Harley-Davidson's Sprint 440 Is A 27 HP, Single Cylinder Hoglet For $6,000
A new mini-Hog is here for your enjoyment
Harley-Davidson is one of the most famous names in motorcycling, but it's not one younger riders in the US have given much thought to for years. Its bikes are all too big, too heavy, and too expensive. Or they were until this week. This is the Sprint, an HD bike that costs just $6,000, and one you can actually pick up when it falls over, without hiring a crane.
The Sprint is Harley's long-awaited entry-level bike, and its mission is to attract a whole new generation of riders into the Harley gang. Rival brands like Royal Enfield and Triumph have been cleaning up with their small-capacity motorcycles, and HD wants a slice of that pie, with the hope that once the brand has got under a new rider's skin, they'll be a fan for life.
Design-wise, it's unmistakably Harley. Low seat, swept-back bars, heavily raked forks, and mag wheels. But it's shorter and, at just 412 lbs (187 kg) ready to ride, lighter than anything else in Harley's lineup by almost 100 lbs (220 kg).
Where did the other cylinder go?
Instead of a bubbly V-twin, the Sprint gets by with just one cylinder and 440 cc. It makes 27 hp (27 PS) and 28 lb-ft (38 Nm) of torque, which is funneled to the rear wheel via a six-speed manual transmission. Obviously it's going to sound very different to a traditional Harley, though engineers told MCN they'd purposely introduced some roughness to the way the engine runs to make it sound a bit more like a twin.
It certainly won't gobble gas like one. The tank holds only 2.4 US gallons (9.1), but combined with the claimed 80 mpg economy, that should be enough for most daily situations, plus the odd adventure.
Standard equipment includes a 3.5-inch display, LED lighting, and ABS, plus riders get to customize their bike by adding various options like throw-over saddlebags, a solo seat, and a clear windshield. Though that will, of course, take you further away from the $6,000 entry point that probably hooked you in in the first place.
Assembled, not made, in America
Bike geeks might know that the Sprint borrows its name from a series of single-cylinder cycles Harley-Davidson sold in the 1960s, when it was attempting to fend off Honda. HD bought a 50 percent stake in Italian company Aermacchi, and started selling 18 hp sports bikes in the US that looked nothing like anything else you could buy from a Harley dealer at the time.
And if you know that, you might know that the 2027 Sprint isn't 100 percent new. It has its roots in another affordable motorcycle, the X440 made by India's Hero MotorCorp, and sold with Harley badges in Asia. The Sprint has been adapted to suit Western tastes, and it's also assembled in HD's Pennsylvania plant, though Harley stops short of claiming it's built there.
Harley has had a tough time financially over the past few years, with its failing LiveWire electric brand doing its best to drag the core business down. But the Sprint 440 looks to us like it's got the makings of a hit, and could be just what Harley-Davidson needs to get back on track.