Was the Street Rod 750 Really Harley’s Biggest Mistake?

By Richard Sachek - January 13, 2025

One YouTuber blames this bike for killing Harley’s much-anticipated performance streetfighter, the Bronx

I have a confession to make. Prior to writing this article, I knew next-to-nothing about Harley-Davidson’s short-lived Street Rod 750. It’s not really the type of bike to interest me, and judging by its popularity in the United States, many of you agree.

But one vlogger takes his dislike of the Street Rod past the level of casual disinterest. Jake Edwards, who runs the YouTube channel Spite’s Corner, fully blames this ill-conceived midsize naked bike for killing the Bronx concept. For those with short memories, the 975cc Bronx was the Motor Company’s much anticipated entry into the high-performance segment.

Street Rod Looked Good on Paper

To be fair, the Street Rod did have some attractive qualities. For one, it only cost about $8,699 without ABS, which was downright reasonable for a brand new Harley in 2018. It also had a high-output version of the 749cc Revolution X engine, itself a derivative of the V-Rod’s Revolution engine that was co-developed with Porsche. In the Street Rod 750, it makes 70 horsepower and screams to a 9,000 rpm redline.

But wait, there’s more! The Street Rod 750 can go around corners, too. An inverted front fork with beefy 43mm tubes and piggyback rear shocks assure to that. When it comes time to slow things down, a pair of front discs with factory braided lines are at the ready. Edwards does comment, however, that the effectiveness of the brakes is hampered by “an underwhelming master cylinder.”

Riding Position Wasn’t Great

So where did the Street Rod go wrong? To begin, it’s too small. To quote Edwards, “this thing is about 75% of the size that it should be.” He continues, “If you’re over 5’7”, you’re not going to fit on this motorcycle.” Size aside, sport-minded riders will also wrestle with overly-wide fuel tank and air intake that pushes your knees too far apart.

Saving the best for last, the position of the foot pegs is awkward, to say the least. Besides being too far forward for aggressive riding, the rider’s right foot rest directly on top of the exhaust pipe. In a nutshell, the ergonomics, or “rider triangle,” if you prefer, needed some serious work.

Designed Primarily for India?

With the benefit of hindsight, we can mark some of the Street Rod’s flaws down to bad design, but Edwards has an alternate theory. That is, “it wasn’t designed for the United States … it wasn’t designed for an American rider.” So who was it designed for? Edwards theorizes its size was tailored for the Indian market, where Harley-Davidson motorcycles are massively popular. Furthermore, the Street Rod’s 749cc engine circumvents a steep tariff that comes from importing larger bikes into India.

In any case, was the Street Rod’s lack of popularity in the United States a negative market indicator for the brand’s prospects of selling naked Harleys in general? It’s certainly possible. Which is a shame, because the brawny Bronx was only vaguely similar to the mediocre Street Rod in concept, but not execution. Yet still, Harley axed the Bronx at the last second, disappointing many fans.