Could These 16 New Motorcycles Reignite Harley-Davidson's Sales?

Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) just reported a disastrous quarter, and the company's prospects 2018 look even worse. As part of its efforts to reverse its fortunes, Harley has set a goal of releasing 100 new motorcycles in 10 years.

The iconic motorcycle company has already introduced 16 new models under the program (20 if you count the engine upgrades that are offered for certain models). That's a feat that few were expecting Harley to achieve so soon. Yet these gorgeous, gleaming motorcycles all have one thing in common that suggests they may not do the trick: They're big and expensive, which goes against the industry trend of building smaller and cheaper. 

With eight new Softail models leading the way, here are the 16 models that have been introduced so far. The four that offer a souped-up version of Harley's Milwaukee-Eight engine are lumped in with those particular models.

Within a week of CEO Matt Levatich making Harley-Davidson's bold prediction (actually, it was originally only going to be 50 bikes in five years), the Road King Special was introduced and would be the first bike under the program to come equipped with the Milwaukee-Eight engine, Harley's first new engine in 15 years. It lists for just under $22,000.

A month later came the Street Rod, a more aggressively styled and better handling bike than its siblings, the Street 750 and 500. Outfitted with a High Output Revolution X 750 engine, an updated chassis, and suspension, the Street Rod has a more forceful lean angle, and at $8,700, it's the least expensive bike under the new program.

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The Fat Boy is one of the new models that comes with the option of a bigger, more powerful Milwaukee-Eight 114 engine, but with its muscular steamroller stance, solid disc wheels, and the widest factory front tire Harley's ever offered, the $19,000 redesigned cruiser is bound to give riders a better feel for the road.

Another of the motorcycles that comes standard with the Milwaukee-Eight 107, but has an option for the 114, the Heritage Classic is even available as a 115th Anniversary model. The prices range from $19,000 to $21,000 and come with blacked-out engines, chrome pipes, windshield, and hard case saddlebags.

Inspired by the 1970s custom chopper, the Low Rider has a throwback styling in the dual tank-mounted speedometer and tachometer. However, with its lighter weight from the all-new Softail chassis and suspension, Harley increased the Low Rider’s lean angles, and it now glistens with chrome. All of this helped to lift its starting price to $15,000.

The Softail Slim features Harley-Davidson's new Daymaker LED headlamp wrapped in a new front nacelle and fork cover, but like the Low Rider, it also has a more aggressive lean angle. This classic bobber design, which starts at just under $16,000, offers that vintage Harley-Davidson styling with its low-slung seat.

An old-school boulevard custom, the Softail Deluxe features LEDs in the head lamp, the running lights, the Tombstone taillight, and the blade-like turn signals. The pullback handlebars offer ergonomic riding comfort, while the spoke wheels and whitewall tires give it that classic look for an $18,000 starting price.

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The Breakout is a marriage of the classic and modern. It's long and wide but has low-slung, raked-out front forks, and it features a low-profile, riser-mounted style digital instrument screen. It has an 18 inch, 240 mm rear tire and a 21 inch, 130 mm front tire, both with Gasser-style cast aluminum wheels powder-coated in gloss-black. It's the third model available with the up-charged Milwaukee-Eight 114 engine, and it starts at $19,000.

The last of the four bikes with the more powerful engine, the Fat Bob comes with Harley's largest, most deeply treaded tires, on cast aluminum wheels with inverted front forks. Starting at $17,000, it also features the new monoshock suspension that's becoming one of the defining characteristics of the merged Softail and Dyna platform. It also offers a unique two-tone exhaust system.

The Street Bob has mini ape-hangers, black spoke wheels, and chopped fenders, almost like the old Softail Rockers. Its low-slung profile and riser-mounted digital instrumentation give way to mid-mount controls so your feet are comfortably positioned for the ride. Starting at $14,500, it's a new addition to the increasingly popular bobber collection.

The Softails weren't the only motorcycles getting the makeover. Harley also upgraded its popular cruisers, including the Street Glide Special. Starting at $26,000, it now features the popular blacked-out look instead of its usual chrome styling, giving it a stripped-down bagger look. A 115th Anniversary edition is available for $1,000 more. The Street Glide features cast aluminum Talon wheels with spokes that extend to the edge of the rim, giving the wheel the appearance of greater diameter. It also comes with stretched saddlebags and a premium 6.5" touch screen infotainment system.

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The Road Glide Special got the same upgrades as the Street Glide, with bigger engines, improved bodies, and upgraded entertainment systems. At $26,300, the touring side of the Harley family got a "reboot" of styling (some would say a much-needed one), as well as "some performance enhancements," not least of which is the Milwaukee-Eight 107 engine.

Shipments of cruisers surged 32% in the fourth quarter as these Specials were shipped to dealers, but they're down 6.5% for the year. 

Beginning just below $40,000, Harley-Davidson's custom touring bike comes fully loaded, with premium paint schemes, infotainment systems, and audio with wireless headsets for hands-free mobile phone, stereo, or GPS navigation. It also comes with Harley's most powerful engine yet, the Milwaukee-Eight 117. This massive V-twin is only available on CVO motorcycles.

A small step up from the Street Glide, and offered at $41,400, the CVO Road Glide comes tricked out with the premium features of its sibling and features Harley's first factory-installed 21" front tire, a super-premium paint scheme, and, of course, the Milwaukee-Eight 117 engine.

Unfortunately, these ultra-bikes come with an ultra-premium price, and shipments of these touring gems fell more than 7% in 2017. 

Like all the CVOs, the CVO Limited is a limited-edition bike designed from the ground up for long-distance touring. Starting at $43,000, this is the bike for riders who want every creature comfort when straddling their iron horse. There are heated hammock seats, premium audio, and color-accented rocker box lowers.

The Limited is Harley-Davidson's premier bike, the top of the line in a long line of quality motorcycles. But how many will it sell? Let's just say there's a reason these are limited-edition bikes.

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The latest model in Harley-Davidson's 100 new motorcycles in 10 years, the Sport Glide returns to the portfolio after a 25-year absence. It features quick-release hard saddlebags and a small fairing-based windshield that gives riders a big-bike feel, but with the ability to swap it out for a more sporty ride. It perfectly melds suitability for both touring and cruising. It's low-slung, with a seat height under 26 inches and forward-mounted foot controls positioned for smaller riders, but it packs plenty of power with a Milwaukee-Eight 107 engine. It begins at $18,600.

With 16 new bikes, and almost every single one of them bulky and expensive, it doesn't look like Harley-Davidson understands where the market is headed. Although management talks about bringing in 2 million new riders to the brand, particularly amongst the new outreach rider that is younger, more urban, and female, these big bikes aren't likely to appeal to this demographic.

The bike maker also promises to bring to market a new electric motorcycle in the next 18 months, but if it's ultimately like the Project Livewire prototype revealed several years ago, it will be another expensive, beautiful bike, that won't go anywhere.

Until Harley-Davidson builds more bikes like the Street Rod, less expensive and more accessible, and less like the Specials and CVOs, it may not be able to reverse its sales slide, no matter how beautiful its motorcycles are.

Rich Duprey has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.