Why did R die? Harley V-Rod Discuss Why did R die? in the Motorcycles forums; Curious why Harley killed the R model. To my eye it's the first attempt at building a real sport model with Harley on the gas tank. It was tall for ...

[BaggerDad]

Curious why Harley killed the R model. To my eye it's the first attempt at building a real sport model with Harley on the gas tank.

It was tall for a Harley (better ground clearance) and upside down forks and modern brakes.

So why did it last only 2 years before MoCo pulled the plug on it?

simple, it didn't sell!

[rjrivero]

The question is why didn't it sell well.

The answer is that it didn't really have a niche. What was it supposed to be? It cost 5K more than any other naked sport bike. It wasn't as capable as any other sport tourer on the market, thanks in large part to the fact you couldn't fit a pair of sneakers in a saddle bag.

It didn't really fit a niche. They never told us what they intedned the bike for, and to put it in any other class automatically put it at the hight price side of that market.

the question: "So why did it last only 2 years before MoCo pulled the plug on it?"

simple : it didn't sell!

The V rod in any form is way removed from the tradition which is Harley. A bit far removed for most of the "old school" for sure. The R took it a step further and alienated those even farther.
The problem is they didn't really go far enough with it. Harley had to know they were out on a limb so why not take it a bit further? It's too bad though, the R was a great "street" bike. More than enough power and more than enough handling for the "street".

[Buzz Kanter]

I can't speak for all, but I suspect it was considered "neither fish nor foul" sort of like most Buells.



The traditional air-cooled Harley owners couldn't identify with it - liquid-cooled, OHC, high suspension and seat height.

The sportbike crowd dismissed it as a heavy Harley in mild sport dress.

I like it and am buying one for a future project bike in American Iron Magazine. Let's see what we can do with it and how our readers react when it's in print sometime in mid summer 2008.

[DesertSpeed]

New 06 Rs are easy to find.

[Shed]

Was before it's time just like the XLCR750 cafe racer it did not sell now it is a big dollar investment, if you can find one.

[DesertSpeed]

The R is still a tempting bike, but we really enjoy our D.

[shovelmike]

Originally Posted by Shed

Was before it's time just like the XLCR750 cafe racer it did not sell now it is a big dollar investment, if you can find one.

Not to nitpick, Shed, but the XLCR was actually a 1000, not 750. As a side note, one of my all time favorites was the XR 1000. A close resemblance to XR 750. My local dealer had one on the showroom floor in 85 when I bought my XLX.

[vin2k]

Buzz

My mother in law got me a subscription to AIM Magazine for Christmas. It's almost February and I still have not received 1 single issue! I did get a card in the mail stating that I got it as a gift and it will be arriving "soon". What gives?