Expectation vs Reality - Why I Think More People Aren’t Buying Cruisers

Indian Motorcycles launched one of the coolest cruisers i've seen in a while this week, the Cheif Vintage and it got me thinking - Why don't we see cruisers much any more?

Before we talk about why cruisers are struggling now, we need to rewind a bit — because this whole category didn’t just appear out of nowhere. Cruisers, customs, and Sportsters were once the coolest thing on two wheels 😎🏍️

🕰️ How Cruisers Became The Motorcycle

Cruisers as we know them really took shape in the 1960s and 70s, born out of post-war America and counter-culture rebellion.

Soldiers returned home from WWII with:

• Mechanical skills

• A taste for freedom

• And surplus bikes they could strip, chop, and customise

What followed were bobbers and choppers — lighter, louder, longer, lower. Less about lap times, more about attitude.Think Easy Rider. Outlaw clubs. Denim. Oil-stained hands. And one very clear message:

This bike is mine.

Brands like Harley-Davidson didn’t invent the culture — but they absolutely became its symbol 🇺🇸

📈 The Boom Years: 90s to Late 2000s

The Harley Fatboy made infamous in the Terminator 2 movie

Fast forward a couple of decades and cruisers didn’t just survive — they exploded.

The 1990s through to the late 2000s was peak cruiser era:

• Strong economies

• Cheap credit

• Big disposable incomes

• Midlife riders chasing freedom, identity, and nostalgia

Cruisers became:

• Aspirational

• Status-driven

• Emotional purchases

You didn’t buy one because it was practical. You bought one because it said something about you.

This is where Harley truly peaked, and where Indian Motorcycle later re-entered the picture — tapping into the same emotional vein with heritage, styling, and storytelling.

At the same time:

• Japanese brands piled in with cruisers of every size

• European manufacturers flirted with the segment

• Custom culture went mainstream

Chrome was king ✨Big engines mattered 🧱Comfort and image beat outright performance every time.

📉 When the Peak Quietly Passed

Here’s the key bit — the peak already happened, and most people didn’t notice.

By the late 2000s:

• The core cruiser buyer was ageing

• Younger riders weren’t emotionally connecting in the same way

• Costs were rising

• Expectations were being set by a very specific image

Cruisers stopped being aspirational freedom machines and started becoming:

• Expensive

• Heavy

• Inflexible

• Increasingly disconnected from how people actually ride

The bikes didn’t suddenly get bad.The world around them just… moved on.

And this is where Expectation vs Reality really begins.

🧠 Perception

The Ducati Diavel was a badly handling sport bike in disguise

I’ve never personally owned what I’d call a true cruiser.The closest I came was a Ducati Diavel, bought in an attempt to slow down after years on sport bikes.

What I actually got was a “cruiser” that was as fast as a superbike… but handled like a boat 🚤

That said, I have ridden plenty of proper cruisers, and despite my pre-conceptions, I genuinely liked them — and here’s why.

Once you remove speed from the equation, something changes.

You settle.Your brain slows down.You start anticipating the road instead of attacking it.

All of a sudden:

• You feel the warm breeze

• You smell the fields

• You hear birds

• You notice places

On sporty bikes I’m so focused on survival — manhole covers, gravel, hidden junctions, tractors, pheasants, puddles — that I sometimes get home and genuinely don’t know where I’ve been.

That’s not riding. That’s endurance.

In my head, cruisers were all about leather gilets, patches, clubs and biker bars (I know that’s not really true) — but that’s the image we’ve been fed for decades through TV and film.

The reality? Very different.

🤝 The Reality

Having worked in the motorcycle industry — selling, servicing, riding — I came to realise that cruisers represent community, especially in the UK.

Large groups of like-minded people who might look intimidating in a bar fight… but are often:

• Charity supporters

• Fundraising ride organisers

• Festival builders

• Lifelong friends

Their bikes are their pride and joy — and yes, they dress to match. Bikes have fashion too.

I mean… look at us sports bike riders in our fluoro leathers, matching helmets, gloves and boots 🟡Same thing. Different uniform.

And here’s the thing:This group — often seen as “cliquey” from the outside — might actually be one of the last true motorcycle brotherhoods left.

You don’t see owners of other bike categories gathering like this.Let’s be honest — who wants to attend a sport bike festival where everyone argues about chicken strips and exhaust volume?

🇬🇧 So Why Aren’t More People in the UK Buying Cruisers?

I think it comes down to three big things:

1️⃣ Product range & pricing

2️⃣ Lack of modern tech

3️⃣ Marketing & positioning

💷 Pricing

I can buy a fully-loaded Honda NT1100 for under £15k — and be confident that I’m never more than 100 miles from a dealer. To get a similarly specced cruiser from Indian? You’re closer to £25k, with a thinning dealer network.

Is that a fair comparison? Maybe not.Maybe we should be talking Honda Gold Wing.

But here’s the issue:If I want to tour, I have 50–60 mainstream options. With cruisers? Very few — and usually at a much higher price, where exclusivity is the main selling point.

And don’t get me started on accessories…OEM parts shipped from the US at triple the cost? That alone puts people off.

📱 Lack of Tech

Modern riders expect:

• Bluetooth

• Traction control

• ABS

• Ride modes

• A bit of cleverness

Cruisers are catching up — but slowly.

The problem?That tech drives prices up even further, and there’s always the risk of alienating the traditional cruiser buyer who’s perfectly happy in a simpler, more analogue world.

For years, many cruisers felt agricultural and crude. They’ve only recently become refined — and the jury’s still out on whether that balance is right.

📣 Marketing & Positioning

Cruisers still suffer from a stigma that just doesn’t reflect reality. Instead of endless ads shot in Nevada featuring patch-wearing renegades riding to nowhere… Why not show:

• Community

• Charity rides

• Touring

• Real people

Position them as lifestyle choices, not caricatures. Because honestly? Stick me on a cruiser in blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a leather jacket and in my head I look like James Dean 😎(That might be an age thing.)

Watch: Wildhogs

🔮 So… What’s the Future?

Cruisers aren’t dead — but they desperately need reform.

The market needs a reset. A proper Control-Alt-Delete.

Manufacturers need to build bikes for:

• The purist (who just wants a fuel gauge)

• The adventure bike rider (who never goes off-road anyway)

Because that’s where the money — and the opportunity — is.

What needs to change?

• More 125cc cruisers (first bikes matter massively)

• Better price alignment around £8–12k

• A2-friendly options with real marketing support

• Crossovers that let riders dip a toe before diving in

Bikes like the Diavel, Benelli 502C and similar are doing this well. I don’t think cruisers are finished. But they are at a crossroads. And if you want a glimpse of where things could go, keep an eye on Benda Motorcycles — a brand properly rethinking what a modern cruiser can be. Affordable. Cool. Tech-aware. That’s the future — if the industry’s brave enough to build it.

The new Benda LFC700 is re-writing the cruiser guide book