#harley-davidson

If California is the land of motorcycles and Detroit’s the automotive capital, then Quebec must be Mecca for three-wheelers. Maybe there’s an inherent character trait in Quebec, a province that has carved out a French-speaking culture in a predominantly English-speaking continent, that leads some to want a similar niche for three-wheeled vehicles where four is the norm.

What this country needs is a great $9,000 motorcycle made in America by Americans, a bike that will be great, trust me on this, a bike that’ll be huuge. Not a loser. Look at the size of my hands…

Alas, the poor Harley-Davidson Street 750 continues to get little love from MO, finishing third of three in our recent Gaiternational Shootout against Triumph’s excellent new Street Twin and Moto Guzzi’s still very good V7 Stone II. No doubt a few Triumph tuners and a handful of Guzzi specialists will get to work on those bikes, but few if any will reach the level of the Cherry’s Company turbocharged H-D Street 750 in our lead image.

What happens when Harley-Davidson upgrades the suspension and beefs up the brakes of its iconic and much-customized 1200 Sportster? You get the 2016 Roadster. While the powerplant remains the same 1202cc air-cooled 45° V-Twin Evolution engine, the character of the Sportster gets an attitude adjustment for people who like to go around corners. By increasing the rear suspension travel and altering the angle of the frame relative to the road, H-D has created a Sportster that doesn’t shy away from winding roads. The addition of a second 300mm front disc adds braking power to the Roadster’s street cred – all wrapped in a minimalist styling package inspired by home garage customizers.

A freight train of 20 motorcycles works its way through the rolling hills of southern France on a roller-coaster of silky smooth but undulating pavement, cresting hills, strafing banked turns, and dancing side-to-side through endless esses. Entering the mostly second-gear corners, bikes largely nose-to-tail, the riders take a variety of lines, occasionally scrubbing off a little speed mid-corner – or sometimes more than a little in the case of a sneaky decreasing-radius – with a judicious application of brakes while leaned over, peg feelers just skimming the pavement. Other times, if the situation requires, they adjust their lines, sometimes slightly overlapping wheels as people who are comfortable on the track often do (even if it doesn’t really allow enough margin for error on the street). Then the corner ends, and the throttles twist, widening the gaps slightly, only to accordion back together in the next braking zone.

Until today, Harley-Davidson’s Dark Custom line contained eight models. However, Dark Customs are more than just a selection of motorcycles. At the introduction of the Dark Custom Iron 883 and Forty-Eight, Marketing Manager Jen Hoyer positioned the line, thusly: “The Dark Custom, for us, it’s not just about the motorcycle. It’s about growing the sport of motorcycling.” With the unveiling of the 2016 Harley-Davidson Roadster the Dark Custom line gains a new member to tempt riders and potential riders, alike, into becoming members of the H-D fold.

Laaadeeeeez and Gennntlemennnn, standing before you are the three of the newest middleweight roadsters of the 2016 model year. All have family names steeped in motorcycling history, though only one can be said to use a truly historic design. The second is a ground-up remake with the classic lines of its family heritage, which is, in fact, almost visually identical but in a thoroughly modern package. The third, a sophomore model-year tweak to a new category of bikes begun just last year, seeking to indoctrinate a new generation of riders into its world-dominating marque. These three motorcycles share two other similarities: all are Twins – though all different – and all feature hipster-compatible fork gaiters.

If you’ve been salivating over Harley-Davidson’s Breakout since its CVO introduction in 2013, you’re in luck. After a year hiatus, the Breakout returns for 2016 in CVO form with a variety of changes (upgrades?), and for a price tag $800/$1,200 less than its predecessors ($26,499/$26,899 MYs 2013/2014 vs $25,699 MY 2016). There’s the standard Breakout for $18,799, but we’re going big, and when you go big you go CVO.

You really can’t keep it any more real than Harley’s new Design Director, Brad Richards, who honed his American iron (and aluminum) chops at Ford Trucks before making the move from Detroit to Milwaukee a year ago. We got the chance to sit down with him and ask a few questions last week when he was in town to show off Harley’s new Low Rider S.

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re big fans of ice racing motorcycles here on MO. For this week’s video, we offer stunt rider Lee Stuart from Winnipeg, Canada, drifting his Harley-Davidson Dyna on ice and snow.

Harley-Davidson doesn’t ask for much, says U.S. PR Manager Jen Hoyer, only to: “1. Lead in every market. 2. Grow the sport of motorcycling in the U.S., in part by growing the number of core customers and growing U.S. outreach at a faster rate. 3. Grow U.S. retail sales and grow international retail sales at a faster rate. 4. Grow revenue and grow earnings at a faster rate through 2020. 5. Outperform the S&P 500.”

We hear from customizers and parts manufacturers fairly frequently, but occasionally one catches our eye. That’s exactly what happened when we learned of Jack Lomaxx Handcrafted Customs. While this “one and a half-man company with a tiny budget” says it will customize and develop parts for any brand of motorcycle, designer Karsten Henkel has created an intriguing selection of custom V-Rods that we thought we’d share with our readers. In addition to the customs, Jack Lomaxx-branded parts are also available for V-Rods and Victorys plus a selection of universal-mount accessories.

We’re approaching the end of the year which means it’s time to look back at some of the top news stories in motorcycledom from 2015. The last 12 months saw a lot of ups and downs, and here’s to hoping there will be more of the former in 2016.

The thrill of drag racing is unlike any other in motorsport. In the pursuit of getting down the quarter-mile as quickly as possible, a mixture of skill and bravery are required. Of course machinery plays an important part as well. For former MOron Pete Brissette, he got the chance to rocket Harley-Davidson’s  VRXSE Screamin’ Eagle Destroyer down the drag strip en route to his NHRA license, which is required if you achieve a sub 10-second pass. However, the path to his NHRA license wasn’t a straight shot. He had to work his way up the ranks and progress through different stages of performance. Read his tale below about what it’s like to rocket oneself down the drag strip on a purpose-built drag racing motorcycle. And for more photos of Pete (and Sean) in all his glory, be sure to check out the photo gallery.

With the holidays around the way, thoughts are floating about what Santa would choose to ride, should he want to give Rudolph and his pals a day off. The answer, of course, is the La-Z-Boy on two wheels, Harley-Davidson’s Electra Glide Ultra Limited. This week we take a look back to the 2010 Electra Glide Ultra Limited, as experienced by E-i-C Kevin Duke.