Bronx Tale: New Harley Streetfighter Now Off the Menu
The eagerly anticipated Bronx no longer appears on Harley’s future vehicle’s page.
Last month, we wrote about how Harley-Davidson’s Rewire strategy had just cost 500 workers their jobs. At the time, it was another bit of bad news for the MoCo, which truth be told, hasn’t seen a lot of good news lately. Now, Harley’s turnaround plan has also claimed an eagerly anticipated new model, as the Bronx streetfighter has quietly been removed from the future vehicles section of the company’s website.
When our friends over at Motorcycle.com reached out about the change, they received the response below, which leaves little doubt about the future of the model.
“Harley-Davidson’s immediate new product focus in 2021 will be on the launch of Pan America, our first Adventure Touring motorcycle. In order to ensure an outstanding launch for Pan America, we will not be launching the Bronx streetfighter motorcycle next year.”
Maybe we’re just pessimists, but this is hardly unexpected — and we wouldn’t hold our breath to test ride the Bronx in 2022 either. Because launching brand-new motorcycles is an expensive proposition, even in the best of times. So with Harley facing an cash crunch, and the world in the grip of an unprecedented health crisis, bold new programs might not look at that attractive to the bean counters. That said, we think this was the wrong bike to cut from the product roadmap. We’d have cut the Pan America.
Now, we get it. Just like everything overland related, the adventure bike segment is red-hot. Well-heeled buyers are snapping up pricey models from KTM, BMW, and Honda like they’re going out of style, so Harley wants a piece of the action. And there’s likely some money to be made from a rugged touring machine. But right now, the MoCo doesn’t have a problem selling fancy, expensive bikes. It has a problem selling more affordable, entry-level bikes that introduce riders to the brand, and let’s be honest here: the Street 750 didn’t help.
If it were our call, we wouldn’t spend time and treasure developing models at the upper end of the segment. That part of Harley’s portfolio already looks great, and would remain fine if the company left the Fat Boy, Road King, and Softail as-is for the next five years. Just offer some killer new paint schemes and call it good.
What the MoCo needs is something to compete with the Ducati Monster, Kawasaki Z650, and most importantly, the Indian FTR 1200 S. All of those bikes are aimed at much younger demo than Harley currently serves, and ignores at its peril. Overall, we think cutting the Bronx was a dumb move. But what do you think? Head into the forum and let us know!
Join the conversation about the Harley-Davidson Bronx now!
