Harley decides – Finally! – to sell new XR1200 in the U.S.

By Richard Backus
Published on November 25, 2008
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H-D’s new XR1200 will finally be available in the U.S.

Stymieing U.S. buyers, earlier this year Harley-Davidson introduced the flat-tracker inspired XR1200, whose styling draws heavily from Harley history, mimicking H-D’s iconic and race winning XR750 of 1970-1980. The hitch? It was a Euro-only offering.

Fortunately, Harley has finally put things right, announcing it will sell the XR1200 in the U.S. – but there’s yet another hitch: Only 750 of the new model will be available for “pre-sale” when the XR1200 officially goes on sale Dec. 1, 2008. Harley plans to give the bike its first public showing in the U.S. at the International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, Calif., Dec. 5.

This has been without doubt the oddest model rollout in Harley history, with potential U.S. buyers pressuring H-D to sell the XR1200 here since it was first shown in prototype form in 2006, and understandably frustrated by The Motor Company’s apparent lack of interest in making the XR1200 available to U.S. buyers — and this despite the fact the bike is actually built at Harley’s Kansas City factory. Talk about homegrown.

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