Photo: hdforums.com
We might be in for the return of a Harley-Davidson model that was ditched more than 20 years ago, the FXRT Sport Glide. Apparently, the name of this bike was spotted in both U.S. and European trademark application papers, so we're most likely getting a new Harley soon.
Rumors indicate that both the US Patent and Trademark Office and the European Union Intellectual Property Office have received requests for the Sport Glide name Harley introduced in 1983.
Back in the day, the Sport Glide was a spin-off of the Super Glide, using a frame-mounted front fairing with a fairly tall windscreen, and hard-case saddlebags.
According to hotbike, the Sport Glide initially had to be equipped with a mighty V4 liquid-cooled engine that Harley-Davidson abandoned later because of insufficient funding. With a taller seat and pegs, the FXRT also offered more banking clearance, being a bike that sportier riders could actually have fun with, instead of just strolling around at cruising speeds.
The air vents in the front fairing that received auxiliary lights were designed in the wind tunnel, and they should have served as scoops for the ducts that channeled cold air to the underseat radiator of the V4.
There is no other indication as to the timing Harley has planned for the new Sport Glide, so guessing that it might be introduced at this year's Intermot or EICMA is, probably a bit risky.
Still, if Milwaukee felt like this fall is the right time to bring back the Sport Glide, they can, of course, use the existing Dyna platform and engine. The new FXRT could complement the other middleweight (for H-D) bagger, the Switchback.
A redesigned front fairing maybe isn't enough to justify the return of the Sport Glide, so we can guess that the designers at the Bar and Shield are already working hard on a wider-scale revamping of the old machine.
Back in the day, the Sport Glide was a spin-off of the Super Glide, using a frame-mounted front fairing with a fairly tall windscreen, and hard-case saddlebags.
According to hotbike, the Sport Glide initially had to be equipped with a mighty V4 liquid-cooled engine that Harley-Davidson abandoned later because of insufficient funding. With a taller seat and pegs, the FXRT also offered more banking clearance, being a bike that sportier riders could actually have fun with, instead of just strolling around at cruising speeds.
The air vents in the front fairing that received auxiliary lights were designed in the wind tunnel, and they should have served as scoops for the ducts that channeled cold air to the underseat radiator of the V4.
There is no other indication as to the timing Harley has planned for the new Sport Glide, so guessing that it might be introduced at this year's Intermot or EICMA is, probably a bit risky.
Still, if Milwaukee felt like this fall is the right time to bring back the Sport Glide, they can, of course, use the existing Dyna platform and engine. The new FXRT could complement the other middleweight (for H-D) bagger, the Switchback.
A redesigned front fairing maybe isn't enough to justify the return of the Sport Glide, so we can guess that the designers at the Bar and Shield are already working hard on a wider-scale revamping of the old machine.
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