New details revealed about entry-level Harley-Davidson models
Harley says it will be revealing an affordable entry-level model later this year. What will it be, and will it sink or swim?
Harley-Davidson CEO Jochen Zeitz has offered up a tiny bit more information about plans to introduce more affordable, entry-level models to the company’s line-up.
Speaking on an earnings conference call earlier this week, Zeitz suggested that new, less expensive models will be appearing (but not yet sold) in US dealerships as early as October. One assumes that UK dealerships would see the bikes around the same time.
According to Common Tread’s Lance Oliver - who sat through the conference call - there are a number of models in the pipeline, with the first being called the Sprint.
“Scheduled for release in 2026 and for presentation to our global dealer network in October, I’m pleased to share that we’re targeting an entry price below $6,000,” Zeitz told investors.
That’s a little more than £4,500 by current exchange rates, but obviously doesn’t account for VAT.
“This new bike embodies boldness, irreverence and fun - capturing the rebellious energy that defines the Harley-Davidson experience,” Zeitz said.
Zeitz also promised an “iconic cruiser” next year, according to Oliver, which may or may not be called the Eagle. Some speculate that this bike could serve as a course correction for the Sportster platform, which has failed to win the hearts and minds of Harley fans since its overhaul a few years ago.
What will the Sprint look like?
“Sprint” is not a new name to Harley-Davidson. In the 1960s, the company offered the Sprint 250, a 246cc single-cylinder machine made by Aermacchi, an Italian aircraft manufacturer that dabbled in motorcycles to fill a financial hole.
Digressing a little here: Aermacchi’s motorcycling wing was eventually sold to Harley-Davidson in 1974, which then sold it to Cagiva in 1978, which then bought MV Agusta in 1991, which was then sold to Harley-Davidson in 2008. The snake eats its tail (Harley ditched MV Agusta in 2009).
Anyway, the Sprint 250 was a decent bike by most accounts. In 1962, US publication Cycle World described it as a bike “designed for people who really enjoy going around corners with vigor.”
In 1969, the Sprint’s capacity was boosted to 344cc and it became a 350. The bike was discontinued in 1974, in part because dealers weren’t happy about low profit margins, and Harley enthusiasts disliked the idea of foreign-made bikes. In the literary world, that last sentence is known as foreshadowing.
What the Sprint will be this time around is uncertain, but there are clues. Members of the internet commentariat are pretty sure Harley has chosen the Sprint name not just because the forthcoming entry-level machine will have less capacity than current H-D models but also because it will be made outside the United States and not by Harley.
Harley-Davidson already has a partnership with Chinese manufacturing giant Qianjiang, owner of Benelli, Morbidelli, Keeway, and QJMotor. The company produces Harley-Davidson’s X350 and X500 models, which are currently only available in Asian markets.
The latter of those bikes looks quite a lot like a Benelli Leoncino 500, which was dropped from the US market a few years ago, around the same time that Harley-Davidson ‘accidentally’ created a US owner’s manual for the X500. How you accidentally create an owner’s manual, I don’t know, but that was Harley’s claim in 2023. It reiterated at the time that the X350 and X500 were intended solely for Asian markets.
Meanwhile, a partnership with India’s Hero MotoCorp has recently produced the X440 - a bike that Harley says will only ever be available in that country.
But time changes all things. You may have picked up on Harley’s boardroom drama earlier this year, during which Zeitz announced plans to retire, and board member Jared Dourdeville tendered his resignation via a scathing letter criticising the company’s leadership and direction. One of his main criticisms was the lack of entry-level machines.
Zeitz says the Sprint project has been in the works since 2021, but one can’t help but wonder if the boardroom bickering didn’t help speed things up. Many believe that the bike we’ll see coming from Harley this autumn will be a Qianjiang-made machine. Possibly a reworked version of the current X500.
There are some problems with that theory, however.
Haven’t we been here before?
Harley has long struggled to find a way to bring new parishioners to its church. Big, luxurious touring bikes are very much where the MoCo makes its money, but to get someone interested in forking over, say, £28,495 for a Street Glide Ultra, it helps to have a customer who has been with the brand a long time. One who knows and loves the Harley way of doing things.
For many decades, the Sportster served as the gateway drug for Harley riders. That platform - completely overhauled for 2021 - is now far too expensive and powerful to be considered entry-level. The “cheapest” Sportster currently in Harley’s UK line-up is the £14,495 Nightster Special.
In the latter 2010s, Harley rolled out the Street platform of 500cc and 750cc bikes. These bikes were originally intended to be sold exclusively in India. Although they were actually pretty good motorcycles (I was particularly fond of the Street Rod 750), their aesthetic and fit and finish fell well short of Harley fans’ expectations. The platform was quietly shelved just a few years after introduction.
Interestingly, the scrapping of the Street platform was one of Zeitz’s first actions as CEO. His predecessor, Matt Levatich, had introduced the ‘More Roads Lead to Harley-Davidson’ initiative, which placed particular emphasis on developing and nurturing new riders.
Under Zeitz, most of those plans were jettisoned. The reported reasoning for this at the time was that H-D wanted to refocus on what it does best: building thundering cruisers and big, luxurious touring machines.
Now, here we are with Zeitz on his way out the door, and kind of resetting the company philosophy to what it was when he started. Whether things will work this time is up for debate.
It depends A LOT on what the Sprint actually turns out to be. The name and announced price point certainly suggest a foreign-made machine. But it’s hard to imagine the Harley faithful taking kindly to such a thing. Especially a China-made Harley.
That would be a particularly hard sell in the United States; on the Venn diagram of Harley owners and MAGA voters there’s quite a bit of overlap. And dealerships everywhere may balk at low profit margins.
All we can do right now, though, is count the days until October.
Chris Cope is a fourth-generation journalist, originally from Texas. He has lived in the UK for roughly two decades and has been writing about motorcycles for most of that time. He has written for dozens of publications and websites in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
