Harley Davidson rolled out their lineup for 2010 a few days ago with nine new models, though Harley’s term “new models” is sometimes a bit of a stretch, mixing and matching accessories more than building something really new but there’s nothing wrong with that. Harley is working with a tough economic environment and these bikes are a nice mix across the platforms.
The Street Glide Trike is one of the truly new ones and sort of looks like an updated version of the old Servi Car which is pretty cool. It brings the trike to the Street Glide platform and appears a lot sleeker than the full on Tri Glide Ultra Classic, the other entry in the factory trike category.
The CVO group introduced 4 models with their Twin Cam 110â„¢ engine, I like the CVO Street Glide entry with its hot rod bagger look, though there’s something for everyone with a Fat Bob, Softail and Electra Glide, too.
If models like the Street Glide are a little out of your price range but you would really like to go Harley, the Sportster Iron 883 is back at $7999 which gives everyone an easy entry point. If you’ve been thinking a new bike from the Motor Company might be in the works for this year, check out the whole range at Harley Davidson’s site. Better yet, stop by your dealer and see what they can do for you.
Link: Harley Davidson
HoughMade says
In the past several months, American Iron magazine has had a series of articles about oil leaks on the rear cylinder at the head gasket on the CVO 110. Any word from the Motor Company about whether they have taken steps to remedy this? I see the 4 new CVOs, hopefully, they fixed this.
Marcel says
Wes Siler summed it up.
http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2009/07/2010-harley-range-revolutionar.html
kneeslider says
Marcel, the “new” model lineup that Harley has here is a lot like the offerings from other companies when they offer new paint and decals and not much more. Everyone does it, Harley just seems to be stretching it with their “nine new models” announcement. Maybe if they said something like “We’ve refined our lineup,” it would sound better. As I said above, business is tough and they’re doing what they can.
hoyt says
It would be interesting to compare prices of the trike to a sidecar rig. To each his own, but aren’t those trikes a nightmare for handling, not to mention an eye sore?
OMMAG says
Thousand pound Harley Trikes …… Talkin bout my GGGGGG…generation!
Of the many things that MY generation have managed to make a mockery of …. the motorcycling sport is the LAST straw….
The aftermarket was and is perfectly capable of supplying all the demand in the world for these wheelchairs with engines …. Harley making them in their plant … reminds me of a certain type of “Me Too” ism.
How embarrassing……………
nobody says
And when it is time to go on that last ride…….
http://www.buggy.com/motorcyclehearse.html
OMMAG says
Save room in that wagon for the folks at HD …. cause they are in the process of Chryslering themselves …. or maybe GMing themselves?
Chris says
“Harley’s term “new models†is sometimes a bit of a stretch, mixing and matching accessories more than building something really new but there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Harley is in severe financial trouble. Do you think endless mixing and matching accessories might have something to do with that ..?
todd says
Harley now has something like 40 models to choose from; none of which appeal to me. Why is it that nearly every other brand has something for just about anyone? As far as I can tell, Harley has three bikes; the cruiserish Sportster, the unsporty Cruiser, and the semi-uncruiserish VRod. Oh, now there’s this too: the Cruiser/Trike.
-todd
Bob says
Wow…… looking at that trike makes me want to go buy stock in honda!
If that’s the best they can do…. nice knowing you harley..
MX says
the emperor is wearing new clothes again. the believers (you know who you are) will always buy HD…it’s like a religous thing.
Tin Man 2 says
Hey Bashers, You dont like the XR1200? Cycle World, not a big HD fan, just named it best Standard Bike of 2009. The Trike line will keep alot of people on a bike who for one reason or another cant use a two wheeled bike any longer, Just because we are aging should HD write off our buying power? How about the Runaway Success of the Iron 883, Great Bike, for $7500. During this Economic slump HD is INCREASING market share, The Imitaters are falling further behind, So sad for the anything but U.S. folks.
hoyt says
OMMAG/Nobody – that is one of the best exchanges I’ve seen in a long time. True.
Marvin says
hoyt 07.29.09 at 1:30 pm
It would be interesting to compare prices of the trike to a sidecar rig. To each his own, but aren’t those trikes a nightmare for handling, not to mention an eye sore?
It would indeed be interesting but aren’t those sidecar rigs a nightmare for handling, not to mention an eye sore?
Seriously though with a side car you can retain the pillion seat for your wife and have 1 or two kids in the sidecar. With that trike you can carry two people and some golf clubs I think they heave perfectly targeted the demographic.
hoyt says
side car rigs may very well handle better than the trike above (I asked that in relation to one another, not in relation to other bikes).
I’ll bet the majority of people look at a rig and think “cool”. Not so much for a trike.
