Short article, very little details but could provide a great opportunity once again... Thoughts?

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/harley-...150312488.html

 

Could be cool. I'd love to see Harley compete in crotch rockets (both in the market and on the track). Wonder if they'd produce a corresponding street model, too, or competition model only?

 

I'd buy a Harley with a standard or sporting chassis and V Rod motor today. Fully knowing that it would have several "issues" that HD didn't develop out or think through. Ideally; a bike along the lines of the 77 and 78 XLCR with real suspension and a V Rod motor. I'd pay 20k for that right now if it looked like the original.

 

If Harley does what they usually do, it'll be to long, too low and have too much rake in the front end.
The V-rod engine/transmission unit is stupidly heavy and will not be a competitive racer against the jap bikes that are lighter and more nimble than anything Harley has ever offered...The Buell was as close as Harley has ever gotten to a serious canyon racer and it fell way short of the mark due mainly to a poor engine/transmission setup.

Let's hope that they don't let Willie G. get his hands on it or it'll be a loser from the start.

 

I ride a sport bike and I don't see myself even wanting one of these.

 

I have been predicting for a long time HD would get back into sport bikes, especially after derailing Buells.
I really do believe a street legal HD superbike would sell, if it wasn't in the 20 grand range. I do find it hard to believe they would jump right back into WSBK racing with a bike that would languish at the back of the field.
As cool as the EBR bike is, in terms of racing it's not doing so well, yet.
I would bet Erik Buell is salivating thinking about being lined up beside HD on the track.
Harley Davidson is pretty savvy when it comes to following trends, they wait to see what will stick...flat black, side mounted license plate, etc...they have to know they are missing a big chunk of the market not having a true, full body work sport bike. we will see.

 

If the pic they show is the bike they are making then they should ditch the dual exhaust for a 2:1 that dumps out under the seat. I seriously doubt that Harley will make any waves against the Honda/Kawasaki/Suzuki racers that are killing it. V-Twin is not the way to go either. If they are going to do this they should start from scratch instead of resurecting past ideas that didn't pan out. Some companies will waste money any way they can . Harley needs to embrace what they do best, making bike for MC's and RUB's. Willie, don't deny what got you here. You make a really good flawed bike that people love. Keep doing that and selling shirts and you will be fine. Trying to move out of the industry you are in and into a whole new demographic is not good for your current customer base.

I am with "Next in Line"on this one, if I was going to buy a supersport I would get a GSXR or a CBR, not a Harley V-Twin.

 

Article came out yesterday: April 1, 2015

Lots of stuff going around on April Fools Day.

 

Somebody here will put apes on it.

 

I’m pretty sure this is a April Fools post. Rideapart is not exactly a respected moto-racing website….someone like motomatters or crash.net would have picked this story up if it were true.

Plus, to enter a hyper-competitive world-stage series like WSBK with a brand new, unproven bike would be demoralizing feat. The Japanese and European manufacturers have been doing it for so long and are so good….the learning curve would be extremely steep unless they employed, starting right now, some of the top racing directors and engineers into the HD program (sorry, Eric Buell is not one of them). Again, this type of event would have picked up by some of the racing websites already.

With that said, it would be kinda cool to see HD step back into superbike racing, as difficult it will be for them. Not only would they catch the eye of some the younger generation, but with their push into international markets, they certainly would catch the eye of more people outside North America, since motorcycle racing is much more popular and well known in Asian and European countries. Racing could always use another manufacturer in the mix…..especially a storied company like HD. But it’s a pipedream.