On February 12, 2026, Harley-Davidson filed a safety recall report with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for certain 2021 through 2026 Sportster S motorcycles within a certain production date range. The issue: The top triple clamp on affected units "may fracture under extreme loading conditions." If this happens, the recall warns, it could lead a rider to lose control of their bike, which could in turn increase the risk of a crash.
If you're thinking that this recall sounds familiar, that's because it's an expansion of a recall originally issued in September 2025, regarding a subset of the population of Sportster S motorcycles that may be affected. But there's a crucial clarification I need to add at this point, because this new recall in February 2026 goes beyond merely expanding the range of potentially affected motorcycles covered by this recall.
Around 9,401 Sportster S bikes produced between May 18, 2021 and October 27, 2025 may potentially be affected, according to Harley's records. This represents approximately 0.1% of the population. But the new recall actually goes beyond these bikes, because apparently some of the top triple clamps that were included in the original recall service kits created to address the initial recall may also have this issue.