Sidecar rigs can carry 2 people and golf clubs, right?
marvin says
hoyt
You are almost certainly right that a well set up rig could handle better although it all comes down to skill with a rig I’ve found (I’m still at the making massive body movements to overcome imaginary side car lift stage with rigs) . Here in the UK I think the majority of people (i.e. non bikers) look at a rig and think old fashioned or Wallace and gromit. Trikes in the eyes of the general population make you look like a bad ass, in the eyes of you biker mates it makes you look like the sucker who will be taking the trailer and all the camping gear to the festivals. The point I was grasping for is that while non bikers may not like side cars they are more flexible (in use not frame flex) and better suited to day to day riding than a trike which generally remains the domain preserve of the of posers and amputees over this side of the pond.
non sequitur says
One again “The Motorcycle Company” has indicated that their products are only relevant to the 50+ crowd. As a 32 year old rider who has owned over 20 motorcycles of various brands during the course of my motorcycle fixation, I have to say that nothing they are making is even remotely interesting to me. THe XR1200 looks pretty cool, but the engine design is antiquated, the specs and not that impressive, and for that money I could get one hell of a Honda or Suzuki cruiser that I would feel confident driving off the dealers showroom and immediately leaving on a 1500 mile trip without any worries of mechanical failure.
fireninja says
The reason people buy new sport bikes every year is that the new Gixxer, or Duck or CBR is going to be better than the previous year — faster, more powerful, lighter, with upgraded brakes and suspension. The trickle-down of the racing innovations means that the new models are exciting, at least to people who like such things.
Harley’s Achilles heel is that their nostalgia driven branding and marketing is in many ways better satisfied by buying a used bike than a new one. Its not like the 2010 Harleys look (or perform) a whole lot different than the bikes of 5, 10, 20, or 30 years ago — that’s the whole point — it is a point of pride that they keep on stamping out the same old stuff year after year. In the Harley demographic brand-new-60-something “bikers” buy pre-distressed leathers so as to pretend they have been riding for a long time (I learned this when I sold a pair of ratty beat up old leather chaps on craigslist. My phone blew up with calls from old dudes asking how weathered and faded they were. Once I figured out that beat up old gear had a poser factor I jacked the price up ended up selling them for $200!) For this crowd, owning an older bike is more desirable than a new one. If you look on the Craigslist motorcycle postings in any major city in the US, you will see no shortage of low milage late model Harleys pimped out with absolute gobs of expensive after-market crap for rock bottom prices. The used market is absolutely glutted with people who bought a shiny new Harley when times were good and credit was easy, and proceeded to spend far more time waxing it than riding it. Now that times are tough, they are “sacrificing” their garage queen with less than 5k miles and $20,000 “invested” for $7-8K.
Given all this, it is no wonder that the Motor Company’s earnings dropped 91% for 2nd quarter 2009.
nobody says
“Given all this, it is no wonder that the Motor Company’s earnings dropped 91% for 2nd quarter 2009.”
Have you compared their earnings to the rest of the “more innovative” motorcycle companies or divisions? If so, please explain why Harley is doing a LOT better than many of them. Facts, please, and not overwrought posturing, dude.
Compare the technological changes made in the last 21 year to the Harley Sportsters to, say Yamaha FZR1000 – R1 from the same years; on paper, there’s just about the SAME “innovation” on both – fuel injection, and really nothing else substantial. Both have increased in horsepower by around same percentage. Unfortunately, the weight has gone opposite directions.
The sportbike set is just as hogtied (hah!) by fashion as the Harley set. Dunk any of the CBR/YZF/ZX/GSXR/WTFs in a vat of white paint and 99 out of 100 people couldn’t tell them apart. The 1 who could would probably be able to ID any Harley within a year or two of when it was made as well, due to minute changes in brakes, suspension, induction, etc… – the same miniscule changes the sportbike fanboys claim they are the sole beneficiaries of.
The chap story is a fine work of fiction. When do you graduate?
Etc…..
David says
WOW chaps on a ninja I thought I had seen everything
David says
Why do people care what someone else rides? As long as someone (big brother) isn’t forcing to ride what you do not want to ride, why should you care? Enjoy your crotch rocket I always wave when I get passed at 4 times the legal limit, why not? Thumbs up if you like a trike I may want one someday. Any 2 wheels are better than 4. And If I was forced to ride a moped I would make it mine and cheat the rules every chance I got. I have never understood the herd mentality no matter what herd it was.
fireninja says
nobody: the story about the chaps is true. I pickedt them up cheap in college because I couldn’t afford the more modern protective gear. Then after I got better stuff they sat in my clost for years before I sold ’em as described above. I’m 32 with a BA and a JD from good schools. So how educated are you? Did you even graduate from highschool?
David: I have never had a ninja, although I have owned some sporty standards — the closest would be a GS500, but by the time I had that I could afford some decent gear. Nowadays I ride the kind of cruisers that work reliably — the ones made by Honda. And, I wave at everyone, even the Harley people and the scooter people (both of whom almost never wave back).
Hell, I even hang out and ride with some Harley owners — it is being around their bikes and hearing their stories that had kept me from ever seriosuly considering one. Just by watching them and their experiences (and frustrations) I have learned that even the newest Harleys spend half the riding season in the shop — one of my good friends has an 09 Fat Bob and it spent about three months in the shop this summer addressing two significant issues. The dealership was nice enough to give him a loaner bike (despite their official policy not to), but he wanted to be riding HIS bike, not some trade-in. He was mighty pissed that his expensive ride new had so many problems.