7 Future Harley Models We Wish the Factory Would Make
Critics of the motor company call it "the Taco Bell of motorcycle makers" because a handful of ingredients are made into so many different bikes. Still, there are other styles of bike they don't make, so riders roll their own. Let's take a look at some should have been models.
1. Sportster Scrambler
This is probably the number one model most younger buyers mention when asked about what they want to see from Harley-Davidson. It makes sense, Triumph, Ducati, Moto Guzzi and now even Yamaha have scored sales by remixing traditionally styled bikes into sort of dirt bikes and apply the scrambler name to them. Ducati actually launched a whole new brand this way. The bike pictured was built by Burly, a Harley aftermarket company, and what is surprising is how much of it is still factory stock. Longer rear shocks and an up exhaust were fitted for more ground clearance, then dirt tires and a handlebar with a cross brace were swapped on. Next, it is just a matter of taking unneeded stuff off, and you are done. Harley could basically engineer one of these next weekend if they felt like it.
2. V-Rod Bagger
Since the bike first debuted in 2001, Harley touring bike riders have been asking for this bike, a bagger with the modern liquid cooled Revolution V-Rod motor. This seems like a win-win situation, the body work lessens the impact of the liquid cooled motor on the looks of the bike, and the liquid cooling is much better at dealing with the heat generated by long hard rides. This is another easy bike for Harley to make, in fact, Cycle Visions already offers the kit to make your own. You can find out more about this particular one at Baggers magazine.
3. Street 500/750 Street Tracker
Now that Harley-Davidson is racing a Street 750 based bike in flat track events, it only makes sense to offer the public something that at least looks the part. This build, from Speed Merchant, is far from showroom ready, but add a real front headlight and turn signals, and a slightly larger tailpiece with built in tail light and license plate and you are done. In fact, I had expected something like this to appear before the cafe racer influenced Street 750 Street Rod.
4. The Return of the Springer Softail
When the Springer Softail left the Harley lineup a few years ago, some of the biggest toughest guys shed a tear over the loss. Was it a coincidence that the Springer left at about the same time ABS became an option on all Harleys? Maybe they needed a few years to get the programming right and modify the springer forks to work with the new brake hardware? We all know the motor company has a lot of talented engineers under their roof, so let's get to work!
5. XL883/1200 Cafe Racer
The Sportster Roadster almost covers this but is lacking in the cafe styling cues. Look back into Harley's past and there is the original Sportster cafe racer, which while not one of the fastest bikes in the day was certainly one of the baddest looking factory sport bikes of the era. These days, all the parts are right there in the catalog to build one of these, in fact, the above picture is a factory promo. Why is the motor company just giving up on these sales to younger people who want a cool, sporty looking bike, and are getting it from Triumph, or even Royal Enfield?
6. Sport Touring Dyna
A Dyna-based new generation Sport Glide would fill the gap nicely between a set of soft bags thrown over the saddle and a bagger like the Street Glide. Harley now has better suspension, chassis, and brakes then they did back in the 1980s when the FXRT first was sold, so why not mix up a new one for the riders who like a little sport in their tour?
7. Harley-Davidson Adventure Tourer
This one isn't even speculation, it is a bike built by a Harley dealer in Thailand out of the Street 750 for their new bike display in 2016. In this country, it would make more sense to build one based on the Sportster because you want something as simple and reliable as a hammer if you are going adventuring, right? Adventure touring is one of the hottest segments right now, though the dirty little secret is almost no one takes these bikes off-road.
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