Have the 2018 Product Planning Folks at Harley Lost Their Minds?
Am I just reacting like a fan does when their favorite band releases a new album and it doesn’t sound anything like the old favorites — but the tunes grow to become new favorites? Only time will tell.
Willie G. Davidson would be spinning in his grave if he could see the all-new and improved 2018 Harley-Davidson Softail big twin lineup. Since he isn’t dead and this might kill him, perhaps nobody should tell him about it? If you didn’t already read the recent announcement, for 2018, all non-touring big twins are officially Softails, in a better, stronger, lighter frame, with the more powerful Milwaukee Eight motor, and an oil radiator hidden between the frame tubes. That isn’t the problem. Who wouldn’t want a better bike?
Looking over the all-new big-twin lineup for next year, it doesn’t take long to see that there is a new head of design at the motor company. The new-for-2018 bikes look like knock-offs. These motorcycles look like the Harleys you’d see in video games, anonymized just enough to keep lawyers at bay. Although it is painful to admit, suddenly, the all-new Indians from Polaris look more authentic than the Harleys from Harley. In an effort to show the world how modern they can be, Harley has changed iconic details that made the brand what it is, like the newly flattened and smooshed headlight seen on the Fat Boy. The various Art Deco design nacelles over the new models, even the recent “freight train” and “day maker” headlights had a traditional shape, but now it looks like a tiny, front-load washing machine.
All of the new Softails feature LED headlights (and spotlights), which provide more light than conventional lights, but the styling is a misfire, and this is indicative of the whole line. The new single-shock frame is lighter and stiffer than the old one used on the Dyna, with more travel for a better ride, and better handling.
It’s great Harley’s trying to be dynamically better, but you aren’t catching millennial riders with expensive bikes that don’t look authentic but are slightly less cumbersome.
The new Milwaukee Eight makes more power (though we don’t know how much because Harley is too cool for horsepower figures) and the bikes are faster. How much faster? Three bike lengths! But you know what is even faster and better handling than all of these new bikes? Just about any entry-level Japanese sportbike or standard (and a lot of their cruisers). It is great that the motor company is trying to be dynamically better, but you aren’t catching millennial riders with expensive bikes that don’t look authentic but are slightly less slow and cumbersome.
Most of the lineup looks pretty okay in profile, and you can tell they sweated the details from that angle. But from the front, they are all awkward. The worst of the bunch is the Fat Bob pictured above. Instead of a pair of small bullet headlights, there is now a single squared-off oval, looking like a glowing robot eye. Then for no apparent reason other than to be different, they finished the exhaust system in what appears to be “already rusted,” though they claim it’s bronze. The new bikes offer several different ride heights, but without the twin shocks out back, the gap between fender and tire looks huge (at least without a rider on them).
Perhaps this is the biggest issue – Every Harley used to be as great to look at parked in your garage as it was to ride. Now, they have traded some of the former for more of the latter.
What boggles my mind though, is the other reason they claim to have made all these changes: Economics. According to management, these new bikes are less expensive for Harley to make, with simpler frames and more commonality of parts. That’s great, Harley!
Every Harley used to be as great to look at parked in your garage as it was to ride. Now, they have traded some of the former for more of the latter.
So, how much can we expect to save on the 2018 bikes compared to the 2017 if they are so much less expensive to produce? You don’t see VW bragging about how much money they are saving with all the parts commonality between Bentley, Audi, and the rest of their line do you? If there is a luxury brand of motorcycles, Harley-Davidson is it.
The pseudo-hardtail style of the Softail has always bothered me because it seemed less authentic, even while trying to look more traditional. There was no mistaking the authenticity of a Dyna, with the twin shock look that stretched back to the 1958 Duo-Glide, or at least to the 1971 Super Glide. Does it make any sense at all to try to draw in younger buyers with a look that hearkens back to an even earlier bike? One of the reasons Dynas (and real hardtails) have been popular is that they are easier to modify than the Softail, because it is a simpler chassis design. Will these new Softails, with their much more holistic design, be popular with custom builders? Or will they find that the bikes are too much all of one piece, which means that changing one simple thing will require a cascade of changes throughout the bike?
Perhaps the biggest question now is: Who is going to be the first to market with a Dyna-style frame that is sized and built to hold a Milwaukee Eight motor? To me, that seems like a no brainer. Dyna style and handling, with Milwaukee Eight power, stripped down with nothing extraneous on it: a Super-Duper Glide.
This lineup has the hallmark of a new guy changing things just to show off and make himself seen, like when Bangle took over at BMW and gave them all big butts.
These are the first new bikes from the new head of design, Brad Richards, who replaced Willie G. after more than 40 years of running things, and it sure shows. This lineup has the hallmark of a new guy changing things just to show off and make himself seen, like when Bangle took over at BMW and gave them all big butts. Will the new Richards style become accepted the way the Bangle Butt did? Am I just reacting like a fan does when their favorite band releases a new album of material and it doesn’t sound anything like the old favorites — but the tunes grow to become new favorites? Only time will tell.
You have to wonder why they didn’t design a new mono-shock FL touring chassis while they were at it. The dual shocks (that no one can see) on those bikes still cutting into saddle bag space makes no sense at all.
