[Richard230]

If you are interested in this new fat-tire Harley, here is a link to a review by Motorcycle.com. They are not happy with its either 2" or 1.5" rear suspension travel: https://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/harley-davidson/2021-harley-davidson-sportster-s-review-first-ride.html

[Nitrowing]

That's quite a positive review 

[Karl Childers]

The same motor as their new Adventure bike in a  slightly detuned state, still with plenty of grunt. Light years ahead of the old Sportster that can no longer meet Euro emission specs. but it is a little sad to see the old one put out to pasture after many decades in their line up. The Pan Am is selling like hotcakes we'll see if the new Sporty does the same, Harley needs to cultivate a market beyond just baby boomers that are aging out at this point.

[Nitrowing]

I was never a fan of the Sportsters, after riding my mate's 1200 that had received a ton of upgrades. My cheap RG250 would run rings around it.
This new model seems to have all the right parts and looks much better.
Maybe they should drop the name? It's a magnet for snide remarks.

[Morgan65]

I’ve always liked the Sportster line. I still kick myself for selling my 2012 XR1200X Sportster. On paper the new Sportster looks fantastic except for the 2” rear wheel travel.😕 That is why I had to sell my 2014 Night Rod Special. It would just hammer this old man’s back. But the new Sportster at 502 LB and 125 HP with  hydraulic valves, holy smokes Badman! How can you not like this bike?🤯

[Arschloch]

Appart of the clown shoe on the front wheel it's pretty good, worthy competition to Indian.

[Richard230]

Appart of the clown shoe on the front wheel it's pretty good, worthy competition to Indian.

But it won't be going far with a 3 gallon fuel tank, that will show a low fuel warning after using two gallons. H-D claims that the bike will get 48 mpg, which will translate to 40 mpg ridden normally and not at 50 mph on a dyno. That means that your bar-hopping will have to be within a 40-mile radius.  Not enough for me. The suspension can likely be upgraded by the aftermarket, but the fuel tank might be harder to do, especially if you like the looks of the original tank.

[axman88]

Light years ahead of the old Sportster that can no longer meet Euro emission specs.

I'm very skeptical that "cannot" is the right word.  I suggest that what happened to the Sportster would be better described as, "manufacturer declined to develop, for economic reasons".  Note that the Streets were withdrawn at the same time.   The liquid cooled Streets, had been meeting BS 6 in India since 2019.  Both models were being built for Europe and Asia in the Bawal factory that HD chose to close.  I looked pretty hard for a definitive statement on this situation from Harley, and found nothing.

Harley continues to sell their largest air cooled machines in Europe.  It's hard to believe that a 1700+cc engine can be made to comply, while an 883 cannot.

How can you not like this bike?🤯

Its $15K base price tag does not appeal.  How can HD hope to capture new riders when they offer nothing that a youngster can afford?

[Karl Childers]

I'm very skeptical that "cannot" is the right word.  I suggest that what happened to the Sportster would be better described as, "manufacturer declined to develop, for economic reasons".  Note that the Streets were withdrawn at the same time.   The liquid cooled Streets, had been meeting BS 6 in India since 2019.  Both models were being built for Europe and Asia in the Bawal factory that HD chose to close.  I looked pretty hard for a definitive statement on this situation from Harley, and found nothing.

Harley continues to sell their largest air cooled machines in Europe.  It's hard to believe that a 1700+cc engine can be made to comply, while an 883 cannot.
Its $15K base price tag does not appeal.  How can HD hope to capture new riders when they offer nothing that a youngster can afford?

I've seen that statement in a number of press releases but you bring up some good points, where the truth lies is hard to tell. Harley's losing ground right now and their PR people will put the best spin on it they can.

[axman88]

I've seen that statement in a number of press releases but you bring up some good points, where the truth lies is hard to tell. Harley's losing ground right now and their PR people will put the best spin on it they can.

Yes, there were various reports at the time, most of which took the form, "another online source reported, ......"

This article offered the most detail of those that I was able to find.  https://www.motorcycle.com/mini-features/harley-davidson-drops-sportster-and-street-from-european-lineup.html

From what I've read, Harley's French operations were first to make the statement that the Sportster and Street 750 would be withdrawn from Europe, and this fact was subsequently confirmed by US corporate "sources", but I was never able to find any explicit statement as to WHY.  Clearly it wouldn't have taken much more than administrative effort to have brought the Street 750 into compliance with Euro 5, if it was already meeting India's BS 6.

The Streets were Harley's biggest seller in Asia.  I wouldn't be surprised to find that the HD model selling the most units a year from now, looked like this:
https://advrider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Harley-338R-712x400.jpg

[Richard230]

Making weird random economic decisions is nothing new for H-D's governing board. I have no doubt that anyone familiar with the company could provide many examples over the past 50 years of H-D buying and then selling companies and designing and then dropping seemingly decent motorcycle models - the Buell line being the most obvious recent example.

The latest really odd business decision by H-D is dumping their new $30K LiveWire electric motorcycle into a new and separate brand specializing in selling electric motorcycles, called LiveWire. The first model to be sold by this new brand will be the exact same LiveWire motorcycle, with either a black or white "tank", instead of the original bronze color and with an $8K lower price, called the LiveWire One.

Now what is really going to give the LiveWire brand the kiss of death is that H-D-manufactured electric motorcycles will not be sold by their established dealer network, but will only be sold by dedicated EV LiveWire dealers and only in three states, California, Texas and one other, probably Wisconsin. And to make things more interesting they will only be offered to customers within 50 miles of the dealership. Considering that sales will likely be less than 1,000 a year for the entire brand for quite some time that business decision seems like a recipe for failure. Would you want to invest in a LiveWire franchise dealership under those economic conditions? It sounds to me like H-D is setting up their electric motorcycle business to fail, without not directly impacting their V-twin brand. 

[Karl Childers]

Like Buell and the V Rod, the Livewire would be a pariah on their sales floor given the typical Harley faithful that walk in the door. That is probably another factor for the distancing along with letting it die a quiet death somewhere else. It's reception has been lukewarm at best.

[Nitrowing]

Its $15K base price tag does not appeal.  How can HD hope to capture new riders when they offer nothing that a youngster can afford?

Yup, even though it's a nice bike, $5000 needs to come off that 

[Arschloch]

Yup, even though it's a nice bike, $5000 needs to come off that 

There is always the question though weather there is something wrong with the price OR the income. 

[Nitrowing]

There is always the question though weather there is something wrong with the price OR the income. 

It's a perceived 'value for money'.
I bought a GL1500 because it was (and still is) the only bike that can comfortably take 2 weeks worth of clothing, tools, PPE and computer equipment that I need to go to work with.
The Sportster is in a different class.
It's hardly a 'pop in to town' runaround.
It's not able to tour with such a tiny tank.
It's not going to be used on track days.
I can't see them being commuted to work on.
What role does that leave for it?
How does HD market a $15k vehicle with no obvious function?
At $10k it could be advertised as 'Your first HD' and newer riders might actually go for it.