Did Something Go Wrong?
Ever since Harley dropped its continuation models, Chapter One of a Two Part MY2026 announcement, there had a been a lot of conjecture about which of the two planned entry-level ' price-point ' models would be included in the mid-January 2026 ' Chapter Two '. Neither of them, it turns out. Harley had positioned itself well to embrace the promise of a level of affordability that it had not offered for a while. Not since the ' Street 500, 750 and Street Rod. But there is no new engineering for 2026 at all. Well not yet anyway. Harley may have been just plain unlucky with its timing where the planned new models is concerned. By and large, Harley struggles with ' price-point ' these days and certainly can ' t compete with Asian labor rates. It ' s interesting though in the newly minted era of Production Model Only AFT racing, the XG750R is pulling up trees, and likely to continue to do so in 2026. Is that another missed dynamic? So, despite the promises made by Jochen Zeitz that a new $ 10k base lever cruiser would be announced and on sale for the first half of 2026, and that a new $ 6k single( the ' Sprint ') would be announced for sale later in 2026( or was it the other way round?) cometh the second chapter, cometh the … nothing. Silence. Mystery and missed opportunity instead of the second law of thermodynamics recalibration and doors swinging. Taking the ' Bar ' n Shield ' to within the reach of younger pocketbooks and credit scores may indeed have militated against the Gospel of Exclusivity preached by Zeitz, but even he had finally conceded that Harley had missed a trick. He had finally admitted that Harley could enter the ' price-point ' segment profitably and that, as the Boomers die out, should indeed do so. Zeitz clearly stated that Harley would be entering the sunlit uplands of affordability this year. So, what happened? What went wrong? There are those of us outside of the magic circle who none the less have skin in Harley ' s game would love to know. It was likely too late for new CEO Artie Starrs to have gotten involved in such levels of strategic thinking, and, simultaneously, too early in his tenure for him to have been able to make anything other than an interim ' stalling ' judgement. So maybe the bikes just weren ' t ready. Maybe there simply hasn ' t been the capital availability to make the investment that would have been needed as quickly as it would have been needed. Maybe there have simply been second thoughts. Maybe an iteration of that new, H-D India announced X440( the 440T) was that the bike that Hero would have been making for Harley under the ' Sprint ' name? If you missed it check out page 14 of our January edition online at www. amdmag. com. It ' s a handsome looking 27HP air-cooled single that would have made an excellent ' brand starter ' at around $ 6k – eminently customizable too. Maybe, having cleared the decks of the America-250 ' Liberty Editions '( is just me or do they underwhelm?) and the slew of new paint and high-price specials, maybe there will be another bonus announcement to come? One that will get the dealership doors swinging just as peak buying season gets underway? Or maybe the( now) annual Homecoming in Milwaukee in June could provide a high-profile launch platform; or maybe the 2026 Dealer Convention later in the year will presage 2027 launches? Or maybe they simply can ' t after all, make money at those prices and have backed off. The senior insiders will know the truth behind what has gone wrong, but something has. Frankly, it is just plain wrong for Harley not to have skin in the game that Royal Enfield and others are taking ownership of. Like it or not, Ford CEO Jim Farley is right. Harley has to evolve. Everyone and everything must. Capitalism is as much subject to The Second Law of Thermodynamics and its version of entropy as the natural world is. Change is the engine room of survival. It would be a shame if this came as a first stubbed toe of the Artie Starrs era. That aside it has all been going so well. And still is. In December it emerged that Harley would require white-collared employees to return to office working – three days a week from March, the four days a week starting in September. Hurrah. The new policy " affects employees who live within a 50-mile radius of their historic Juneau Avenue headquarters." Indeed, there has already been a trickle of returnees and increased office-time in the past 12-months anyway. With Jochen Zeitz Vanity Plaza( sorry, Davidson Park) now occupying the former car park, there will be some teething problems, and there might be some dislocation as a major tax credits subsidised refurb gets underway – one which will, hopefully, expunge the cheap and shabby 1970s vibe from the campus and allow the original early 20th Century industrial chic that has been the basis for its updated ' Historic Designation ' status to shine loud and proud. Zeitz had worked remotely from his home in New Mexico( actually, a ranch) and from the R & D facility at Wauwatosa when he was in Milwaukee. However, Starrs had said straight away( and quite pointedly) that he would not be working from his Texas family home. Indeed, he has ensured told his direct-report senior managers to work alongside him at Juneau Avenue for at least four days a week, from January 2026. Oh, and by-the-way, as the newly minted ' Keeper of The Flame ', Legacy Meister Bill Davidson is to have an office right alongside the CEO. Cool. Another Zeitz era policy change that was squished some time ago was his ' earlydays ' announcement that Harley would no longer go racing – that worked out well! For 2026 Harley is making a $ 600,000 contingency program available for its racers in various series for 2026, to say nothing of the Harley Bagger Racing ' company cup ' that is due to get underway at selected MotoGP rounds this year. That should all keep the newly minted marketing management in experiential ' story glory ' pimping opportunities for the coming season. Just as former senior racing executive, and now Indian Motorcycle CEO Mike Kenedy comes for them with a three man ' Wrecking Crew ' in KOTB powered by Vance & Hines, of all people. Oh, the irony.
Robin Bradley
Co-owner / Editor-in-Chief robin @ dealer-world. com