Harley-Davidson Pokes the Hornet's Nest with New Model Names

Daily Slideshow: There's nothing quite like a product release to poke at the proverbial hornet's nest. Let's take a look at how the newly announced future models have evoked fear, speculation, and excitement among Harley-Davidson Forums members.

By John Barnes - August 20, 2018

3. If you didn't like the liquid-cooled...you definitely won't like electric

6. Evolution is necessary, and people want options

Bring on the naysayers!

A forum member recently said, "These warmed-over same ole same ole models with new names for between 15 and 50K are gonna turn it around for H-D." Yes, that was sarcasm at its most poignant... and completely justified. Let's face it, I love the Motor Company same as the next guy, but Harley-Davidson has been a bit slow on innovation in the past, well, several decades. I'm not bashing them, far from it. After all, Otis Spunkmeyer isn't changing the recipe for his cookies. It works. It sells. Leave it be. But innovation is a key element in attracting new buyers and let's be clear here--Harley-Davidson is a "for-profit" company, meaning "no sales, no business, no more company." It is high time that they innovate and stop resting on their laurels.

Innovation isn't always popular

Another forum member said, "Harley Davidson Bronx? hate [sic] to be a negative nancy but that sounds stupid to me." Well, in his defense, he was probably just assuming that the MoCo was going to be renaming yet another version of the Sportster or Street. The bike you see here is featured on the Harley-Davidson website only as "future custom model," but if I had to take a guess, I'd think this one is probably going to get the name "Bronx." It's lean, aggressively-styled and looks like it's going to run pretty cool with that (obviously) liquid cooled engine which will make it perfect for stop-and-go city traffic. I know that right about now, all of the "Ole Skool" H-D guys are about to pitch a fit about Harley-Davidson making another liquid-cooled mill, but let's face the facts my fellow "over-40 friends." If we want to see our kids and grandkids riding bikes with the Bar and Shield logo, we have to embrace it. Almost every kid from 4-years-old on up has a super-powerful computer in their hands most of the time. They don't relate to or understand pulling chokes, kick-starting, and feathering the throttle till she gets up to temp. If we raised them right, they'll appreciate the beauty of those days, but they will also appreciate that Harley-Davidson is still making advancements to appeal to their generation, a generation that expects reliability, power, beauty, and functionality to be standard features.

>>Weigh in with your thoughts about the future of H-D right here in the Harley-Davidson Forum.

If you didn't like the liquid-cooled...you definitely won't like electric

Oh. My. God. What have they done? Actually, we first heard about Harley-Davidson's electric concept "Project Livewire" four years ago, so we've had some time to adjust to it, but now it seems, they have the bugs worked out and the production lines are ready to start building the actual production "Livewire" for the masses as early as next year. Back in 2014 when it was first introduced, one forum member said, "It has 0-60 in the 3s... and a range of 30 miles. But, there is a high-capacity battery option that you trailer behind. Or maybe they will have a custom designed battery pack that looks like and replaces the tank. But, it weighs 500 pounds. And also the solar panel option. 3 4x8 panels should do the trick."

Yep, only four short years ago, that may have been a pretty sarcastic comment, but it was largely based in truth. The first electrics had terrible range and recharging them was not as easy as simply plugging an extension cord into a wall socket, either. But, as Tesla cars and Zero motorcycles have proven to us, the technology is not just here now, it is also reliable, powerful, and ready to be exploited. Now, if I'm being completely honest, I still don't care for the look of an electric motorcycle, but when they hit the showroom floors, I won't turn down the opportunity to test ride one.

>>Weigh in with your thoughts about the future of H-D right here in the Harley-Davidson Forum.

