New Harley-Davidson Roadster

Harley-Davidson's beefed up its Sportster stocks with the Roadster, powered by the firm's 1200cc air-cooled Evolution engine. Price is $19,495 ride away ($20,250 ride away in New Zealand).

"Since its introduction in 1957, the Harley-Davidson Sportster has proved capable of constant reinvention, and the Roadster writes a new chapter in that story," said Harley-Davidson Director of Styling Brad Richards. "We've watched our customers take the Sportster in so many different directions. The Roadster is a mash-up of styling genres, but the intent was to build a rider's motorcycle, a Sportster that's lean and powerful and connects the rider to the road."

The new Roadster model joins the Dark Custom line-up with a "minimalist design inspired by classic racing motorcycles"… reminiscent of Sportsters from the 1950s and 1960s.

"We wanted to give the Roadster some DNA from the high-performance KHR models of the mid-50s, and later Sportsters tuned for the drag strip," said Richards. "Those bikes had fenders cut to the struts, the small fuel tank, and were stripped to their bare essentials to achieve a singular performance purpose."

The Roadster has 19-inch front and 18-inch rear fives-spoke cast-aluminium wheels.

"The wheels were inspired by classic laced wheels, and are the most intricate cast wheel we've ever created," said Harley-Davidson Industrial Designer Ben McGinley. "The interlacing spokes shoot outward toward opposite sides of the wheel, creating a dramatic visual effect. These wheels are also very light for their size, which contributes to the Roadster's handling performance."

The Roadster has new 43mm upside-down forks, and the rear suspension features gas-charged emulsion coil-over shocks with adjustable preload. The Roadster has more suspension travel than any other Sportster model — 114mm at the front and 81mm at the rear. Stopping power is provided by dual 300mm floating front discs. The Roadster also comes standard with anti-lock braking.

Ergonomically, there's a low-rise handlebar and mid-mount foot controls that centre the rider's weight over the 12.5-litre fuel tank.

In keeping with the Roadster's stripped-down styling, the rear fender has been clipped 38mm shorter than previous bobbed Sportster fenders.

The Roadster model will be offered in four colour choices: Vivid Black with a charcoal denim pinstripe; Black Denim with a red pinstripe; Velocity Red Sunglo with a red pinstripe; and two-tone Billet Silver/Vivid Black with a burgundy pinstripe.