The Harley vs Polaris battle

So here is my wild theory that I just dropped in my last post for the upcoming new Indian "Ignite" that will be presented in a few months from now. The Harley Davidson Street Rod 750 is Harley Davidson's first real production model outside the cruiser segment. A Sportster with clip-ons and mid-controls is not a standard, it's a cruiser with some mods. The Livewire is still a concept model. They have never had a real standard model in their range. The only thing that came close was the XR1200 but that was a Sportster (trying to look like a) street tracker, (and failed in that aspect), still a cool bike though. Yes, the profile of this bike reminds very much of the XR1200 but this is a totally new territory for Harley. No component of this bike has a any link to a Harley flat tracker at all, not even Harley's iconic orange-and-black livery that was used on the XR750's. Matt King of media relations said "the model is built to appeal to a specific to a demographic in a space where we don’t really have a product.” In Harley terms, this bike is not build on their heritage, this bike is a new bloodline.

Why now you may ask?
When Victory came with the Ignition concept model last year, after they had used the same engine in the Roland Sands Pike's Peak racer, the internet exploded. It looked like Polaris was broadening their range and would be the first big twin American manufacturer to make a serious attempt to build a bike outside the cruiser segment. Harley got nervous and decided to have an answer ready. Just compare these 2 bikes, the similarities are striking.

A few weeks after Harley started working on the Street Rod 750,Victory presented the Octane production model, a very much watered down version of the Victory Ignition concept bike. The reception of the production bike was underwhelming to say the least. And a few months later Polaris closed down Victory, coincidence?

So now Harley beat Polaris in this new American big twin segment. This battle will continue.
Polaris/Indian will respond. They will make a faster, better handling street/standard bike that will crush the XR750 Street Rod in a few months from now, no doubt it will happen. 

The question is.. How will Harley respond to that? And so on, and so on,... This is going to be exciting! :))))

Harley Davidson Street Rod 750

Wow, who would have thought Harley would do this for real? We all saw they needed this bike for a long time and now Harley built a standard? I almost can't believe this...! The bike they should have build a long time ago and now they did it for real! Will this be the start of a new Harley Davidson era? Can't wait to see what's next! 

Is this more powerful version of the 750 the same engine as the XG750R Revolution X that Harley will use in the 2017 American Flat Track season? Is this Harley's first reaction on the new Indian Scout FTR750 flat track racer? Will Indian respond with a real standard or maybe a street tracker version of the Scout? Is this the moment America finally will expand their horizon and will make something other than a cruiser? It seems a no brainer to most of us but that would be a real revolution in the American Motorycycle business.

The chassis changes move this Street from cruiser territory into the standard zone. Steeper from a 32 to 27. The longer travel suspension raises ride height to increase cornering clearance (10 degrees more in both directions). A longer swingarm to to accommodate the larger 17 " rear wheel, also a 17" in the front. The gas-charged, shocks give the bike 4.6 inches of travel. In the front the 43mm black-anodized inverted forks give the bike a much beefier front end look compared to the street 750. A pair of 300mm front discs increase braking power vs. the single disc on the Street.

The tank is moved farther forward and the rider sits farther forward to bias center of gravity forward to improve handling. Remember we are still talking about a Harley Davidson...! Say what?
It has 8 percent more torque across the rev range and the redline is increased from 8,000 rpm to 9,000, with an attendant 18 percent power boost on the top end. Claimed output is 68.4 horsepower at 8,750 rpm and 47.2 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm. 

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