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Comment by pwaai | Hacker News Reader

From my understanding of Harley fans is that they really really like their air-cooled engines. V-Rod, Street 750 have all gotten flak for not being 'true' harleys....because they improved on lot of the outdated tech. They can't sell even the newer bikes (revenue has fallen and closing down factories) because the demographic is steadfast in their vision of classic harley.

Porsche enthusiasts also show similar preference for air cooled 70~80s models which appreciates in value....but they kept almost all parts of the formula (the car look, clock, engine in the rear) the same because when they went with a bold new look (like the tear drop of early 2000s) they were facing an uphill battle.

It's sort of like the HN comment I see calling for petrol cars to be banned because electric vehicles are going to render the old ones extinct.

There is a true lack of understanding the market and the buyers in a space that most HN'ers are not the target demographic.

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I'm not sure what you're getting at. If everyone expected electric vehicles to just naturally replace all petrol powered vehicles and make them extinct, there would be no need for talk of a ban. Of course petrol heads will always want petrol powered vehicles. The whole point of bans is to stop people doing things they would otherwise do.

Note I'm not advocating a ban as such. I think it would be a shame if all petrol powered vehicles were banned, if only for historical appreciation. They might be banned from or face restrictions on their use on public highways though. However it does seem likely there will be a push back from petrol heads on that.

the 996 era 911 is certainly the least loved porsche 911 and it was initially due to being the first water cooled engine, but now it's because the horrible egg headlights and the fact it isn't old enough to be classic yet. The 991.1 and 991.2 have sold incredibly well and the 918 showed porsche enthusiasts hybrid would actually make their cars faster. When the 992 includes electrification there is going to be a huge demand.

The air cooled leap in value didn't happen until more than a decade after porsche switched to water cooling when people realized vintage 911s had been undervalued for decades (they are excellent cars, especially with modern tires). There is likely now a bubble, especially with 912s, but there are tons of porsche guys buying both old and new stuff.

I don't see current Harley guys taking to electric very well, but this is about getting a whole new generation of buyers, not about keeping their aging boomers happy.

At the same time that the 996 was a controversial success for Porsche, the 928 was an eventual, controversial failure. Even though I own a 928 I don't know nearly enough about the 928's history to talk about why it failed, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with its rapid departure from the 911's style and layout. My big question is will an electric Harley be just enough, too little, or too much of a change from its heritage to succeed?

the lesson from the Porsche example is to go ahead and do it! The market for their modern product built on top of the rich brand legacy is far far larger than the old market for the legacy product. They traditionalists will whine, but you can hardly hear them what with the stacks of money all around.

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