Returning 2024 Harley-Davidson Models Announced

Not including the CVO models, which will be part of the Jan. 24 announcement, we note several omissions. The first thing we noticed is that the base model Pan America 1250 is missing (at least, for the U.S. market). In the cruiser (i.e. Softail) line-up, we note the Fat Bob 114 is absent from the U.S. lineup, while the rest return with the same engine sizes as the 2023 range. The touring range is especially sparse, with just three models confirmed. Still missing are non-Limited Road Glide and Street Glide, as well as their ST and Special variants.

From this information, we can draw a few conclusions.

With the exception of the Road Glide Limited, none of the other Road Glide and Street Glide variants have been confirmed as yet. Considering the significant updates to the 2023 CVO Road Glide and CVO Street Glide (which earned them the runner-up nod for our Motorcycle of the Year MOBOs), it’s a no-brainer to expect some of those changes to trickle down to the non-CVO models. Indeed, Harley-Davidson released a teaser image for its Jan. 24 announcement, showing three models and the tagline “The Dawn of a New Era”. Two of the models are equipped with the new Road Glide and Street Glide fairings with the integrated lighting. The image of the Road Glide has relatively basic-looking mirrors compared to the CVO Road Glide, so very likely the teaser shows the non-CVO Street Glide and Road Glide.

2024 Engine Sizes Remain Unchanged

With the CVO models getting the Milwaukee-Eight VVT 121 engine, there was speculation about whether Harley-Davidson would give all of its models a corresponding displacement bump. We now know that the returning models are staying with the same engine displacements as their 2023 counterparts.

The Breakout, Low Rider S, and Low Rider ST (pictured above in ketchup Red Rock) are staying with the Milwaukee-Eight 117 while the Street Bob, Fat Boy, and Heritage Classic remain with the 114 engine.

The Softail Standard, meanwhile, remains with the Milwaukee-Eight 107. We’re slightly surprised Harley-Davidson is keeping that displacement around for just a single model, but we assume it has a negligible impact on manufacturing costs at this point.

No Base Model Pan America?

The non-Special Pan America 1250 model is conspicuously absent from the 2024 lineup. With the Special model returning unchanged, we can rule out an update to the RA1250 and assume it is being discontinued.

Soon after it launched in 2021, Harley-Davidson trumpeted the Pan America Special as North America’s top-selling adventure bike. Notably, this did not include the regular Pan America. With the base model absent from the returning 2024 models, we assume consumer demand was heavily tilted to the Special.

We don’t have any hard evidence to support this yet, but it’s possible the base model RA1250 was dropped to create room for a 975 version in Harley-Davidson’s lineup. Ever since the Pan America was announced as a concept, Harley-Davidson said it planned to produce different displacement options for the adventure bike.

As we reported previously, mentions of a RA975 appeared in Harley-Davidson’s own documents, as well as in the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s recall database. The 2023 model year came and went and we have yet to see a Pan America 975. The prevailing theory was that it wasn’t cost effective to include the 975 in the existing lineup, as it would have needed a lower MSRP than the RA1250. Now that the base model 1250 is gone, there may finally be an opportunity for the Pan America 975.

One thing we did notice is that all the color options for the Pan America Special all feature "1250" on either side of the headlight fairing. This wasn't the case in any previous model year, and honestly, we can't recall when Harley-Davidson ever made it a point to show the displacement on the paint for any model. The engine? Sure, but not on the paint. It's circumstantial, but a possible reason Harley-Davidson would do this is to help differentiate the Pan America 1250 Special from another similar-looking model with a different displacement...

We’ll have to wait and see if this theory is correct.

What’s the Third Bike in the Teaser?

We mentioned the updated Street Glide and Road Glide earlier, but we didn’t mention the third bike in the teaser image. The picture isn’t large enough to give us a good look at it, but we have to assume it’s something significant enough to be included.

Unlike the other motorcycles, it doesn’t have a noticeable fairing, though it’s possible it has a windscreen. A new Road King with such a windscreen would be a welcome addition after being absent for the last few years, and we already discussed the possibility of a Pan America 975.

A bit of a longshot, but one that a lot of people have been hoping for, is the Bronx streetfighter. As we were first to report back in 2020, Harley-Davidson quietly removed all mention of the Bronx from its website as the company began measures to trim its lineup as it tried to regroup during the pandemic. Could it finally be time to put the Bronx into production?

As with the Pan America 975, we have no evidence this is the case. Rest assured, if something does pop up, we’ll have it here, on Motorcycle.com. Otherwise, we’ll have to wait for Jan. 24.

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