1. First,nobody can argue about Willie G. being a marketing guru.
Right or wrong,the Harley lifestyle is important to their customers. Get over it...
2.If you look back in history,in the late '70's,Harley developed 12 proto-type bikes called "The Nova Project".
Built in conjunction with Porsche,they were V4 water cooled with belt drive.
Willie G.'s only blunder of his career, was thinking that this bike would drive a wedge between HD and it's hardcore customers..
3.The other reason the program was scrapped, was at that time,HD was cash poor after buying the company back from AMF and spending millions building the EVO platform.
Now think about this for a minute.
The '70's and '80's were the big "Buy American" years.
IMHO,if HD would have seen this project thru,it's very possible Harley would have captured 90% or better of the motorcycle market.
They would have had a bike for everybody.
We could all be riding Harleys...
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSZhTIy507qdEfv9wuq2lE9Edp0nJ_W82OS03LphPfW7dmx59x8
If your ever in Milwaukee,stop at the HD museum and you can see one of the 12 proto-types on display.
It's orion silver and blue like my '87 and looks like a cross between a MK1 and a early Goldwing..Pretty cool.
http://www.bikerenews.com/AntiqueBikes/CodeNameNova.htm
IMHO,HD blew it big time.
Now if I could afford it,would I buy another Harley? You bet....
Would I get rid of our 1st Gen...Nope....