Harley-Davidson announced today that it is recalling a swath of its Street 500 and Street 750 models because of issues related to their brake calipers.
The issue is caused by corrosion from salt (either in the air near coastal areas, or from road de-icing in colder climates) on the front and brake calipers, and the recall affects 2016-2019 Street 500 (XG500), Street 750 (XG750), and 2017-2019 Street 750A (XG750A) motorcycles.
What you see here is the first purpose-built Harley-Davidson race bike to come from the Milwaukee for quite some time, as its been several decades since the Bar & Shield brand formally offered flat track racing machines – 44 years, to be precise.
Called the Harley-Davidson XG750R, the flat track racing machine is based off the Harley-Davidson Street 750 platform, and it will make its racing debut this weekend at the AMA Pro Flat Track Springfield Mile in Illinois.
As the name suggests, the Harley-Davidson XG750R features the same 750cc v-twin engine that is found in the Harley-Davidson Street 750 street bike, though it has been tuned for racing duty.
Another recall this week, this time affecting the 2015 Harley-Davidson Street 750 (manufactured May 12, 2014, to June 24, 2015) & Street 500 (manufactured January 20, 2014, to June 24, 2015) motorcycles.
According to the information provided to the NHTSA, 10,580 motorcycles have a faulty fuel pump, which has a poor seal at the fuel pump inlet.
Yet another recall for Harley-Davidson, this time affecting its 2015 Street 750 and Street 500 motorcycles. In total, the recall affects 8,903 units, which were manufactured without a rear reflector assembly.
Because the lack of reflectors automatically means the motorcycles fails to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, “Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment”, the motorcycles in question need to be recalled.
News of “smaller-displacement” Harley-Davidson motorcycles has been percolating for quite some time now, especially after the Bar & Shield brand began taking emerging markets more seriously.
With countries like India viewing 500cc bikes as “big” and Harley-Davidson’s smallest offering tipping the scales at 883cc, something had to give in the company’s strategy, and it looks like it just did.
Announcing two new bikes, the Harley-Davidson Street 500 and Harley-Davidson Street 750, the Milwaukee brand is finally ready to go abroad, and its launching its intent to do so this week in Milan, at the EICMA show.