Does the Harley-Davidson rejuvenation plan involve a sportsbike?
Patent images have been uncovered that seems to show what could be the beginnings of a Harley-Davidson sportsbike
NEW patent images, and sneaky peeks at some of the development photos of their latest models, seem to point to a Harley-Davidson sportsbike soon.
The move, if it is indeed true, would see the companies first foray into the sportsbike arena (without the assistance of a certain Mr. Buell) for 25-years, back then it was the VR1000.
The patents themselves show a small, sportsbike-like fairing unit. That’s almost café racer looking in it’s styling. The stout fairing is crowned by a small oval-shaped headlight opening, similar to that of the current Fat Bob and new cruiser we reported on back in July.
While the patents alone give some clue that the new bike cold well be a sports-oriented machine, the biggest clue comes in the form of some pre-production pictures, taken during the styling and design phase of some of Harley-Davidson’s other new models.
During the clay modelling phase of the new naked streetfighter, Harley-Davidson shared some PR pics, showing the clay model in front of an ideas board. The kind a designer uses to brainstorm various concepts and theories, prior to committing them to the model.
And here, hiding in plain sight we can clearly see the image of the new sportsbike, pinned to the top of the board! It’s a cool move by Harley’s PR team and one that clearly worked because, until the patents were unearthed – none of us really had any idea!
In other photos released by the factory, we see an even bigger clue, in the form of a VR1000, sat in front of a partially obscured clay model being worked on by a designer. The clay model does indeed sport a similar style fairing as the new patent images – could we really be about to see a sportsbike from Harley-Davidson?
Prototype image : RideApart
Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
