Why Gen Z Is ABANDONING Harleys and Quietly Buying Royal Enfield

In 1983, Harley-Davidson held 30% of every new motorcycle sold in America. In 2025, they sold 132,500 units globally — down 32% from four years ago. In that same window, a 124-year-old Indian brand nobody on your block has heard of sold 1.18 million motorcycles and grew 27%. This isn't a story about a winner and a loser. It's a story about what happens when a brand mistakes its past for its future — and what a generation priced out of homes, living in cities, and buying their first bike actually wants from a motorcycle. SOURCES Axios (Feb 10, 2026) — Harley-Davidson 2025 annual sales report, CFRA Research analyst quote MotorcyclesData (Jan 2026) — Royal Enfield 2025 global performance Riders Share / IBISWorld (Feb 2026) — U.S. motorcycle demographics, median age data Adventure Motorcycle Magazine (Aug 2025) — Harley-Davidson crisis analysis RideApart (Jul 2025) — Royal Enfield U.S. sales growth and export data TopSpeed (Apr 2025) — RE vs HD global sales comparison CycleTrader (Apr 2025) — Gen Z rider preferences and buying behavior National Powersports Auctions Market Report (2025) — Used Harley depreciation data Throttle Frame covers the business, engineering, and culture behind motorcycles — the stories most channels never tell.