Harley-Davidson

Announced as part of Harley Davidson’s ’More Roads’ future plan by previous CEO Matt Levatich, the Bronx streetfighter concept was then scotched by new CEO Jochen Zeitz. But is the concept as dead in the water as we all thought?

Harley-Davidson looks both forward and back on its newest addition to the new Sportster lineup, the Nightster. The basic Sportster silhouette remains intact, but everything else was subject to the MoCo’s efforts to remain competitive in a progressively high-tech market. A new powerplant and high-end ride-quality electronics put this newest Sportster far beyond the previous models with the same name.

The Harley-Davidson Nightster is barely a month old, yet German custom shop Thunderbike has already gone ahead and transformed it into a staggering piece of art.

Of course, it goes without saying that Harley itself had a role to play here since the project actually began before the Nightster was actually unveiled to the world.

Anyway, let’s take a closer look at the bike.

When Harley-Davidson makes changes to the Iron 883, they stay faithful to at least one important aspect – performance. While XL models have never been known as ’fast’ bikes, they certainly have a well-deserved reputation as ’quick’ bikes. Nothing in the Harley world comes out of the hole like a Sporty, or handles the corners like one, and the Iron 883 maintains that tradition with aplomb. Bikes like this show how the XL line has not only survived, but also thrived in the entry-level and sport-minded American markets.

Harley-Davidson expands the Sportster family with the new-in-2018 Iron 1200. Retro is in, so the ’70s-esque paint and custom touches drawn from that era give the Iron 1200 plenty of nostalgic value. Power comes from the venerable Evolution engine to the tune of 73 pound-feet of torque to give this ride modern performance that belies the dated veneer. A classic dish with custom spices, the new Iron 1200 raises the Iron stable’s displacement ceiling to draw new customers from a market that has been in decline for over a decade.

Harley-Davidson’s CVO Road Glide is a bona fide showroom showstopper with lots of chrome and a trio of new paint packages. Powered by a top-shelf Milwaukee-Eight 117 engine – the largest production engine from the MoCo to date – this machine rolls with stock ride safety-control features that keep all that power under control. Stock bags and fairings complete the bagger ensemble to make this a viable bike for performance-minded riders looking to tour, cruise, or just boulevard bruise.

The Forty-Eight from Harley-Davidson’s Sportster stable has that signature bulldog stance with beefy front forks and fat tires on a narrow frame. The 1,202 cc Evo engine comes blacked out with chrome blings, fed by a ’peanut tank’ that appeared on Sporty’s throughout its history. Low, low seat height and Dark Custom attitude give the Forty-Eight that low-slung, lean, mean look.

Harley Davidson is naturally going all-out on its 120th Anniversary celebrations and you could be one of 76 Grand prize winners, taking an all-expenses paid trip to Milwaukee for the celebrations.

In the entirety of the Transformers movie franchise, we’ve seen Bumblebee shift into a variety of four-wheeled vehicles but we’ve never really seen something with just two. And if you’re wondering how the latter would pan out, then this custom Harley-Davidson FXDR from Box39 is arguably a fine example.

Let’s take a look.

It’s not just motorcycles that are going retro these days: there is an increasing demand for retro apparel and this new collection from Harley Davidson in collaboration with menswear label Todd Snyder is almost perfect

The Harley-Davidson Sportster S was the first offering in the bikemaker’s rejuvenated Sportster lineup, and though it looks striking out of the box, there were a couple of parts that could be swapped to enhance the bike’s visual appeal.

That’s exactly what Rick’s Motorcycles, an authorized Harley dealer based in Germany has done. They have prepped up a custom Sportster S with subtle tweaks, transforming the bike into a sexy beast.

We say subtle because when you look at the custom bike, it still looks very much like a Sportster S but, the bike features plenty of small but significant changes to amp up the package.

German custom bikemaker Cult Werk is popular for its rad Harley-Davidson builds (check out their custom Sportster S here) which, more often than not, feature some crazy detail.

A fine example of this is their custom-built Harley-Davidson FXDR 114 boasting an exquisite Lamborghini-inspired paint job that makes it the perfect garage buddy for your Lambo.