Harley-Davidson has teased it will have something new to present during the first weeks of 2022 after confirming a new motorcycle to be launched on the 26 January.
The American firm is gearing up to take the next steps towards returning to a more profitable business model after successfully reversing a trend of declining sales in 2021 while it felt out alternative segments.
Shifting back towards its core cruiser demographic with the launch of the Sportster S, which is developed on a platform that is likely to spawn a number of new models, this is the model that is could form the basis for what will emerge in January.
Full disclosure it isn’t clear what model Harley-Davidson is preparing, so we’ll engage in one of our favourite pastimes… education guessing!
So, what do we know for sure? Well, all we have to go on is a ‘save the date’ social media post saying simply ‘Further, Faster’. So, not a lot.
That said, they aren’t entirely conducive to one another in the context of the current range. On the one hand, the ‘Further’ leads us to think there may be a more Touring-centric version of the Pan America adventure bike on the way, offering greater practicality and a large fuel tank.
However, with its already sizeable 1250cc Revolution Max engine, we’d be surprised if the firm has been taking time to make it ‘Faster’ or more powerful.
Which then turns our attention to the Sportster S, which with a fairly modest 160hp certainly has room to add a few more ponies to the mix to live up to its name, putting it more in line as a rival to the Indian FTR 1200.
Alternatively, since Harley-Davidson classifies the Sportster S as ‘Sport’ in its range (thus Faster), a more Touring focused version (Further) is our most reasoned assumption.
Then again, since the Sportster S is a platform that will lead to other models, it could easily be a variation on this as far as being an entirely new model.
Thinking out of the box a little more, the Bronx streetfighter - which was to come with a smaller 975cc variant of the Revolution Max engine - has been on the backburner for a couple of years now.
It was revealed at the same time as the Pan America but shelved when Harley-Davidson reshuffled its management structure. While many assume the Bronx is now dead in the water, officially speaking it was never cancelled.
