Harley-Davidson will introduce 50 new models in the next five years, the company’s CEO told business analysts in a phone call yesterday.
The Milwaukee Business Journal says Harley-Davidson CEO Matt Levatich made the claim in a conference call on Thursday.
However, the newspaper did not mention whether Levatich elaborated on the statement. Will these be all-new models? Will the bikes be simple re-workings of old models? Will Harley-Davidson’s electric bike feature in that plan? Will we see a street-going version of the company’s new flat-tracker?
The only hint the newspaper gave is Levatich’s comment that “The success we saw with the launch of the Milwaukee-Eight engine is a sign of the innovation we have in place.” So, don’t be surprised to see Harley-Davidson push that liquid-cooled engine into more of its lineup, and maybe push some of the air-cooled lineup out the door.
It’s no surprise; some of those air-cooled engines are on borrowed time as it is. While Harley-Davidson has done well to keep them passing emissions tests for the past years, engines like the Sportster’s Evolution V-twin suffer from the same inherent problems that big singles suffer from. Their oversized pistons can produce more emissions, making it harder to push the bike through emissions testing, which is why you’re already starting to see the decline of thumpers.
Air-cooled V-twins can’t be far behind — when was the last time you saw a Japanese or European OEM bring in a new air-cooled V-twin? Harley-Davidson has done a very good job of keeping its air-cooled bikes in the lineup as long as it has. The move to fuel injection and ECU trickery has gone a long way, but when Euro4 and (presumably) following anti-emissions legislation gets passed, it will be harder and harder for the MoCo to sell its product overseas. Expect changes that keep Harley-Davidson a player on the international scene. And, don’t be surprised if those factories in India start contributing more to the Harley-Davidson lineup — everyone else is doing something along these lines.
The funny thing is that “Harley haters” usually don’t hate harleys at all. I sure don’t. I’m partial to a Fat Boy myself, if only because it’s named after me.
I think the two things that p*ss off the “harley haters” are usually these:
1. The sh*tty attitude from the bar-hoppers and RUBs who think their open pipes, do-rags and *sshole behaviour make them better than any other bikers. The idiot questions from pimply-faced kids who couldn’t afford a Schwinn: “When are you going to upgrade to a harley? uh huh, huh huh…”. The fact that harley riders won’t wave to any other brand rider.
2. The fact that the MoCo is making every effort to suck profit from the HD brand while doing as little as possible to move the brand forward and build better bikes. This makes their bottom line look really good to any idiot business school grad, but it does nothing to bring us riders technically advanced and improved rides: It’s just cynical profit taking. Even the new 750 is pathetic: 13.46 seconds in the quarter mile? A Ducati Scrambler does in in 12.02 seconds!
I’ve done about 40,000 miles in my time, in Canada and bits of the USA. I’ve ridden a lot of brands including HD. I’ve always owned Japanese, German or Italian and I value smooth, quiet, beautiful and good-performing rides on fun roads. HD doesn’t fit that spec.
Finally, this guy says it all much better than I can: http://www.goingfaster.com/angst/noharley2.html
Do you actually admire that guy? That rant is what happens when there’s no character count limits for stupid people. Or when stupid people over think things. What a traumatized demented soul.
Re. your points
#1 – of course RUBS exist but so do adventure bike riders who never venture much further than their local tim hortons, or sportbike riders that have wider chicken strips than on most Harleys, or or or…who fuk’n cares?
#2 – The Streets are cruisers and Scramblers are not – why compare?
rui:
I see that after I had posted my reply to your first comment, you got out your stick and had some fun!!
🙂
I think we found the Salman Rushdie of motorcycle bloggers. Do you think there’s a price on his head?
Always enlightening to see how the usual gang of Harley haters come out from under their rocks to throw stones at what the Motor Company has done or is planning on doing.
Count me in as one of the “HD faithful”, but nevertheless one who does not “lap up” meaningless or irrelevant “innovation” but rather one who when he finds something he likes, he sticks with it.
My first HD model was a ’97 Violet Pearl Road King with loud pipes and leather fringes that I traded in after riding it for 9 years and 265,000 kms. (The bike was basically worn out and it was not worth replacing the motor and the electrics.) My second (and current) HD model is an ’06 Black Cherry Road King with not so loud pipes and leather fringes and 172,000 kms on its odometer. (I’ve been riding less in the last eight years, what with grandchildren and the woman I used to ride out to visit when she lived in Fredericton and then Calgary now living in Toronto where I am). It’s still running quite well, and it can easily keep up with any bike on a street ride. It’s not a track bike and I’m not a racer so I don’t really care how well the smaller more nimble bikes perform on a race track.
