Shaped by nearly 60 years of heritage and stripped to the essential elements of a pure riding machine, the new Harley-Davidson Roadster motorcycle is at home in urban landscapes, on twisting roads and makes a bold visual statement even when standing still.
"Since its introduction in 1957, the Harley-Davidson Sportster has proved capable of constant reinvention, and the Roadster writes a new chapter in that story," said Harley-Davidson Director of Styling Brad Richards. "We've watched our customers take the Sportster in so many different directions. The Roadster is a mash-up of styling genres, but the intent was to build a rider's motorcycle, a Sportster that's lean and powerful and connects the rider to the road."
The new Roadster model joins the Dark Custom line-up with a minimalist design inspired by classic racing motorcycles, current trends in stripped-down, naked custom bikes and a profile reminiscent of racing Sportster motorcycles from the 1950s and 1960s.
"We wanted to give the Roadster some DNA from the high-performance KHR models of the mid-50s, and later Sportsters tuned for the drag strip," said Richards. "Those bikes had fenders cut to the struts, the small fuel tank, and were stripped to their bare essentials to achieve a singular performance purpose."
