#harley-davidson

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.

Hitting the road (or trail) on a motorcycle can make you feel like a modern day cowboy chasing the sun into a horizon of new experiences and foreign places. I think just about every motorcyclist will agree with me in saying that there’s an air of adventure that is inherently built into every bike. Whether it’s on or off-road, motorcycles can take you places in a way other vehicles cannot.

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.

Harley-Davidson is America’s most legendary and iconic motorcycle company. For most Harley owners, it’s more than just a form of transportation – it’s a lifestyle. They’re quick to claim that there is something about riding a Harley-Davidson that’s unlike riding any other brand. Is it the rumbling exhaust note? Is it the “lobe-y”, “cammed” lope at idle that shakes the entire bike? Or is it the old school, rebellious, lack of a certain refinement attitude and mystique that is so deeply rooted in Harley-Davidson’s rich history? The answer for many is D: All of the above.

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?

We at MO test the full gamut of motorcycles from cruisers to sportbikes and everything in between. While we are sad to see any relatively long-standing motorcycle model line vanish from production, we think the backlash regarding Harley-Davidson ending the Dyna line has gotten a bit ridiculous, just like the video below. Take a break out of your busy day for a couple of laughs with the video below, but if you’re at work, put in some headphones and prepare for some choice words from one of the most hated men in history.

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.

When Harley-Davidson released its updated 2017 touring line with the new Milwaukee-Eight engine, it didn’t take any insider information to figure out that the new powerplant would eventually propel all of Harley’s Big Twins. Well, that time has arrived with the announcement of the Motor Company’s 2018 model lineup. While the engine upgrade itself isn’t much of a surprise, the way HD chose to craft an all-new Big Twin chassis around the Milwaukee-Eight is huge news. We’ll let Paul James, Manager, Product Portfolio for Harley-Davidson explain:

Touring motorcycles with their plethora of luxury features tend to be the flagship models for manufacturers because touring riders demand comfort, handling, big power, weather protection, and storage space – and they’re willing to pay for it. Thanks to the Project Rushmore upgrades first seen in the 2014 model year, the ‘Glides have delivered first-class accommodations and the technological features touring riders expect. Just take a look at the Boom! infotainment system and the LED Daymaker headlight. Be it with a frame-mounted fairing as with the Road Glide or a fairing-mounted one on the Electra Glides (among others), the Harley-Davidson touring line commanded a large portion of the luxury touring market. Still, the Twin Cam engine had begun to show its age.

We have seen many reports recently about millennials not being interested in motorcycling. Around the same time, we saw Harley-Davidson report a 5.7% decline in sales numbers in the first quarter of 2017. The Motor Company cited the aging population of baby-boomers, H-D’s core customer, and the struggle to replace them.

The Motorcycle.com staffers and their work-release crew of not-yet-paroled freelancers have been around the block, done some things, and seen what can’t be unseen, but never in anyone’s memory have they tasted Harley-Davidson flavored liquor. Is this another attempt by the Motor Company to trademark the un-markable? Rather than a distinctive syncopated sound, was the factory trying to brand an exclusive taste? The taste of old motor parts soaked in gin?

According to Reuters, the list of possible suitors for the rumored  Ducati sale has grown to include the Benetton family in an effort to return the Italian manufacturer’s ownership to Italy. Among the bids that Volkswagen has received for the Italian marque, Edition Holding (the Benetton family’s investment firm) has reportedly made a $1.2 billion offer. Included in the companies supposedly vying for  Ducati, readers may be interested to learn that Bain Capital (which owns a piece of Can-Am parent BRP), Eicher Motors (the company that controls Royal Enfield) and Polaris Industries (parent company of  Indian Motorcycle) are supposedly in the bidding along with, most notably,  Harley-Davidson. However, the inclusion of HD in this list is now in doubt, as Reuters states that the high price tag may have prompted The Motor Company to withdraw from bidding. 

Let’s be honest, if most of us managed to scrape our rear fender on the ground, it’s probably because something went terribly wrong with our wheelie. When you’re Harley stuntman Buddy Suttle, however, that’s just par for the course. We just wish riders would perform motorcycle stunts on a closed course, not on the open road. Full-coverage apparel would also be appropriate.