Harley-Davidson Drops Sportster and Street from European Lineup

[Peon Maface]

Harley-Davidson will reportedly stop offering its Sportster and Street models in Europe, thanks to the Euro 5 emissions standards that will come into effect by the end of the year. The Sportsters and Street models will continue to be sold in North America and other markets that aren’t subject to Euro 5 or equivalent standards, but for Europe, Harley-Davidson will discontinue its smallest and most affordable models. The news comes days after Harley-Davidson announced the end of operations in India.

France’s Moto-Station reported on the Sportster and Street news with confirmation with the management of Harley-Davidson’s French operations. According to the report, Harley-Davidson has opted not to take steps to update the models to meet Euro 5. There was no word on the rest of Harley-Davidson’s lineup, which still needs updates to meet the new standards, but going forward, there will not be any Harley-Davidson models displacing less than 1,746cc. At least, not until the Pan America 1250 is expected to be released early next year.

Harley-Davidson France also confirmed a replacement lineup is in the works, in addition to the Pan America and other models sharing its liquid-cooled 1250cc V-Twin, though it will not be ready immediately. We expect this refers to a future Sportster using the new engine with variable valve timing described in patents we uncovered in June.

Another possibility is the new 338R model being developed with Qianjiang for the Chinese market. Qianjiang is expected to produce its own version of the bike for Europe as a Benelli, which means the engine would be Euro 5-compliant. At the moment, however, there is no indication the small displacement Harley-Davidson model will be offered outside of Asia.

While the Sportsters will continue to be sold in the U.S., the fate of the Street line is less clear. Street models destined for outside of North America were produced in Harley-Davidson’s factory in India. With Harley-Davidson ceasing production in India, the Motor Company may choose to shift all Street production to the U.S. (where all Street models sold in North America are assembled), or drop it altogether. Harley-Davidson has made it clear that its Rewire plan includes reducing its product line by 30%, so axing the Street wouldn’t be a surprise.

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