The 2020 Harley-Davidson Street Rod holds steady as an attractive option for urban riders who want a pinch of cruiser style with a dash of street tracker agility. When Harley-Davidson revived the model name in 2017, the Street Rod hit the market as a contender with bikes like the Yamaha MT-07. This might seem like a somewhat unlikely match-up on paper, but in the appeal for younger and newer riders it marked the continuation of a shift in Harley’s lineup that persists to this day.
Harley-Davidson took its Street 750 base and designed a largely brand-new machine when it developed the Street Rod. It got a more flat-track-inspired visage, more upright ergos, and better cornering clearance than its more traditionally designed cruiser siblings. We set it against Harley’s self-proclaimed competition, the MT-07 (then still sporting the FZ moniker in the US), and found it holding up better than expected. In terms of pricing (the Street Rod starts at $8,699), the bike has some stiff competition in the cruiser space. The Indian Scout Bobber Sixty is heavy competition for riders who don’t mind a more traditional cruiser aesthetic, while in the tracker and standard realm there are bikes galore from nearly every major manufacturer in the upper middleweight segment. And yet, Harley remains steady in its commitment to the Street Rod for 2020, continuing to give riders who want a slice of Americana with street ability exactly what they want.
No model updates for 2020.
