Nigel Keough
Harley-Davidson Australia & NZ Managing Director
Harley-Davidson Australia and New Zealand managing director Nigel Keough speaks with MCNews about the 2026 model rollout, dealer confidence, Breakout demand, growing trike interest, Road Glide momentum and the future of Pan America in Australia.
I caught up with Harley-Davidson Australia and New Zealand Managing Director Nigel Keough at a Sydney press event for the launch of the 2026 model range, taking the chance to tap into the perspective of one of the brand’s most seasoned local executives.
Trevor Hedge, MCNews.com.au: How’s Harley-Davidson travelling here in Australia at the moment? I think there are some challenges across the board for all brands and niches. What’s the primary challenge that you’re dealing with now in Australia?
Nigel: “We’ve had a great start to the year, actually. Obviously, it’s the riding season as you well know. And having the 2026 model-year release just in the last few weeks has been super exciting. Things are going really nicely, and dealerships continue to deliver the customer experience we’re known for. We’ve got a pretty big night coming up, Harley Nights. On the 20th of March, we’re celebrating right across Australia and New Zealand, and we’re really launching it for our global team. So I’ll be in Tauranga, New Zealand, which will be the first place in the world to welcome Harley Night in 2026.
“Starting in Tauranga, Auckland, then experiences in Hamilton, and some other places in New Zealand, and then very much moving to the mainland of Australia, right around from Launceston, Tasmania, a huge night down there with Simon and the Richardson’s Harley team, all the way up the East Coast, Adelaide and Perth.”
Harley-Davidson Nights launches across Australia and New Zealand
Trev: You’ve got the ’26 models arriving now. There’s probably some remaining ’25 stock to clear of some models, is that right? How are you balancing that dynamic, and not devaluing the previous customers who might upgrade, or might not, how do you deal with not destroying that value?
Nigel: “We’re pretty cognisant, we’re always planning. Our ’25 inventory is not too bad at all. Obviously, we’re cognisant of when ’26 launches, and coming into it, we try to make sure that we’ve moved the ’25s that are necessary in preparation for the great new ’26s.”
Trev: Which of the new models is generating the most traction for orders, rather than just talk?
Nigel: “I have to tell you the Breakout, there are a couple of colour combinations that are super hot right now. There’s a teal this year, and the Breakout is always a popular choice amongst Australians.”
Breakout remains a standout with Aussies
Trev: Aussies love it, even when America dropped it for many years, we kept running it, and it was a top-selling model for most years…?
Nigel: ” For three years straight, it was the best-selling heavyweight motorcycle in Australia.”
Trev: And America didn’t even offer it for a long time…
Nigel: “Correct, so there’s a bit of a uniqueness there. The colour combination has been a standout. The Low Rider S and Low Rider ST are also pretty popular.”
Trev: Trike seems to be big and getting bigger in America. When Trike first came about, it was a New Zealand-only offering in this part of the globe, and you didn’t bring them into Australia. But you are now starting to make a serious push into Australia?
Trike demand is rising faster than expected
Nigel: “The demand has exceeded expectations, and you’ll see the development curve from when we started to model year ’26 is off the chart. You’ll see the suspension and a bit of the rear end today, and I think people will be amazed. The demand continues to rise, which is great. It’s not necessarily what you might imagine of that customer; that customer is quite diverse. People get on that bike because it’s their choice; it’s not always just to perpetuate their riding. It’s a choice they want to make. It’s great.”
Trev: How many of the three-wheelers would you expect to shift in 2026?
Nigel: “We’d be expecting to sell about the same number as a couple of our CVOs, so that’s pretty significant.”
Trev: Talking, triple-digits?
Nigel: “Absolutely, so…”
Trev: But not four digits?
Nigel: “We’re going towards that, but we won’t get there for 2026.”
Trev: On the dealership front, we’ve obviously had takeovers, and the new Joe Rascal brand is going hard with the Baggers World Cup Team. Is there any other changes there we might not be aware of?
Nigel: “We have some great dealers, that’s for sure, and they continue to perpetuate the brand. We’ve seen some changes; there were some hiccups in motorcycling overall last year, and some of the old guard, unfortunately, no longer continue. But we’ve been able to replace them with some excellent dealer operators.”
Trev: We touched on previously how Australia can be very different to America, as with the Breakout. With the current state of affairs, what is the biggest difference between Aussie Harley customers and what they want, compared to what American Harley customers currently buy? Is the Breakout the current standout?
Nigel: “The Breakout is the big standout, but it has also had a couple of great years in the US since they brought it back.”
Trev: So you led the way…?
Nigel: “I wouldn’t say that. We may have influenced them a little bit. In the US, obviously, touring sales remain strong, and what we’re seeing in Australia is that we’re actually moving more towards Road Glide, where in the past we’ve been very Street Glide focused. But with the Bagger series as you’ve just mentioned, I think there’s starting to be a groundswell, and actually Road Glides are starting to outsell Street Glides, which is pretty unique for us.”
Road Glide gains ground on Street Glide
Trev: You mentioned the Pan America earlier. Adventure-touring has long been a fiercely contested segment. Harley-Davidson made a bold play for a share of that market with the Pan America, but has it delivered what the company hoped it would, and what role do you see the model playing in the brand’s future from here?
Nigel: “It’s a very competitive marketplace, you know that very well. There is great competition amongst the brands, and really strong competition, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to give up the fight. The Pan America is an outstanding product; you know how well it goes, you’ve experienced it yourself. In some other markets, we run variants: the Pan Am ST, which is more road-based; the Adventure, which is off-road; and I think we have a few more things coming in the pipeline that might be pretty interesting. But I can’t tell you about that.”
Trev: 20 years ago, it was sportsbikes and sports-touring platforms that brought in all the latest tech and gadgets, but now the adventure platform seems to be almost every brand’s pinnacle for introducing new technology to the market. As you say, it is a very crowded market. How are you sitting in the Australian adventure market compared to the competitors? Are you about where you expected to be? Where do you think your next growth spurt is going to come from in Australia?
Pan America still part of Harley’s future plans
Nigel: “It’s very much about us building, building in our space, we’ve got a different proposition to some of the other brands and we believe in that, the good thing with Harley-Davidson is we’ve got the strongest dealer network in the country. Our dealers are doing more work with it, we’re offering more variants potentially in the future, and we’ll continue to build.”