The electric platform is wide open

HOLD ON! Don't freak out. It's gonna be ok, I promise. These are just concept drawings... for now. Look, folks, this is what our kids and grandkids want. For them, their riding boots are their favorite sneakers and their riding jackets aren't made of leather, they are made of modern, synthetic-blend material that is not only lightweight, but also ten times stronger than the best leather we ever wore. I promise you don't have to trade in your trusty "Ole Skool" machine for an electric scooter/bicycle thing or sell your custom Dyna. You aren’t going to be forced to finance some weird-looking electric bicycle, or a weird looking dirt-bike thing, but you will soon have the option of having a whole garage full of Harley-Davidson motorcycles that will fit just about every category of riding and motorcycling that you might want to do and, just as important, these bikes will offer plenty of options to secure future generations of Harley-Davidson riders.

>>Weigh in with your thoughts about the future of H-D right here in the Harley-Davidson Forum.

Something for every rider

Look, personally, I'm a cruiser guy. I have been a cruiser guy for a long time. I've had a lot of cruiser-style bikes over the years (even before I could afford Harleys), but sportbikes are super popular. Ridiculously popular, actually. It's understandable, though, because they are light, fast, sleek and they scream youthfulness. If I'm being completely honest, way back in the day I had a sport bike and it was as fun as tequila on a Tuesday to ride. A lot of us, *ahem* more mature folks, may not want one of these crotch-rockets, but our kids sure as hell like them and Harley-Davidson can build one as good as any other company, so why shouldn't they get a piece of that market action? Why shouldn't our kids have the option of buying a Harley-Davidson that has the performance and style that they want? The bike you see here, referred to as the "future Streetfighter," really isn't a new concept for Harley-Davidson, far from it actually. In 1998 Harley-Davidson partnered with Eric Buell by buying 49% of the shares of his company. By the year 2000, shortly after we all realized that the modern world wasn't going to come to a screeching halt due to the "Y2K" computer scare, the MoCo started selling different models of the sportbike under the Buell name, with the most popular of those bikes being moved by a performance-enhanced EVO Sportster motor.

>>Weigh in with your thoughts about the future of H-D right here in the Harley-Davidson Forum.

Evolution is necessary, and people want options

I really expected that this machine was going to cause a lot of negative rumblings from my fellow forum critics. After all, we like what we like and God knows that we all have our own, very justified, opinions. Before I started writing this piece, I had already made my mind up that I was going to have to defend my opinion on the future "Pan America" concept, especially when comments like, "Pan America... always good to name one after a failed airline" were floating around. I like the Pan America. I really like it. Yes... I ride a Road King Special as my primary bike and I have a mildly custom Sportster in my garage for when I just want to bomb around town... but I grew up on dirt bikes and there is nothing quite like trail riding through some backwoods countryside and I sure as hell can't do that on my Road King or Sportster because, well, I'm not INSANE.

But I must say, I was relieved to see comments like these from my fellow H-D Forums members:

"Good for them for branching out with motorcycle offerings and away from their traditional customer base. Good luck to them for it as well. God knows it's a steep uphill battle considering their traditional HD owners. Quite frankly, sales are dropping, midas [sic] well try to build a new customer base. Tear the band-aid off, just don't half-ass the effort HD..."

and

"Good move. No need to be a hater. The MoCo will build Harley's for the next generation. We Boomers already have ours. There's plenty of timeless, air-cooled hogs to keep our panties un-wadded."

Those are exceptionally good points and I don't think I could have said it better. Harley-Davidson has had to continually advance throughout its history and now is no different than in 1936 when the boys in Milwaukee introduced the Knucklehead to the masses. By today's standards, all the devout H-D owners back then should have pitched a fit because the Motor Company had advanced from the flathead engine to an overhead valve engine; or in 1952 when they first built the engine with the integrated transmission that would later become the foundation for the beloved Sportster in 1957. Everybody loves the Knuckles now and the Sporty has a cult following like no other machine in history. The advances that you see here are just the latest iteration, a reflection of our current society as much as those beloved prior innovations were a reflection of those early days. When our kids make it to our age, they'll undoubtedly be talking about the "good old classic Twin Cams" and the "good old Milwaukee Eights" and maybe, just maybe, they'll be out trail riding on a "classic" Pan America or bombing around town on a customized "Ole Skool" Bronx.

>>Weigh in with your thoughts about the future of H-D right here in the Harley-Davidson Forum.

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