#My2018

The big news is the new FTR1200 Indian revealed last week; the bigger news is how close to production-ready it looks, complete with lights and carbon-fiber bodywork, which may have to give way to plastic on a real production version. Indian’s Gary Gray says they built it to see what the public reaction would be, but I think the public had already reacted as soon as they built the FTR750 race bike, which was wildly successful. The Wrecking Crew was on hand to pull the cover off the “concept” bike.

Today, Zero Motorcycles announced its 2018 model line, and while the lineup remains unchanged from a model name standpoint, that doesn’t mean the electric motorcycle company has been sitting still.

I’ll go ahead and start with this: I’ve never been a fan of the Low Rider. Clearly that puts me at odds with tons of Harley-Davidson buyers. The Low Rider has been popular with both customizers and riders who prefer a more compact riding position (read shorter). I am neither. With this in mind, I’ll dive into what my time with the 2018 Harley-Davidson Low Rider was like.

By now, most motorcyclists have learned of the big changes in the Harley-Davidson Softail line, how it has swallowed its Dyna siblings, added the Milwaukee-Eight engine, and been reborn as a modern interpretation of a cruiser. However, perhaps no other manufacturer is more aware of the weight of a marque’s history than Harley. Which explains why the designers at the Motor Company expended so much effort in getting the classic models like the 2018 Harley-Davidson Deluxe right. They knew that if they were able to modernize the more classically styled models, they could take some liberties with the bikes where they wanted to push the envelope. The Deluxe provides a prime example of an updated Softail that carries over the lines of the previous generation while still becoming a thoroughly modern cruiser.

In all the hoorah over the new Softail line, many riders may have missed the announcement of the Harley-Davidson touring lineup for 2018. Although there weren’t many changes to the standard touring models which had a major revamp last year, the CVO (Custom Vehicle Operations) models, which always have to stay a couple steps ahead of the lesser machinery, did receive a few alterations for the upcoming model year. Fortunately, we got our hands on a 2018 Harley-Davidson CVO Street Glide to see how those changes – though largely cosmetic (with two notable exceptions) – shake out.

Harley-Davidson’s Custom Vehicle Operations (CVO) touring models are the top-shelf factory customs of the Glide family (Street Glide, Road Glide, and Limited) offered by Motor Company to what they call their “alpha” customers. Alphas are the customers who want to attract attention to themselves. They want to have the very best and frequently use the CVO models as their leaping off point for their own accessorizing/customizing efforts. Given the top dog status of the CVO models, Harley’s designers always give the next model year’s offerings something to make them different from any previous Harley. Let’s take a tour of what makes the 2018 Harley-Davidson CVO line special.

On August 22, 2017, Harley-Davidson turned the motorcycling world on its ear by announcing that it had scrapped the entire Dyna line of motorcycles and rolled it into a completely revamped Softail line. When the dust settled, eight new Softails – four of them available with the buyer’s choice of a Millwaukee-Eight 107 or optional 114 engine – stood as the heart of a completely new cruiser lineup. The names of the Softails were carryovers from the previous generation, and for the most part, the new models were easily distinguishable as their previous generation’s namesakes. In the case of the 2018 Fat Bob, this wasn’t necessarily a given. Yes, once you knew you were looking at the new Fat Bob, it made sense, but at first glance, the 2018 Fat Bob elicits wows – followed by what the hell is that?

The changes made in the 2018 Harley-Davidson Softail line were so numerous we couldn’t fit them in one article! To read about the hows and whys of the changes, check out “ Harley-Davidson Introduces All New 2018 Softail Line.” This article is strictly an adjunct to that text which is intended to let you know what happened to each individual member of the completely revamped Softail line. Strap on your helmet; this is gonna be quite a ride.

Today MV Agusta announced its 2018 model updates with changes to meet the more stringent Euro 4 environmental certification. The Italian manufacturer has clearly invested a ton of time, effort, and capital into the changes since it claims a 50% reduction in exhaust gas emissions and a 48% reduction in noise compared to the Euro 3 regulations. MV claims that it maintains the performance-oriented character of the models despite the previously mentioned mandated reductions.