Harley-Davidson has announced a new $6,000 entry-level bike to hit the streets in 2026, called the Sprint.
That's big news for the iconic American motorcycle manufacturer based in Milwaukee.
Low-Priced Harleys
Harley hasn't had a relatively cheap, entry-level bike since 2021 when it discontinued the XG Street 500 and 750 models, which launched in 2014 and retailed for as low as $6,899, as long as you didn't want any color other than black since color costs money at Harley.
One of Harley's goals with the Street models was to attract young riders to the brand, likely a wise move considering the aging demographic of Harley's core customer base.
"Both the Street 750 and Street 500 were designed with thousands of hours of input from young adults in cities around the world," former CEO Matt Levatich said during the Street launch.
You can probably already tell the Street lineup wasn't successful though, just judging by its extremely short lifespan of seven years. For context, the Evolution engine-powered Sportster models were first introduced in 1986 and the same basic engine design continued until the 2023 model year, or 30 more years than the Street.
The Street likely wasn't very successful because it didn't offer much in the way of style compared to its competition from the similarly priced Ducati Scrambler and the even cheaper models from Royal Enfield. The Street was also objectively worse in almost every measurable way to the Scrambler.
Now, Harley's taking another shot at younger and newer riders.
Current CEO Jochen Zeitz on an earnings conference call the week he announced the new $6,000 Sprint model said the bike should hit U.S. dealerships as early as October 2026, and the company's been working on the project since 2021, according to Visor Down.
Harley does already produce some smaller, entry-level motorcycles outside America, partnering with Chinese company Qianjiang to produce Harley's X350 and X500 models. It's important to note though that the idea of an "entry-level" motorcycle isn't as prevalent in many other countries since motorcycles are a common, standard means of transportation in lots of countries, and bikes anywhere from 200cc to 500cc are plenty big to get where they need to go.
It's also not clear where Harley's new Sprint model will be made or what displacement it will be, but Harley does have a lot of existing models and subsidiaries to draw from.
And in America, Harley has a reputation of building large, expensive, big displacement bikes.
High Priced Problems
The smallest and least expensive Harley on sale right now in the U.S., the Nightster, is 975cc, makes 91 horsepower and retails for $9,999.
The brand's cheapest "Big Twin" model, the Street Bob, retails at $15,999 with a displacement of 1,923cc and makes 98 horsepower. That's not that far off in price from a brand new car since the cheapest car in the U.S. right now is the $18,000 Mitsubishi Mirage, according to Car and Driver.
Harley's most expensive model, the CVO Road Glide RR, retails at $110,000, but that's a limited model to only 131 units. The company's most expensive normal production models, the CVO Road Glide and CVO Street Glide, retail for $45,999, or just about the same as a new Mercedes-Benz CLA.
Harley's Heritage Classic, positioned just about in the middle of its model pricing scale, costs almost the exact same as a new Volkswagen Jetta, $22,999. And by the numbers, each of the Jetta's four wheels is half as expensive as the Harley's, and the VW makes about 60 horsepower more than the Harley. For torque junkies, the Jetta also makes 64 more than the Harley too.
That's not a problem for older generations who are generally financially more stable and have the extra income to spend on, let's be honest, fancy toys like Harleys.
Harley even says on its website that its core focus is on those more expensive models.
"We will invest in strengthening and growing our leadership position in our strongest, most profitable motorcycle segments: Touring, Large Cruiser and Trike," the company states.
But for younger people looking to get into motorcycling, that's a problem.
Young Ridership Woes
A 22-year-old who just graduated college saddled with debt is likely looking for transportation to get to and from their new job. Are they going to choose a Mitsubishi Mirage that guarantees they get to work dry, or are they going to drop the same kind of cash on a Harley?
They're going to buy the Mitsubishi, or something similar, because that's the sensible choice.
And when they end up stable enough to entertain buying a motorcycle, they likely won't want another loan with the same payments as their car. The price issue is a big reason cheaper bikes such as those offered by Royal Enfield have been successful.
Royal Enfield, which offers bikes between about $4,000 and just over $7,000, beat its profit expectations on July 31, 2025, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, Harley in May 2025 announced its retail sales were down 21% compared to the same time in 2024.
Aside from the sheer profitability issue, Harley's core customer demographic is getting closer and closer to death, and if they continue to let Royal Enfield steal their younger audience lunch, Harley will have no new customers to get hooked on its brand and replace them.
Harley Sprint Details and History
The Sprint might just be the ticket though, depending on what it ends up looking and riding like.
Zeitz has been incredibly tight-lipped with details.
But what we do know is that the name of the bike is not new and harkens back to one of Harley's many successful periods.
The original Sprint was made by Italian company Aermacchi and had just 250cc of displacement in 1962, according to Cycle World. Later Sprint models could be had with a 350cc motor too.
During roughly the same time period, Elvis Presley used his own money to buy a 1956 Harley K model before trading it in for a big twin 1957 FLH model. So clearly, young rockers can get hooked on the smaller models and end up on the big, fancy bikes.
Maybe Harley is taking a page out of its own history book.
After all, the company doesn't have to travel far to get back to its past since Presley's K is in the Harley Museum, located in Milwaukee not far from the company's headquarters.
Related: Beloved Motorcycle Company Announces Bad News as Sales Plunge
Harley’s New $6,000 Entry-Level Bike is Another Shot at Attracting New Riders. Where Did The Last Attempts Land? first appeared on Men's Journal on Aug 1, 2025
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