Sitting on a plane on my way to Longmont, Colorado for the STAR Touring and Riding Association’s annual STARdays event, I found a few questions popping into my head. The STAR Touring and Riding Association is the Yamaha/Star motorcycle owner’s equivalent of the famous HOG (Harley Owner’s Group). Founded in 1996, STAR is now approaching an international membership of 50,000 riders, all of whom get together with other members at events and rides organized by their local STAR chapter, giving them the chance to share their love of motorcycling with other like-minded people.
But back to those questions. My number one question was this: what level of customer loyalty do STAR members have to the Yamaha/Star brand? Would they consider buying another brand of motorcycle, or are they Star owners to the grave?
You see, in my mind, the most brand-loyal customers anywhere have to be Harley-Davidson owners. I would suspect that many H-D owners didn’t even consider the possibility of buying another brand of motorcycle; when they want a bike, they just head down to their local H-D dealer, and figure out which H-D model fits their taste and budget.
Owners of Japanese-made motorcycles, on the other hand, are generally assumed to be less brand loyal. That’s why journalists like me are still getting paid – when most riders want a Japanese motorcycle, they compare the bikes from all the major brands that fit their budget and taste, and decide which one will be the best for them, often with the help of one or more bike reviews written by journalists they trust. Thus, if a buyer is looking for a 600cc sportbike for track use, he might buy a Yamaha this year because he’s read it’s the best track bike. But next year, he might spend his money at the Kawasaki dealer, because Kawasaki might have released a new class-topping machine.
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| Shops like Coyote Customs are building Star-based machines as clean as anything we’ve seen on Discovery Channel. |
Of course, every Japanese brand strives to establish among its customers brand loyalty equaling that of Harley-Davidson. But why are H-D riders, and especially HOG members, so loyal to the H-D brand? Ask a few of them, and I guarantee you’ll come up with two main points: the long and distinguished heritage of the Harley-Davidson brand and nameplate, and the fact that H-D motorcycles are made in America by an American-owned company.
Lacking both a long and distinguished heritage in the cruiser market, and the cachet of being American-owned, can Yamaha/Star approach the same level of brand loyalty that H-D has achieved, and if so, how? This is the question I attempted to answer over the course of my four days in Colorado, through interviews with more than 30 STAR Touring and Riding Association members.
What did I find? Only a few of the STAR members flat-out refused to consider any brand other than Star, but nearly all of them cited that a Star motorcycle would be their first choice by far, and it would take a lot to get them in the saddle of another brand of bike.
How has Yamaha/Star built that kind of loyalty with these riders? Again, two major factors were cited by the vast majority of those interviewed.
First, the dealer network. Having attended Yamaha’s yearly dealer meeting in Las Vegas several times, I know first hand how hard Yamaha works to keep a good relationship with their dealers, and the way they urge their dealers to in turn build strong personal relationships with their customers. Apparently it’s paying off – nearly every rider I interviewed stated that their dealer ‘takes care of them’, and they’ve been extremely happy with the level of service they’ve received as Yamaha/Star customers.
The second reason can be summed up in one word: reliability. Just as modern Japanese cars are considered to be generally more reliable than those built by American companies like Ford and Chevy, most of the STAR members cited the reliability of their Yamaha/Star motorcycles as a major contributing factor in their loyalty to the brand, and quite a few of them mentioned that their bikes were far more reliable than the Harley-Davidson products they had previously owned. In fact, one STAR member I interviewed owned four Yamaha/Star motorcycles and has been riding Yamaha-made cruisers for almost ten years, and he has never once been stranded by a breakdown of any sort.
Of course, as one of the pioneers of the cruiser market, Harley-Davidson is always going to be a big factor in the cruiser market. However, my interviews at STARdays showed me that Yamaha/Star is increasing their share of the cruiser market through a few basic but well thought out strategies that have impressed the riders who buy these motorcycles.
