Harley-Davidson Motorcycles | Gibson Guitars: A Brief Comparison

Gibson, the American guitar company recently filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This might sound like they are in trouble, but that isn’t necessarily true. A quick Google search and one will find that Chapter 11 Bankruptcy isn’t a “sell it all and wrap up shop” situation, but a business decision. In a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, the business which acquired the debt has an opportunity to liquidate certain business operations and cease production. Fortunately, Gibson decided to axe their consumer electronics business (which specializes in headphones, stereo speakers and whatnot) and decided instead to keep their instrument and audio prospects. This was a good move by Gibson, considering that their instruments are their namesake. However, Gibson seems to be doing something similar to what Harley-Davidson has been doing in recent years.

Gibson guitars have taken to a niche with their instrument market recently, designing top quality builds and new features with each new release. This is fantastic, until you look at the prices which they are selling those guitars for. Somehow, they still have a good hold on the market, but Harley-Davidson seems to be going the same way. Harley has taken a new angle on their motorcycles, where they seem to be trying to replicate what has made their motorcycles precious in the past to motorcycle enthusiasts. They seem to be more interested in remanufacturing what once made them great and as a result, Harley decided to rid their line of their Dyna (FX) models, which were their more affordable full-sized motorcycles. Gibson seems to have a similar attitude with their pricing, considering that their cheapest model of their 2019 lineup was a Les Paul Junior starting at $799. That’s not exactly easy on the billfold. Similarly, Harley-Davidson has narrowed their affordable line of motorcycles to their Sportster line, which feature a smaller frame than most of their larger riders can fit. Oddly enough, not everyone who is over 5’8” and 180 pounds is making six figures a year. Beyond that, it has been rumored within the motorcycle community that Harley is looking to rid themselves of the Sportster line as well.

Harley-Davidson and Gibson Guitars both need to take a step back and reexamine what made their companies special to start with, and find a way to implement the bare bones of their greatness into a more affordable product for the consumer. Not everything has to be mother-of-pearl inlays and flashy fairing packages. For these companies to be successful in the future, they need to be able to produce high quality equipment and motorcycles without expecting their demographic to have buckets of money laying around to spend on their products. If they don’t, both Harley-Davidson and Gibson Guitar Company are in danger of worsening their reputations of washed up, elitist brand holders cranking out products with high price tags to please the doctors and executives who can afford them.