Time To Move On

Harley’s new machine is unlikely to replace anything in the hearts of current H-D riders, but it could be pivotal for the future of biking…

- John Milbank

Hardcore Harley devotees best look away now. Flag-waving Trump supporters probably won’t be impressed either, but for many riders – particularly those a little younger – be they open-minded new bikers, or indeed anyone looking for their first Harley, this could well be a game-changer.

This bike handles. It’s powerful, its got decent suspension, and it’s comfortable. And I don’t mean for a Harley. I mean that it’s great when you keep in mind that it costs just £6745. That’s not much more than an MT-07. And it’s a grand less than a Triumph Street Twin.

Let’s deal with the naysayers first. About half of all the bikes on US roads are Harley-Davidsons, so the company needs to encourage new riders into biking – with that market share, it’s not easy to get many more riders of competitor motorcycles to make the switch. The aim is to get two million new riders on board in just 10 years, and what market research has shown is that there are an awful lot of people who want to get into the H-D brand, but don’t see anything that tempts them. They want something that’ll be easy to use in the city, but will handle well on the open roads too.

Customers in the emerging markets want the same – the current Street 750 is very popular in India, and in total, there are now 35,000 of them on the world’s roads. It’s the company’s third best-seller in the UK (behind the Iron 883 and Forty Eight), so hopes are high for the new Street Rod, which promises 20% more power (69.7bhp @ 9000rpm) and 10% more torque (47.9lb-ft @ 4000rpm) than the Street 750. That’s for the European market – US bikes are slightly down on those figures, but only by about 2%.