Harley Feeling Lucky with New Sportster Roadster

By Ian Kelso, Contributing Editor

Harley-Davidson is hoping to get lucky on the unluckiest of days with its launch of the new 2016 Roadster in Canada.

Every Friday the 13th the little town of Port Dover, Ontario on the Canadian shore of Lake Erie becomes the site of PD13, an event that bills itself as the world’s biggest single day bike rally.

Judging by the preponderance of polished chrome, grey beards and rumbling V-Twins at the event, it is evident that this is a gathering largely dominated by one particular brand of motorcycle.

So perhaps it is a bit ironic that Harley-Davidson Canada chose a “family reunion” of sorts, on a superstitiously unlucky day, to launch a bike that they hope will foray them into new territory outside their traditional core customer base.

The new 2016 Harley-Davidson Sportster Roadster is clearly designed to compete in the fast-growing urban-hip-neo-retro-sporty-standard category (I believe that is the technical term) that has been heretofore dominated by Triumph. In the quest to connect modern performance with traditional character and styling, Harley certainly has a lot it can bring to the table. Harley-Davidson has in many ways defined the archetypal Western popular idea of the motorcycle form itself. And a lot of that is thanks to the introduction of the Sportster in 1957, created to compete directly against the British invasion of the then sportier Triumphs, BSAs and Nortons, and birthing with it the modern notion of biker culture.

The new Roadster unabashedly taps into that legend to create what Harley-Davidson itself calls a “mash-up of syling genres” but one that is a stripped down, lean and powerful “rider’s motorcycle”.

As Canadian Managing Director Anoop Prakash points out, it is also the brand’s eighth city-oriented bike priced under $13,000 CAD, making it accessible for newer riders who are seeking that “garage-built custom” look mixed with a bike that performs as well from stoplight to stoplight in the city as it does into back country curves on the weekend.

The 1200cc v-twin Roadster features some unique characteristics: inverted front forks, higher rear suspension, dual front disc brakes and low-slung handlebars giving it a sportier profile than its Sportster brothers and sisters. The 19” front and 18” rear wheels help give the Roadster a full six inches of ground clearance and the highest seat height of any in the Sportster lineup (30.8 degrees to the right and 31.1 degrees to the left). This in turn means a greater maximum lean angle than most Harleys save the V-Rods for those that like to dip a knee every now and then. Though it is based on the same 1200cc air-cooled Evolution® engine as the other Sportys, it manages to pump out almost 10% more maximum torque at a slightly higher peak rev.

Both in pictures and in person, the Roadster looks awesome. As an urban rider myself, I can totally identify with the design aesthetic Harley is tuning into. It is the same ethos that drives sales of other bikes in this category like the RnineT, the Thruxton R and the Ducati Scrambler: all different machines yet similar in their appeal to a romantic notion.

It strikes me though that the Roadster, coupled with most of the other recent new Harley releases like the Lo Rider S and the new Street lineup, are steering the brand in a very different direction from the models that have sold so successfully to the hardcore yet aging Harley base that was so well represented at the Port Dover rally.

Of course this kind of market evolution has been done before: BMW has been quite successful transitioning their own greying base as well as their reputation for specializing in utilitarian yet bland motorcycles by introducing bikes that capitalized on the mythology of the German brand’s strengths in engineering while focusing squarely on features that enhance the rider experience.

Harley-Davidson seems to get the unique challenge and opportunity they have in front of them.

I ask Anoop how Harley plans to bridge the fairly significant difference of cultures. He tells me pointedly that for them it is all about “AND” and not about “OR”. When I ask about their marketing plans and how they will reach this new audience with their new bikes, he says they just want people to get out and try them.

That could sound like marketing-speak, but in my experience so far with the new HD team in Canada tells me they are sincere. As Anoop points out they are right now crossing the country with well over a hundred stops planned for this summer in Canada so they can make their lineup of bikes accessible for potential customers to just ride them.

I plan to do just that.

The Harley-Davidson Roadster model is offered in four color choices: Vivid Black with a charcoal denim pinstripe; Black Denim with a red pinstripe; Velocity Red Sunglo with a red pinstripe; and two-tone Billet Silver/Vivid Black with a burgundy pinstripe.

Price: $11,199 USD / $12,999 CAD (black)

Engine: Air-cooled Evolution

Displacement: 73.4 cu. in. / 1203cc

Wet weight: 568 lbs / 258 kg

Fuel Capacity: 3.3 gal. / 12.5 litres

Torque: 76 ft. lb. @ 3,750 rpm