Harley Moving Forward By Looking Back?
Harley-Davidson is in the throes of a rough time, but the company has a long-term plan to revitalize itself, connect with a new audience, and draw in a whole new slew of buyers. Part of that shift will be away from cruisers and towards electric bikes, like the upcoming Harley electric scooter.
I’m not opposed to Harley putting out electric bikes. I think Harley could achieve its goal of attracting a new customer base with gas-powered bikes, but if it wants to go electric, that’s fine by me.
However, I noticed it’s new electric scooter concept looks a lot like the silly minibike I race.
My bike is an old design from the 1950s or 60s (it has a new Predator engine in it, shown below). There are modern versions out there, but this design is an old one, and Harley seems to be using the past in its new vision.
Is this a bad thing? I’d argue no. The company should be looking to the past to inform its new designs. If it goes all-out futuristic, it’ll push too many people away. Still, I wonder if this is the right move.
Honestly, I’d buy Harley the bike (shown above). There are a lot of unknowns about this electric scooter. Range, power, price, basically everything I’d want to know are not finalized or public.
With that said, I actually dig the styling. If the price is right, I think Harley may have a winner on its hands. I’ll be watching this closely.
