The new internal-combustion machines shown here are the harbingers of 16 new middleweight models using two all-new engines, one that will be 500 and 750cc and the other that will be 975 and 1,250cc, all liquid-cooled, 60-degree V-twins with DOHC. These will power adventure-tourers, customs, and streetfighters and put Harley-Davidson in segments it’s never directly competed in before.

The Motor Company was careful to point out it will continue to develop and evolve existing touring and cruiser models for its traditional customer base...

It is interesting to note that in the video the first dirt-riding images shown at 1:17 appear to be the Sportster off-roaders built by neo-custom iconoclasts El Solitario for its Desert Wolves adventure in the Sahara and are therefore air-cooled and not Pan Americas as described in the press release.

The silence was deafening in all of this as the word “Sportster” wasn’t part of the discussion. The likelihood that these new liquid-cooled middleweight twins are replacements for the Sportster line is low, so expect news in Harley-Davidson’s more traditional custom space. There is also the “adventure Sportster” shown in the video that suggests continued life for the air-cooled platform. “I wouldn’t jump to a conclusion that this product is necessarily a replacement for Sportster,” Kumbier