XR1200Harley-Davidson is the spirit of America in the form of a motorcycle. If that's the case, then why does the XR1200 look like a European import with a Harley-Davidson sticker glued on? This is the bike that a Harley-Davidson designer would conceptualize after they spent a year abroad and returned home with an inexplicable, vaguely European accent. Like that hypothetical designer, the XR1200 is an American pretending to be European, and it's not a good look.Despite the XR1200's delusions of European grandeur, it's still a Harley-Davidson product, but the only evidence of that fact is the Harley-Davidson labeling. Aside from the V-twin engine sticking out of the side, there's little in the way of chrome tubing or stylish exhaust pipes to admire, giving the motorcycle the appearance of an electric bike with exhaust pipes. Harley-Davidson is as American as it can get, so why try to pretend to be something it isn't? Let the Europeans make their own bikes. If it's a Harley-Davidson, it's got to look like one.1977 Confederate EditionIn 1976, Harley-Davidson released the Liberty Edition, an aesthetic upgrade of its Super Glide and Electra Glide models. Intended to mark the passing of America's bicentennial, the bike featured striking graphics that celebrated America in time for her 200th birthday.One year later, Harley-Davidson tried again, this time with the Confederate Edition, and ... you can probably see the problem. Not to get political or anything, but the Confederate States of America infamously fought a war against the United States, resulting in the deaths of 620,000 Americans. Needless to say, the idea of a Harley-Davidson motorbike celebrating the Confederacy was controversial and sold poorly. As a result, only 23 units are known to have survived to the present day.Aside from the political ballyhoo, the Confederate Edition simply wasn't an interesting design. The silver paint job was presumably meant to evoke the gray uniforms of Confederate soldiers, but the additional Confederate flag details were small and underwhelming, especially when compared to the Liberty Edition's beautiful designs. Today, Harley-Davidson's Confederate edition, like the Confederacy itself, is a footnote in history best left to the past.2019 Project Livewire Electric MotorcycleHarley-Davidson aims to go fully electric in the future. Hopefully, its future offerings will fare better than its first attempt at an electric vehicle, the LiveWire. First announced in 2014, the bike wouldn't become available to consumers until 2019. Even with all that R&D time, the LiveWire shipped with an outrageous price tag of $29,799, and even today, the more modern LiveWire models only have a range of 70 miles on an open highway, which is underwhelming, to say the least.On top of all of these missteps, the LiveWire just didn't look cool. It looked more like a backyard grill station than a Harley-Davidson, with its superfluous black paneling and low-slung electric motor. In fact, without the Harley-Davidson branding, this bike would scarcely be recognizable as part of its fleet of two-wheel vehicles. The future is definitely electric, but if the LiveWire is any indication, that future for Harley is still quite a few years away.2014 Street 750In the modern era, Harley-Davidson is seen as kind of a throwback, an ode to the old days of cross-country highway travel, a free-spirited attitude shared by biker gangs and hippies, two groups that otherwise couldn't be more different. For better or worse, Harley-Davidson is, in a word, retro. As a result, it only made sense for the company to target young people in an effort to revitalize its image. Unfortunately, the 2014 Street 750 failed to make the brand hip and cool again.It looks vaguely Harley-Davidson-esque, but its abundance of cheap plastic parts makes the Street look, well, cheap and plastic. This is the kind of bike an uninformed tech bro might buy because he doesn't know any better. It may look like a Harley-Davidson, but in practice, it's more of a fancy-looking scooter, lightweight and built for urban use, which is actually perfect for a tech type, come to think of it. If there are two lessons to be learned here, it's that there's nothing wrong with being a little old-fashioned, and that trend-chasing rarely ends well.