Some interesting news has been revealed for Harley-Davidson fans. According to Motorcycle.com, a new budget-oriented model dubbed the Sprint will be revealed this fall. The news was reportedly dropped during a second quarter earnings meeting by Harley's CEO, Jochen Zeitz.
Here's the kicker: if it comes to fruition, the 2026 Harley-Davidson Sprint will retail for under $6,000. Considering the fact that the current least expensive Harley, the Nightster, sits at $9,999, the Sprint will be the least expensive Harley by
a significant margin. The brand itself isn't typically associated with budget-oriented models, and the introduction of an entry-level bike is definitely an interesting move. Harley-Davidson is planning for the Sprint to sell in big numbers and, most importantly, earn the company some much-needed cash.
Harley's bread and butter is huge cruisers and touring bikes, so it will definitely be worth watching what the Sprint ends up doing to not only Harley's bottom line, but its image as well.
Read more: 6 Of The Fastest Cruiser Motorcycles, Ranked By Top Speed
A New Market Position For Harley-Davidson
Not a lot is known about the Sprint at the moment other than the name and that it will be vintage-styled. Harley-Davidson notes that it will be a smaller displacement bike. For reference, the aforementioned Nightster carries a still fairly beefy 975 cubic inch V-twin rated at 91 horsepower. That's not a small displacement motor by any stretch of the imagination. Still, there are a lot of unknowns about what will power the upcoming Sprint.
Among American motorcycle makers, Harley-Davidson competes with Indian. Indian's least expensive model is the Scout cruiser, priced identically to the Nightster at $9,999. Internationally, Harley competes with the king of budget bikes, Honda, which has several full lines of cruiser, adventure, sport bikes, and dual-sports for under $10,000. Yamaha and Kawasaki additionally have a large number of budget-oriented bikes.
Whether or not the Harley-Davidson Sprint will be able to eat Honda's, Yamaha's, or Kawasaki's lunch in the budget bike department with a $6,000 model is anyone's guess, and it's still too early to make any real calls given that we don't even know what the bike looks like. Still, it's exciting news.
Want the latest in tech and auto trends? Subscribe to our free newsletter for the latest headlines, expert guides, and how-to tips, one email at a time.
Read the original article on SlashGear.
