Exclusive: Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight, Iron 883, 1200 Custom To Be Updated To BS6 Emission Norms

The Forty-Eight Special will also join the league of cleaner, greener cruisers

• The Harley-Davidson Roadster will be discontinued in India.
• A total of four models from the Sportster Range will be sold in India.
• Homologation may take place in India itself.
• BS6 variants will arrive post-April 1.

The Harley-Davidson Street 750 was the first BS6-compliant motorcycle to be rolled out in India last year. Yes, as surprising as it sounds, the American gas-guzzler was the first to hop onto the green revolution. 

While this gave us a hint of Harley's intentions, what remained uncertain was the path it chalked out for the Sportster range for the BS6 era. You see, these bikes are powered by decade-old air-cooled engines. Fortunately for us, the brand will update the Sportster range to comply with BS6-m emission norms and continue selling them in India. However, the production of the following models will come to an end in European markets from 2021.  

What this means is, Harley will only offer the Forty-Eight, Iron 883, 1200 Custom and Forty-Eight Special in its 2020 lineup for India. The Iron 883, on the other hand, will be available with a smaller 883cc V-twin engine putting out 70Nm of peak torque. The others will use a larger 1200cc Evolution V-twin motor that dishes out a maximum torque of 97Nm. 

We expect the Iron 883 to be priced a pinch above Rs 10 lakh. As for the rest of the lineup, expect prices to start from Rs 11 lakh onwards.

This leaves the Harley Davidson Roadster, which will be pulled off the shelf in 2020. To jog your memory, the HD Roadster lies on the sportier side of Harley’s lineup which features lowered bars, mid-set footpegs, an upside-down fork and twin discs.