This latest concept drawing sneaked out of Milwaukee HQ and Harley themselves were linking the EV to their XR750, parlaying the future to Milwaukee's glorious old racebike. If that's what it takes to get people interested. More importantly, after decades of hoping for a real street tracker, not the models they eventually released, like the XR1000 and XR1200, it's laden with irony that Harley might actually build one, but with an electric motor. I'm in no way against the idea, but if they do build a bike and it does look anything like this sketch, I can't be the only person thinking, Why didn't you do it with a Sportster engine anytime in the last 20 years?
There is a lot more realism about this concept sketch than the one below, released in 2018 as part of Harley's More Roads relaunch announcement. The wheels are more in scale. The motor and ancillaries look realistic, as do the forks, indicators and license plate holder. The headlight looks like it was taken straight off the Fat Bob, which makes sense because it will have been a decent-sized investment for a single model use and looks great. Obvious changes? The seat padding looks a bit thin, the tail kicks up at quite an angle, considering there are also pillion pegs, and there are no mirrors. Launched at EICMA 2020? I wouldn't bet against it. Can they make it for Zero Motorcycles money?
