Motorcycles

Harley-Davidson to launch 500cc learner bike ... and maybe an electric?

Harley-Davidson to launch 500cc learner bike ... and maybe an electric?
Iconic American manufacturer Harley-Davidson is releasing a 500cc v-twin learner motorcycle and considering building an electric Harley
Iconic American manufacturer Harley-Davidson is releasing a 500cc v-twin learner motorcycle and considering building an electric Harley
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Iconic American manufacturer Harley-Davidson is releasing a 500cc v-twin learner motorcycle and considering building an electric Harley
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Iconic American manufacturer Harley-Davidson is releasing a 500cc v-twin learner motorcycle and considering building an electric Harley

Just checking … no, it's not April 1. During its 110-year anniversary celebrations, iconic American manufacturer Harley-Davidson has dropped a couple of brand-twisting bombshells – firstly that it's building a 500cc learner bike, and secondly that an electric Harley is under serious consideration.

Here's an interesting tidbit: if you search Google, you'll find 12,700 results that contain both the word "Sportster" and the defensive phrase "not a girl's bike." Try the same search using the Honda Shadow, another mid-level cruiser, and you get just 965 results.

The Sportster, of course, is the current mid-capacity cruiser line in the Harley-Davidson range, with 1200cc and 883cc engine models. That's bigger than most sportsbikes, but not big enough to escape the ridicule of certain big-bore Harley owners (1400cc and upward) who seem to think 883cc isn't hairy-chested or noisy enough to be considered a "real bike."

And that's the market into which Harley-Davidson is planning to release a 500cc learner machine, ostensibly to replace the excellent 492cc Buell Blast which was scrapped, along with the entire innovative Buell brand, back in the depths of the global financial crisis in 2009.

Despite any flak new riders might face, the move opens up several new markets for H-D including restricted-license riders throughout Europe and Australia, and aspirational customers through India and Asia, where a cheaper, 500cc Harley would still be bigger than most things on the road.

H-D's COO Matthew Levatich, speaking at the company's 110-year anniversary celebration in Milwaukee, said the as-yet-unnamed bike is "nimble, light weight, has a low seat height and supple throttle and braking. I’ve ridden it – it looks great, sounds great, it’s a Harley, and it’s priced right.

“We want to get it out as soon as we can, but it’s got to be right. New engines are complicated, and we’ve got to get everything right from a durability, reliability and confidence perspective. On the other hand, chassis and other things are a lot more straightforward.”

He also hinted that it would likely be built in India: "The American qualities of a Harley are very important to people,” said Levatich. “The literal ‘where does that shock absorber come from’ part of it is less significant, but it has to have the spirit and soul of America. We have Harley-Davidson factories in India and Brazil – can we leverage those facilities and expertise so it can get to the, for example, Indian consumer, faster?

“These are things we are becoming more open-minded to, but we understand the importance of ‘made in America’ – the American quality, spirit and integrity that matters to the customer."

And if a 500cc Harley-Davidson wasn't enough of a brand-twisting bombshell, Levatich went on to talk about the possibility of an electric Harley that ditches the combustion engine altogether.

“I am sometimes asked … whether there will be an electric Harley,” said Levatich. "People would say ‘hell no’. But why not: our engineers are quite intrigued with the idea of what an electric Harley would look like, sound like and feel like. And would it be visceral, would it be emotional, would it be luscious. And there’s a way to do that I believe, and it would be very exciting.”

Baby Harleys … electric Harleys … if Milwaukee pulls this off, it'll be a bigger shift in brand perception than when BMW shrugged off its old-man-bike reputation with the S1000RR. What are your thoughts?

27 comments
27 comments
Scion
I think a 500cc Harley would work, but they'd have to carefully manage the "made in India" tag. Harley's don't have anything going for them except their image. They are heavy, noisy, ugly, low tech (relatively) and slow. But that is sort of the point. They are American, brash, in your face and proud of their short comings. Surely that is more or less why people buy them. But if the truth of their place of manufacture came out along with a small "Asianised" Harley I think they might cop a bit of flak from the "good old boys" and they'd become as attractive as the Yamaha Virago only less reliable.
BeWalt
I'd thought I would never utter these words, but "one day I might own a Harley" if this electric thing goes through.
They might lose the "one wannabe man's fun is 10000 people's noisy horror" kind of crowd tho.
Purple-Stater
The big question here, in regards to an electric HD, is.... would it still have a leaky oil reservoir to stain your driveway with?
Daishi
@I agree with Scion in the "Harley's don't have anything going for them except their image." statement.
Harleys are > 1200cc mostly because their shitty engine design requires that much displacement to make power. There 1200's are about 65HP when "little" 600cc sport bikes are around 105 HP.
It has twice the engine size and still makes half as much power. If they use the same engine technology the 500cc will probably be around 25 HP which would be about where the 250 Ninja was (the new 300cc version is 35 HP).
Richard Dicky Riddlebarger
And all that time I thought a 450 Rebel was an imitation mini-Harley
John Findlay
Gee ! I thought ALL Harleys were classed as learner bikes !
Martin Hone
Well, where do I start ? A single cylinder Harley is never, ever going to sound like a Harley v-twin. Period ! And not only are Harley shocks sourced from Japan, so are the front forks. And the wheels are Australian-made. Yes, for the capacity, Harleys don't perform in the traditional sense, but where can you use the power of a modern 'performance' bike anyway ? For me, Harleys are simple, reliable and do what they are supposed to. Same reason aircraft engines are big, simple lumps. I've owned Sportsters as well as Jap and Italian bikes for over 45 years, and currently own a Buell and a Ducati Monster 1000. Maybe I am a fully paid up member of the Flat Earth Society, but I enjoy my ride.
djmc
Harley have had small bikes before, when they owned the Aermacchi comany in the '70s; the Italian made 350 was a good bike but it didn't sell well because it was a vertical twin and as so was very un-HD in style.
MrGadget
Are they going to make the electric version as abnoxiously noisy as the gasoline version?
Motoriley
Interesting article. Not sure an Indian single cylinder Harley will catch on. Harley folks are pretty traditional. Also the Buell Blast was not a good bike. Many driving schools here used them. There would be a stampede every morning as the students tried to snag a 20 year old Honda over the Blasts.
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