American Bikers, especially people involved in MC Clubs have particular tastes. Sometimes they like certain styles and series, other times they won't touch them if you pay them. They are a particular and fickle lot. Basically most want an American V-Twin powered cruiser and other styles don't appeal to them.
Harley-Davidson spent years catering to the image of the biker, but they made enough missteps along the way that it could cost them their business if they make a few more marketing errors. Basically, to sell bikes to bikers, the manufacturers have to stay within certain parameters.
10 Boss Hoss V10 Viper Cycle
A motorcycle that weighs almost a ton. Not exactly something that can turn or be uprighted easily. With well over 450 H.P. and a direct drive transmission using a ring and pinion to couple the motor to the output chain, this is more about being the biggest but not necessarily the best. After the 502 Chevrolet got shoehorned into a bike 20 years ago, someone thought, why not a V10.
If you want to impress people with how outrageous you are, this bike is a good candidate. However, riding long distances across the country with a club really isn't a match for this bike.
9 Suzuki Boulevard M109R B.O.S.S.
One of the best power cruisers ever, and with the special BOSS paint scheme it's even better. However, most American rider clubs specify the bike must be made in America. There are certain clubs in other parts who don't care where the bike is made, so for them, this is a winner. It's a very fast bike and is well-equipped.
Better yet all the power comes on at a ridiculously low R.P.M. so the bike pulls from a stop instantly. With the ridiculousness of The current COVID19 lockdown at the time of writing, maybe moving to another country with some nice beaches and joining one of their clubs would be a good excuse to own one?
8 Orange County Theme Chopper
These bikes are about the ego of Paul Teutul Sr., and they lack any real function. You have to admit this model here is incredible to look at, and the paint scheme is second to none. However, unlike something like a Big Dog or similar chopper, few people actually ride one outside of a bike rally, that they actually towed the bike to town and then backed it off the trailer to cruise the fairgrounds in.
O.C.C. wouldn't have lost its entire staff and gone through a recent bankruptcy if this wasn't true. The company has moved towards more practical bikes in recent years to get back to making bikes people, not corporations, buy.
7 Harley Davidson Live Wire
This electric motorcycle is a very good bike. However, at $30,000 apiece nobody has bought one. You may see one in California or South Florida, but American Bikers haven't shown much interest in them. It isn't lack of speed or even range, it is price point and unfamiliarity.
Also, it's hard to run this bike with clubs that travel in excess of 125 miles per day, because while everyone else pulls in and gets gas, and rides again, the owner of this bike has a long recharging cycle to wait for. It may catch on, and we hope it does because Harley threw a lot of money into its development.
6 Victory Vegas Jackpot
We have no idea why this bike didn't sell in large numbers but people just didn't buy them. It's well-built, pretty, fast, and looks like a full custom, but like all the other Victory models people chose ridiculous 3 wheel contraptions and motorized lawnchairs over the marque and after 1.5 decades Polaris pulled the plug and fired up Indian.
Great bike, in fact, the entire line was everything a bike club could ask for, but yet not enough buyers actually stepped up to pay for one. We couldn't figure it out either. Never mind it came with 1/3 more H.P. than H.D. models made at the time.
5 VW Powered Trikes
Not lacking power with a 2300cc stroker engine, and a great looking custom fork, people build these for themselves, but most clubs don't accept them as legitimate because the original engine was made in Europe for the long-gone Beetle.
We give props to the builder of bikes like this and when they build it for themselves, they enjoy it. However, except for apocalyptic movies or specialty trike clubs, you seldom see a riding club that uses Trikes not powered by an American V-Twin. This particular bike personally we love and we admit it.
4 Harley Sportster 883 Iron
Bikers were never fond of the 883 series engine nor the 900 that they replaced. Ask most bikers and they will tell you most male-dominated clubs won't accept a biker riding less than a liter. It's an actual rule in certain clubs. They will even let it slide if the engine was stroked to 1200 C.C. or larger using the standard kit to do so.
We understand why, because the middling 45 H.P. lags behind the 60+ most modern cruisers make. Harley-Davidson continues to make this as its entry-level "budget" air-cooled twin. It's not a big deal to people outside of male-run bike clubs. The classic 2-gallon peanut tank isn't a favorite with riders for obvious reasons.
3 Harley Davidson Street 750 And 500
These bikes are seen on dirt track competition events more so than U.S. Highways. The 750 is used heavily during winter and summer X-Games competition, but its sales lack for American Buyers. It is a great seller in India and China as well as other countries with lower speed travel.
The bike looks more like an Asian brand rather than a North American Brand. It has nothing special going for it and you can see economy was the focus of the motorcycle. It feels cheap for a Harley-Davidson. The fork is at an odd angle and the choice of plain wheels, a small disc brake, and other lack of embellishment spoil the looks.
2 Honda Rebel 500
A terrific parallel-twin engine making a solid 50+ H.P. but not well-received by bikers. The bike would embarrass a Street 500 or 750 from H-D due to its better styling and emphasis on quality. However, it is not well-received in North America because people associate the name with the Rebel 250 from 40 years ago, which was a cheap entry-level bike priced under $2000.
Honda promises they will sell a 1100CC version in late 2020, which may sell a little better. For people who aren't bikers in North America, this is a terrific choice. It is simply not an American V-Twin cruiser, but a fine bike nevertheless.
1 Royal Enfield Classic 500
This is a modernized true retro single-cylinder motorcycle that has origins dating back before WWII. The bike has been modernized with electric start, fuel injection, and an additional 5th gear. However, it's limited to 24 H.P. and it's not made in America. There are clubs and fans all over Central Asia, specifically India and Pakistan.
Even Royal Enfield is moving away from this neo-classic and moving their line more towards their parallel-twin line which makes 50+ H.P. It's a good retro bike for in town low speed riding in North America, but you'll never see one at a riding club in North America even if it allows foreign bikes due to the slow speed of this model.