Is Harley-Davidson Losing Its Diehards?

Harley-Davidson rolled out a dismal earnings report on Tuesday morning. Pretty much every performance gauge offered a bad reading: A strong dollar weighed on international sales, poor weather kept away winter buyers, and aggressive pricing from competitors lured away would-be buyers. The company now expects to ship a maximum of 281,000 motorcycles for the year, down from earlier projections of 287,000.

Perhaps the most troubling sign for the Wall Street darling was the product mix. Harley experienced an increase in demand for its touring bikes—the massive cruisers that typically have big windscreens and hard panniers—as well as for the smaller street bikes aimed at younger, urban riders. Those models are doing well at home and winning buyers in Southeast Asia and South America.