These are tough times for the motorcycle industry, and arguably no-one is finding it harder than iconic American manufacturer Harley-Davidson.
Earlier this year, CEO and President Matt Levatich ended his 26 year career with the brand by mutual consent. In his five year reign as CEO, the company has seen a 46% drop in its share price, with yearly drops in sales in its domestic market in particular, and seeing global new model sales dropping to their lowest levels since 2010 – not helped by increased tariffs on imports to Europe as a result of the ongoing trade war between America and the EU.
Politics aside, Levatich’s legacy might well be the saviour of the company. Despite struggling for sales, the company has been working hard to develop new models – with 2021 set to see the launch of the new Pan America adventure bike and the Bronx, a midrange streetfighter that could well bring volume sales to the Bar and Shield brand.
Beyond the boomers
Harley will be following a well-trodden path as they expand and diversify their product range. Just as BMW was synonymous with dull-but-worthy touring style boxers in the 1990s, Harley-Davidson has become known for expensive cruisers that largely appeal to older riders and traditionalists. Now the challenge for The Motor Company is to broaden that appeal to younger Gen X and Millennials, while still having something to offer their core Baby Boomer base.
Rewind 20 years ago and it would be hard to imagine BMW having models like the entry level G310 bikes in their range, let alone the staggering S1000RR superbike, but they’ve done it by gradually broadening their range, both with cheaper and more premium models but staying true to their brand. Nowadays, the Bavarian giant is recording record sales and has a bike for pretty much anyone in their range, with singles, parallel twins and even inline fours alongside their traditional boxer models. Not that they didn’t make some wrong turns along the way. Who remembers the C1 scooter, C650 Scarver or R1200C cruiser, for example?
BMW are not the only company to live by the maxim ‘diversify or die’. Ducati has expanded its range from beyond sports machines, enjoying early success with the Monster and these days taking the market by storm in the retro, adventure and sports touring sectors – all done with a typical Ducati twist. KTM and Triumph, too, have grown from niche brands to major players by adding some competitively priced mid-range models to their ranges.
Fighting in the Bronx
Levatich’s Harley has already expanded its model range as much as possible within the confines of the classic V-twin cruiser genre.
There’s a now a wider range than ever of traditional Harley-Davidson models, while the water-cooled Street range is a lower priced entry to the brand that’s making some headway in the emerging Asian markets.
What Harley haven’t (yet) been able to do is to diversify beyond their traditional all-American cruiser, but that should change next year with the introduction of the Bronx and the Pan America.
Sure the brand has branched out through its former Buell subsidiary, although these models remained quirky and never wore the famous bar and shield badge. These bikes look to be fairly conventional in most respects, with a dash of traditional Harley characteristics to stay true to the brand.
While BMW are unlikely to be having too many sleepless nights over the Pan America taking sales from their all-conquering GS models, Ducati, KTM and Triumph have all-shown that there are enough riders looking for an alternative to make developing one a worthwhile investment.
The Bronx, however, looks like a model that can really break Harley into a younger and more mainstream audience, giving dealers a high volume motorcycle to sell to the masses.
Details of the naked streetfighter are thin on the ground, however the company has released pictures of a finished looking prototype, both in the studio and being ridden on the road, and showed it at the recent Toronto Motorcycle Show.
We know that it will be powered by an all-new engine, known as the Revolution Max, which is a V-twin in the Harley tradition, but rather than the traditional H-D 45-degree cylinder layout, it arranges its cylinders 60-degrees apart, like the now deleted V-Rod engine.
It is understood that the engine will come in 975 and 1250cc variants and, like other Harleys, features a belt final drive. The Bronx will use the smaller engine, which will make at least 115bhp, in a chassis which looks muscular but is fairly conventional, with industry standard inverted front forks, radially mounted Brembo brakes and Michelin-shod 17” cast wheels front and rear.
The Bronx will go up against some serious competition in a price sensitive sector. Other bikes in the market include Ducati’s Monster 821, Triumph’s Street Triple models, the KTM 790 Duke and the Yamaha MT-09, but the allure of the Harley-Davidson badge and a muscular V-twin motor may be enough to convince some riders who like the idea of riding the world’s most iconic motorcycle brand, but who don’t fancy the traditional models currently in the range.
It will be interesting to see how Harley’s model range develops in the coming years. The brand has already started its regeneration with the LiveWire electric motorcycle, but the Bronx is H-D’s first attack on the mainstream.
If it’s priced to sell, could well play its part in taking the American firm to a new golden era.
