2014 Harley Davidson 500 & 750

[The Spaceman_imp]

What? HD can't come up with yet another Sportster parts bin rehash to capture the "yoot market?"

If they had any sense at all they'd dust off the plans fir the Nova series they developed decades ago and build them. In the US. I'd buy one.

[OldF7Guy_imp]

I'm a fan of HD so I'm hopeful that this is a commercially successful effort, and the main question is: will customers buy these bikes, and will they buy lots and lots of them?

For the most part, the sporty Buell line and the cafe XR1200 model were generally regarded as very good bikes but they didn't sell well in the US; I think one reason is that non-HD sport riders often don't like going to HD dealerships (maybe too much emphasis on branded 'lifestyle' items?) and HD salespeople openly did not like the 'cafe' style of the Buell and XR1200. The new HD street 500 and 750 look more 'cruiser' and might be closer to HD's traditional cruiser customer base and the salespeople may not resist selling them as much (though the not-made-in-America is a problem and the fact that smaller bikes typically have smaller sales margins will be very very tough to overcome). Footnote: since HD paid about 109 million USD for MV Augusta in 2008, and then sold it at a substantial discount, in my mind shows that the Motor Company has had its fill of trying to integrate cafe sport bikes into the HD lineup.

I have somewhat of a love hate relationship with HD. Never cared for any of the big twins but always like the Sportys for some odd reason. I think this is a good move for them and it has caught my eye. But the 500 &750 are going to be a different sell. The young folks are not just going to walk in and buy one because it says HD on the side. They are going to compare and shop. Brand loyalty imo means little to them. The product will have to be good.

I am just glad HD has entered the 21st century finally.

[The Spaceman_imp]

I just saw some decent photos of the 700 on http://www.motorcycledaily.com. They actually made it look kinda like a Harley! But the comments from the HD VP they quoted were hysterical: "These are real bikes made with real steel...". Cripes.