Remembering the Death of the Dyna

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry. You’ll pop a wheelie.

As hair metal purveyors Cinderella once told us, “you don’t know what you got, ’til it’s gone.” Nowhere is that statement more true than in the case of the Harley-Davidson Dyna, which was axed in 2018 in favor of the (admittedly excellent) new Softail. While the intermediate Dyna slotted in nicely between the smaller, nimbler Sportster and the slightly more cruiser-oriented Softail, the excellent new Sportster platform rendered it obsolete – or, that’s what the suits in Milwaukee would tell you, at least.

In this humorously tongue-in-cheek video by Matt Laidlaw, he laments the death of the Dyna with an irreverent sense of humor. The Dyna was a great platform beloved by its fans, and it coexisted peacefully alongside the Softail for many years. However, the 2018 Softail is superior to both in nearly every way. Both statements can be true at the same time, and you can believe both at the same time. You can also make a funny YouTube video with Dragonball Z clips and Downfall parodies about the whole situation like Matt did.

Past, Present, Future

It’s an entertaining look back at how people felt about the news at the time. I was covering the daily news for H-D Forums at the time, and I remember that time well. My first Harley experience was in the back of my brother-in-law’s FXDWG when I was a kid, so I always had a soft spot for these bikes. I try to write about them whenever I can, and for his part, my editor is pretty accommodating.

The irony of course, was that almost a decade earlier, the “Dyna Bro” culture had begun to grow organically. While the news media at large aired concerns over Harley-Davidson’s failure to attract new riders, both the media and The Motor Company failed to acknowledge the Harley youth culture right in front of them.

Or, perhaps, they did. The 2018 Softail was a revolutionary bike to be sure. You’d be hard-pressed to find a Harley-Davidson enthusiast under the age of 40 who doesn’t think they’re great.  While I miss the Dyna, I’m an even bigger fan of its replacement. The Dyna is dead. Long live the Dyna.

Cameron Vanderhorst

Cam VanDerHorst has been a contributor to Internet Brands' Auto Group sites for over three years, with his byline appearing on Ford Truck Enthusiasts, Corvette Forum, JK Forum, and Harley-Davidson Forums, among others. In that time, he's also contributed to Autoweek, The Drive, and Scale Auto Magazine.

He bought his first car at age 14 -- a 1978 Ford Mustang II -- and since then he’s amassed an impressive and diverse collection of cars, trucks, and motorcycles, including a 1996 Ford Mustang SVT Mystic Cobra (#683) and a classic air-cooled Porsche 911.

In addition to writing about cars and wrenching on them in his spare time, he enjoys playing music (drums and ukulele), building model cars, and tending to his chickens.

You can follow Cam, his cars, his bikes, and his chickens at @camvanderhorst on Instagram.

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