Harley-Davidson XL883 Iron unveiled at the London Motorcycle Show

Harley-Davidson and Buell are set to unveil two new models at the MCN London Motorcycle Show, January 29th – February 1st.

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The new XL883 Iron will be on the Harley-Davidson stand at ExCel. Priced at just £5375, it is intended to be an entry level machine.

With its stripped down styling, fork gaiters, drag bars and all-black paint, the 883 Sportster based bike is mean, moody and minimalist.

Sister company Buell, meanwhile, have also just unveiled a new, all-black version of its equally entry-level City X XB9X, priced at £5865, which will also be revealed at the MCN London Motorcycle Show this week.

Technically, the bike is unchanged from the stock City X. But a new black powdercoat finish gives it a new, moody look and has been applied to the frame, swingarm, engine, fork tubes, triple clamps, brake calipers and other components.
 
The new bikes come following shock revelations that Harley USA is cutting 1100 jobs after suffering a 58% fall in profits. Sales of the firm’s machines are reported to have dropped 13.1% in the third quarter of the financial year. 

However, sales of the firm’s bikes in Europe and the UK have actually risen by 3% in the same period.

The Milwaukee firm plans to cut production by up to 13% in 2009 to around 273,000 machines and lose around 12% of its workers over the next two years. The majority of these will be production line staff in America.