Written by  Story by Mark Barnett.

Excerpted from Barnett’s Magazine Print Article We are winding down this series of concept bike articles and have gotten to the one which gave me the most trouble. To remind everyone, we’ve been putting together some ideas that we think would help Harley-Davidson with conquest sales: bringing in existing Japanese and European bike customers. Harley-Davidson has been building exactly what their customer base wants and gradually improving it for years. The last thing a hardcore Harley rider wants to see when new models are released is a showroom full of radiators. These bikes are extra models, not replacements. 

Having reminded everyone of that, the touring class has been where Harley had done well with conquest sales in my opinion. We’ve taken many Goldwings, BMW K1200LT’s, and big Kawasakis on trade at our store. The air-cooled, Twin Cam dressers have modern electronics, excellent smoothness, excellent power in the 103” and 110” versions, and dynamite looks. The three bikes presented here are solely for those seeking a high-tech, high-horsepower alternative touring experience.

The first bike in the upper right is a V4 version of the V-Rod engine stuffed into a current Harley chassis. This bike would be for those who drive 80 and 90 mph all the time out on the open road and want 160 horsepower or so. This would be a little like a Yamaha V-Max motor but not neutered as Yamaha did when they presented a similar looking touring version a few years ago.