I was reading a review of the new Stratoliner Deluxe at Motorcycle Daily (great site by the way) and they said:

Although H-D continues to dominate the category, Star is already the No.1 selling metric cruiser brand, and has more than twice the market share of its closest metric competitor in the "high end cruiser" category.

but then we all knew that! though I do not like baggers (hey, don't all of you throw rocks at me) the Stratoliner Deluxe is a nice looking piece that is for sure and Motorcycle Daily liked it a lot.

That's a handy bit of information to have.
Baggers aren't my cop o' tea, but I'm looking into taking a Raider & building a "hot-rod bagger". Might be a real hoot.
Just think of it...a bagger that will run 12's in the 1/4 mile! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!!

I agree, in my books the Star line of bikes kick ass! Especially the Road *!

It an't braggin'....if it's true!!!!!!!

The TRUTH shall set them free!!!

"Harley continues to dominate the category", but for how long? They are having financial difficulty, and our economic future is questionable at best.

Last week I bought my second Road*. My wife as had two, a 1100 vstar and now, a Roadliner with full Corbin dress. We love the Star bikes!!!

Dirk R wrote:
"Harley continues to dominate the category", but for how long? They are having financial difficulty, and our economic future is questionable at best.

Here's the rub with that, so many who are buying them think they are "Buying American" and for that reason alone, especially with our present economy they will keep selling more than the metrics.

I've said it before....Harley ahs some problems and I'm not talking their bikes (though their pricing is absurd), I'm talking their model line up. Thats what may do them in. Think about it...no sportbikes, no dirt bikes, no quads, no water craft etc. So they are not building a loyal following in the classic way. They built one by trading on their long ago history, trade protections at one point, a manufactured image, licensing and so on. But no real long term meat.
All the guys my age own one or want one and can't afford it. Most of the young guys are gog back to the really old stuff, panheads and shovels as they are cheap and have of parts available. Cnversly the metrics suffer as they do not concentrate in one area has Harley has and done well with. Plus there are 3-4 major metric builders fighting for market share against HD. it would be interesting to see the number of all the metric cruiser builders thrown together. I'm thinking its a substantial number. I do know this as the guys my age begin to quit riding the HD used market is going to be huge! So you young guys be patient if you really want one. Oh, might want to take some classes in fixing one now....

Metric suffer because the manufacturers keep changing their lineup .... up until lately there have not been many long term bikes that you could use as a base for customizing. As a bling manufacturer, why would a want to incur the expenser of developing a product for a bike which may disappear in a few years.

Doc