Harley Could Unleash a Tsunami of Goodwill
As often appears to be the case, I am writing this month ' s Comment( theoretically) before a major piece of news will ' drop '. I am, of course, talking about the release of some, none, but likely not all, of Harley-Davidson ' s 2027 Model Year news. Having listened to what his dealers had to say on the subject, CEO Artie Starrs has stated that he intends to reverse the change in MY launch cycle timing implemented by his predecessor. But until we know, we won ' t know just how quickly ' Milwaukee ' has been able to respond to this particular ' new broom ' wishlist item. But Artie Starrs has also stated that part of his product development wish list is to see Harley become more responsive. Matt Levatich said much the same in his first few months as CEO a decade or more ago, but that was a bus that never arrived at the depot. Having finally detected headwinds for his ' no entry level policy ' way too late in his time as CEO, Jochen Zeitz too overestimated just how quickly ' Milwaukee ' could pull rabbits out of hats. We ' ll know soon enough whether Artie Starrs has had more luck with his wish list. But so far, and to judge by the buy Harley a country-of-origin Hall Pass
Tsunami of good will, hope and expectations among the authorized dealer network community, domestically and internationally, one would think that the long lusted for debut of the ' Sprint '( or something like it) has got to be at least reasonably close. It is one magic trick that the company can ' t afford to let its new CEO down on. It is perfectly possible that by the time you are reading this, the news may well have been let out into the wild. That we now have a date for when herds of new, young potential buyers will be swinging the doors of dealers who will finally get to come face-to-face with a potential new generation of ' Bar an ' Shielders '. On the other hand, maybe more patience will be called for. Either way, from what I have been hearing, it will become evident soon enough that the first two, and many would say, the two most important first steps on the path to recovery will be within touching distance in weeks or months rather than years. Many dozens of seen and unseen first steps have already been taken since Artie Starrs made his formal debut at the Milwaukee dealer convention at the beginning of September 2025. A lot has happened in those 12 months, but the next steps are to finally have a timeline for the next two and arguably most important of those ' first steps '. Namely a return to the traditional MY launch announcement calendar, or something approximating it, and inclusion in the annual product offer of a greater degree of affordability. The mission, and Harley has no choice but to accept it, is to offer a motorcycle( or motorcycles) that those who have still not yet " plighted their troth " to a lifelong pledge of passion to a brand of choice can afford to buy. The theory was that it( or they) was not likely to be direct replacement( s) for the venerable 883 / 1200 Sportsters that swung dealer doors for so many decades. In strategic terms though, they would at least be a contemporary iteration. That said, as the ' day of destiny ' has drawn closer, the rumors of a compliant aircooled 883 V-twin have been gaining traction. It would appear that many dealers
( especially in Europe) are of the view that a reborn V 2.0 883cc Evolution V-twin need not be the stuff of myth that most have assumed it had to be. Features such as advanced fuel injection, ride-by-wire technology, or heavily modified catalytic converters to clear strict Euro 5 + emissions standards might be possible. Especially now that( tariffs notwithstanding) the ground has been plowed to suggest that failing to meet a precise hoped for $ 10k price point may not be the barrier many assumed- around $ 12k for an 883, or even a little more, could be okay. Meeting the magic $ 10k with stripped down Softail platform M8s and meeting bargain buyers at around $ 6 or $ 7k with an Asian( likely Indian / Hero made) single would do the trick. There would be enough stepping stones in place to meet most of the sub $ 14k option requirements. At $ 10k it would be bang-on the nose of where the 883 Iron was in 2022 though. Inflation has eaten that math, but there would be a rather nice circularity to it, and it would have priceless PR value. If an XL 883 replacement is not attainable, well, the world doesn ' t end. In some respects, that would be no bad thing. The options that younger riders now have available to them are more varied in character and vastly greater in number than they ever were when the XL 883 had it all to itself. Quite apart from now competing against the Indian Scouts, in reality the bikes that Harley ' s entry level bargains must now compete against are way less expensive, in comparative, inflation adjusted terms, than the Sportsters ever were or could ever be. Even the Unions should take a big fat ' realistic ' pill- and it would be one that will be easier to swallow now that Rev Max platform production has ' come home ' and if $ 10k Softails and a great value 883 are also in play. Doing these things should be enough to buy Harley a Country of Origin ' Hall Pass ' for a $ 6k 400 / 450 cc air-cooled import single. They have to be. It is time to cut Harley some slack where affordability and the realities of the world we live are concerned. Asian pricing is up front and center and in their dealer ' s faces as the primary barrier to ' break through '. Harley ' s entry level can no longer afford to be twice the price of its competition, because that competition has now matured and is providing young riders with a potentially rebuilt definition of what the ownership and riding experience feels like. Harley can no longer ask dealers to be taking a knife to a gun fight. As Artie Starrs found when he started learning to ride and visiting dealers, there is a veritable Tsunami of pent-up brand and ' Mo-co ' goodwill just waiting to be unleashed. '
Robin Bradley
Co-owner / Editor-in-Chief robin @ dealer-world. com