I guess I’m among those who are going to “die off with increasing rapidity”. Will I trade in my current ’06 Road King for something new–maybe if I come across a model that feels better to ride than my current one. Otherwise, I’ll just keep putting kilometres on my current Road King.
Apparently we found the HD rider who can spell AND punctuate. It is a surprise and a privilege to meet you!
It’s apparent you cannot resist equating those who happen to enjoy riding motorcycles with the HD logo with the knuckle dragging louts Willy Wiiliamson discussed in his recent piece entitled “Bikers For T$%&# – Winnipeg Willy’s Take On It All”. Of course I am referring to those who were among the “more than 30,000 of them [who] were there last week, prepared to build a ‘wall-of-meat’….”
I’m sure I’m not the only “HD rider who can spell AND punctuate”. I personally know many others. Perhaps the misconceptions you hold about me and others of my ilk arise from your choice of individuals with whom you associate.
Not the ones I choose to associate with, no. I stay as far away from “knuckle dragging louts” as possible.
I also try to stay away from those who pretend to be “knuckle dragging louts”, such as the well known group of lawyers in Toronto who ride around on open pipe hogs(tm) dressed in the official HD(tm) uniform of do-rags and wallet chains.
“Look at me, how bad I am and how loud I am” is a silly basis for a culture. Hopefully it will go out of fashion soon: After all they cancelled the Kardashians!
“’Look at me, how bad I am and how loud I am’ is a silly basis for a culture.”
Agreed–That’s why my ’06 Road King with leather fringes has not so loud pipes.
As for “the well known group of lawyers in Toronto who ride around on open pipe hogs(tm) dressed in the official HD(tm) uniform of do-rags and wallet chains.”, I have no idea what group of lawyers you’re referring to.
I will concede that although I wear a do-rag (I think that’s the term used for what I wear on my head under my helmet) and also use a wallet chain, I’ve never thought I was pretending to be a knuckle dragging lout. Perhaps it’s because I don’t hang out at a bar or cafe close to where bikes are parked waiting to be noticed and avoided.
Riding my Road King, whether on my own or with others who also prefer riding over sitting around pretending to be tough, is much more satisfying!
bbb, I find your experiences very interesting. I know I personally have considered a Sportster with the EVO motor many times, simply because I think it would make a great highway bike for someone who wanted low maintenance and ease of finding parts if needed on the road. Lots to be said for self-adjusting valves and a belt drive if you want to lay down cross-continental miles.
I’ve been on a Sportster, but not for long! It simply did not fit under a big bearded biker.
Since I’m not mechanically inclined,I don’t know the value of self-adjusting valves, but I do know that the belt drive is virtually indestructible, unless one gets a sharp piece of gravel stuck in it–despite being made of kevlar it does eventually shred . Despite the old wives’ tales to the contrary, the Motor Company’s bikes are, at least from my experience, are quite reliable.
I’ve heard a Sundowner seat goes a long way towards making the Sportster more comfortable.
I really wanted to ride the Seventy Two when it came out, because it was just so goofy. Alas, it’s gone this year. The Forty Eight remains, though.
Harry, you’re a better man than me for having the patience to politely respond to those with such pent up irrational hatred against the moCo, one runs the risk of normalizing their inadequacies & general stupidity. Best to ignore IMO.
I respectfully disagree with you about it being best to igore such comments–providing an intelligible response to moronic posts can be both enjoyable and cathartic, especially if those individuals post more idiotic and stupid comments in reply.
Why not have some fun poking them with a stick!?
more boat anchors
50 more models? Don’t think there are enough letters in the alphabet to handle all those new models. Might have to actually retire some of the letters they’ve already used to free them up.
Hardley-Ableson’s idea of “development” remains along the lines of “Change the crinkle black paint on the top triple clamp to glossy and change the font on the speedometer” and somehow that’s a “new model”.
If their “50 new models” turns out to be the usual flounce around the parts bins and changing irrelevant bits, then the HD faithful will lap it up as they die off with increasing rapidity while the rest of the world goes “who cares?”.
Meh.
That was the highlight of my day. I’m tired of HD meatheads projecting their feelings of inadequacy on me because I don’t ride a chromed out 700 pound monster with the power to weight ratio of a bike half it’s size.