Call me crazy but being part of your age group seems to have a lot to do with it. For younger crowd that is especially important, “fitting in” is a big deal.
Every Harley owner has there own taste in what type of Harley they like. But Harley meets those wants, crotch rockets practically look exactly the same and you can buy fast or really fast.
It’s just personal preference and whether someone wants to spend the money for American products. Obviously nobody on here will agree with my opinion since as far as I know I am the only one on here who rides a Harley.
To me both Harleys and crotch rockets look mostly the same, so I ride a japanese standard-ducati-wanabe:dunno It’s not so much about the looks as it is about the bike fitting my needs. Some people want to be seen, some people want to go fast, I want to ride without a fuss on a budget. I salute your patriotism, and the way I see it everyone is free to ride whatever they like, a bike is a bike. It’s just a heavy cruiser with no variation in motor types is not the kind of bike I was looking for. For the record, Japanese bikes aren’t exactly cheap either, but at least they have a wide range of options besides the looks.