2014 Rumors Redux

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Feb 24, 2013 | 09:56 AM

MiniWolf

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2014 Rumors Redux

The third dealer I have been to in the past few months told me yesterday, when asked, that the Road Glide and King Classic were definitely axed from the lineup for next season. They don't know about the Road King in the future, but the Road Glide will definitely not be coming back. It has been permanenelty axed from the lineup.

He said that's all they were told. Nobody has any idea about the replacement models. They only give them a heads-up on inventory and model discontinuations. They won't tell them the details on any new models until the dealer meetings in October. All they were told is that the last of the Road Glide and RKC inventory will be delivered to the dealer in late May.

They are a bit peeved about the RKC because it was one of their biggest sellers and they pushed a lot of these out the door. This rep said he does not believe there will be a water-cooled design but it has to be something major because both the RKC and RG were big sellers and the RG was becoming one of the more popular models.

Feb 24, 2013 | 10:23 AM

purpledeuce

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They had to axe them in order to free up the assembly lines for water cooled engines

Feb 24, 2013 | 10:57 AM

MiniWolf

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It will be interesting, whatever comes out. I can understand the Road Glide being moved out of the lineup as according to the dealer, it was not a bad seller but not a huge seller like the Street Glide or Ultra. According to him, they can survive easily without it in the lineup. People will just buy an ultra or street glide. The RKC, however,was always a big draw. It would make sense if they were going to redo the Road King entirely.

The dealer does not expect the new RKC replacement model to come out next next year. Like you were alluding to, he thinks they are probably freeing the assembly line up for retooling next year, for whatever they come out with to replace it in 2015. It will take at least a year to put it into production on the assembly lines. But the dealer doubts it will be water-cooled. Of course, this is just his opinion. As I said, they haven't been told anything specific about replacements, just about the last deliveries in May and that the Road Glide has been permanently axed.

Feb 24, 2013 | 11:33 AM

Ridewva

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From our dealer I heard a different story; While relatively small, RG sales have been growing as a percentage maybe more than any other model. HD understands the need for a frame mounted fairing model and also the RG's shortcomings. It WILL be back substantially changed as a (early) release 2015 model, most likely with an entirely new water cooled engine. The RK Classic will be the first traditional style bike to receive the upgrade.
I like my dealer's guess better than yours!

Feb 24, 2013 | 11:56 AM

Poser since73

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There is more than 1 water cooled road glide rolling around the roads in wisconsin.

From a very reliable source.....

Feb 24, 2013 | 12:04 PM

Frostbite

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I thought it was just one of those sound decisions made by the management. You know "We make two dollars more profit on the Street Glide - let's make everyone buy those."

Or maybe the hired help was playing too much music while they were making them.

Feb 24, 2013 | 01:38 PM

MiniWolf

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Ridewva

That's possible. The Road Glide as it exists now, however, is history, at least according to what they were told. They werent told anything on what to expect. He did say, as I mentioned, they will need a year to tool up after making space on the assembly floor when they do this kind of retooling and introduce new models. So, the 2015 release would be the earliest. I also heard the water-cooled rumor about the RG fairing. But the dealer told me water-cooled rumors have been around forever so don't place any stock in those rumors. Noody knows. They don't tell the dealers. They only give them heads-up on what to expect for the discontinued models so they can plan ahead this year. For whatever reason, Harley made the decision to axe the current RG and RKC. That's all you can read into it at this point. It will be interesting to see what they come out with.