Think the new Street Fighter 975, etc. will completely replace Sportsters?

My hunch is......unfortunately probably. In speaking with a friend who happens to be the sales manager at a neighboring HD dealership I posed this question to him, and surprisingly to me he said; "I hope so, there are too many used Sportsters out there we have a heard time selling them, plus now when I can sell a Softail standard for not much more than a deluxe Sportster why would anyone buy a Sportster"? Looking at it that way he's likely right.
I'd think HD will offer Sportsters along side the new line for a while, at least until they get established and proven, and also as long as Sportsters continue to sell even somewhat well. They might market various special "last edition" Sportsters over the last year or so then they're done, last of an era of big air cooled, two valve V-twins. I hope I'm wrong and they continue making and actually improving them somehow. Your thoughts?

To be honest I think HD are doing the right thing if they want to survive

The “traditional” Harley riders are getting a bit long in the tooth now and the “HOG / way of life” customers are going to run out eventually

They need to appeal to a new (younger) customer base which they have tried to do with the 750s

I’m one of the heathens that don’t “get” Harleys but I am open minded, to me the Bronx looks quite good at first glance and I even think the Pan America is a refreshing alternative

Never say never

https://youtu.be/cqKCqmh7k_8

Oh I think they are doing the right thing in fact it's overdue, just would hate to see them potentially abandon the Sportster.

The new bikes are going got have to be good to compete. If it turns out that the 975 for example is in a similar vein to the sportsters, ie heavy and slow, then their appeal will be massively limited. Personally I think it looks pretty good though.

I think that it would be a mistake to totally abandon the sportster as it did hold the accolade of being the longest HD in development and the most reliable of the bunch, even if build quality was nothing to write home about. I had two of them and kicked myself for buying the last one (one of the latest 1200 models) after living with it for a while just confirmed that they hadn't really come that far in terms of road manners even if the engine had improved over the years. As Clifton says, it is massively overdue but of late their reputation has suffered at the hands of some very poor UK dealers and the bikes have been massively over priced for what they offer as well as grossly under developed in the rolling chassis/suspension department. They need to come into the 21st century in far more than just looks in other words.

Yeah I suppose they'll keep making Sportsters as long as they sell, and they can be made to meet ever tightening emission standards.