as boomer rejection of Father's and Grandfather's riding experiences did in the '60s and '70s. For one thing, something as simple as the emergence of freeway networks played a huge role in the 'art of the possible', and in creating demand for riding solutions and values that simply couldn't have been in-play previously. The parallel to that dynamic now, like it or not, will be vastly changed social attitudes and consumer values as a 21st century market inevitably embraces the very different regulatory landscape it is faced with and the very different consumer values of those whose world view is shaped by digital technology. The customers and customer expectations to be found at the end of the 'premium pathway' are already very much in evidence. I opportunities will diversify and expand as model designs do the same F The replacement of the 'Jap Four' by the 'New Four', the likely emergence of further premium brands such as (in particular) Victory and Indian, and the emergence of Asian funded but Western demand-fuelled products of the kind that will be the likely outcome of links being forged between the likes of Erik Buell and HeroMotor Corp all point somewhere. That somewhere is a widespread expectation among manufacturers that far from retreating into a low-cost rider-as-endangered-species shell, the industry should gear up to meet demand for a generation of premium riding solutions that inspire and motivate new generations of 'digital boomers' as their own wallet books prosper. ith the industry seeing greater diversification and specialization than ever before, in the long-run the opportunities for aftermarket parts, accessory and performance product designers can only grow. It is counter intuitive to predict that the number of miles ridden by a global population of 7 billion can retreat to the levels ridden by 5 billion as it expands towards 9 or even 10 billion by the middle of the 21st century. So too it is illogical to think that as motorcycle production deepens its ability to cater for ever increasingly individual tastes and riding solution needs that the range of aftermarket product those riders will consume can do anything other than follow the evolution of the models being made and follow the riders as the miles get ridden. Yes, this means change for vendors, but wasn't ever thus? The products our market has been selling since the turn of the century are very different to the ones being sold in the 1970s, and in turn different again to those being sold 30 years earlier. Isn't the whole point about the aftermarket is that it is responsive to the riding experiences of those using bikes under ownership? The parts industry has demonstrated undoubted genius for tracking opportunity before, so there is no reason to assume that that key core competency won't just keep it in business in the future, but see its opportunities diversify and expand as the range of models and brands being sold does the same? If there are two things that 'digital boomers' will for sure bring to the table it is an almost genetic predisposition to consume, and an equally opportunity-rich predisposition to self-express. With the counter-reaction of the generations that followed the boomers into their teens, twenties and thirties now mellowing into comfortable middle age consumption patterns, the consumers of tomorrow are already starting to graduate from consumer finishing school with PhD grade good-attitude to defining their social existence by the products through which they express their individuality. W Robin Bradley Co-owner/Editor-in-Chief [email protected]