Retro styled Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster confirmed for 2027
Harley-Davidson's "Back to Bricks" plan yields its first new model, and it's one the Harley faithful will definitely approve of!
It’s just days since Harley-Davidson announced its latest and greatest “Back to Bricks” business plan. And while the initial notification of the strategy was light on detail, the general gist was that the new CEO, Artie Starrs, wants to play to Harley’s strengths, maximise the dealer network and leverage the brand’s image and global standing.
The first big play for the Back to Bricks playbook is to revive one of Harley’s best-loved and best-selling models – the 883 Sportster. The Sportster was dropped from the range in 2022, with Harley, then headed up by Jochen Zeitz, citing that upgrades to ensure Euro5+ certification were not economically viable.
And that didn’t go down well with the Harley faithful. Sure, Harley did give birth to the Sportster S, which featured a water-cooled 1250 Revolution Max engine, although to many dyed-in-the-wool Bar and Shield fans, that was a ‘Sportster’ in name only.
The incoming bike, which, according to reports, is set to arrive in 2027, should go some way to righting that wrong, as it ticks two of the big boxes the original 883 Sportster ticked. First up, it’s set to be cheap, with reports from across the pond pointing to a sub-$10,000 (£7,300) price tag. That would obviously be a little higher once the bikes reached the UK, although for UK fans, a proper brand new air-cooled Harley for under £10k might sound like the deal they have been waiting for!
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The second tick for the new model is one I’ve already alluded to – this bike is said to be air-cooled. It might seem like a silly point to stick on, but it means a lot ot Harley riders. Upgrading an American V-twin is, to an American, a bit like removing the Desmodromic valve train from a Ducati to an Italian. The words ‘air-cooled’ and ‘Harley-Davidson’ have gone hand in hand for more than 100-years. Anything less than an air-cooled V-twin in a cruiser is a compromise many Harley riders simply can’t stomach.
The final tick box the new Sportster achieves is it should be eminently customisable, and we aren’t just talking about bolting on some new levers and wiring in a new set of indicators. Early information suggests that Harley is set to resuscitate its 883cc platform, the same engine that last resided in the 883 Iron. That’s a proper pushrod V-twin, that should allow owners to modify and fettle their bikes like their ancestors have been for more than 120 years.
As mentioned, the new Sportster is set to officially land in 2027, with more information likely to come to light at the end of 2026.
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
