My Thoughts 2018
 

This morning when my girl friend read to me off the 'puter that Harley had combined the Softail & Dyna models into one... my reply was, Hahaha Yeah Right! Then as I was reading the same article as she all I could think was "Those No Good M***ER F@@@@rs!" " How Could They?"

After I calmed down I realized that the Motor Company had done what most of us here on the Dyna page have been doing for years. We make them Faster, upgrade the Suspension and Brakes to create a bike each of us desire.

Putting aside all the Dyna vs Softail banter.... this new (to Harley) monoshock design, lighter weight , more power, more cornering clearance etc, etc.. should make this the best performance enthusiast Harley ever.

Harley had to do something to stay relevant in today's market and get the new generation interested in Our Brand... Maybe this will help. If it does I'm all for it.

For all the purists out there that think H-D sold their soul... well I can relate. All the FXR guys thought the same thing years ago. But you know, you guys are still building the FXR's into bikes that are better than they ever were and you cant swing a dead can without hitting at least 5 or 6 used Dynas on the first page of Craigs List. So we will have plenty of Real Harley's to turn into our latest visions for years to come.

As far as the looks of the new bikes.... I'm Diggin most of it, some of it not so much. (See Fat Boy headlight) Meh...
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hdf...dd857356a5.jpg


I love my FatBob and not gettin rid of it, and the new model is defiantly growin on me. But if ya squint real hard and look at both bikes I think with about $10,000 more in upgrades I might be able to perform as good as the new Fat Bob. Ha ha ha.....just my opinion guys. Thanks for readin..


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hdf...e36f59e6ae.jpg

Well I will say this. I love the new Fatboy and I actually like the Fatbob. Which says a lot for the new Fatbob because I hated that bike before. Probably going to pick up a new 2018 Fatboy.

With that said they destroyed the Street bob. It looks horrible and I don't like the modern twist on the Deluxe or the super old school syle Harleys. The Fatboy always was modern to me so improving on that only made it better. Not so much the others.

yeah , weird there's gonna be no more Dyna's . and i thought that keeping the names for the new Softail versions was a bit weird . then i started actually looking at the bikes on the Harley website and IF you pull off the exhaust and put something decent looking on there (and who isn't going to do that as soon as they can ?) then you have a good looking motorcycle .
but damn those exhausts are the ugliest ever !
it actually took me a few minutes to realize that i hadn't noticed the radiator on the new bikes and had to go back for a second look . they did a good job of hiding it between the forks .

now all that said , if i buy a bike this year it will be either a Heritage Classic , or a Deluxe with bags , or a Road King . depending on test rides to see what i'm most comfortable with . but if i was going for stripped down the Low Rider would be top of my list .

across the board harley is stream lining production cutting some cost and not bringing the price down.
however i would like to take a spin on the fat bob 114

Dont like the new line

Yes, faster, lighter and more rigid. But better?
it depends.
There was a time that vibration was better. Harley used to say " better feel". Do these feel better? Is a smoother, closer to metric, look and feel better?

I argue that the goal was mainly cutting costs. Read the news. They are struggling to stay afloat. Sales are down. They r cutting jobs.
sharing platforms is the oldest way of saving on production costs, implemented by car makers since ever.

Harley, the way we know it, is dying. It has no cool factor when side by side with a BMW or a Ducati. They are trying to bring in younger buyers but this wont do the trick. At least not quickly enogh. They need a rebranding or a take over ( Ducati is in talks). I expect more downsizing ahead, for HD brand.

If you look at the Fatbob without prejudice you will see that it is actually a 21st Century FXR, it is what the FXR would be today is they had kept evolving it....good work H-D, I think you are going to get a whole new generation of customers!

The other way round mate, Harley are looking at buying Ducati....

I think the combining of platforms is the first step towards consolidating models. I'll bet that next year they'll cut a few models from the line entirely so that they have a smaller "menu". It's a pretty common (and relatively intelligent) tactic when dealing with shrinking market share. Probably also worthwhile considering the amount of modifications that so many folks make to their bikes. If they can shrink the model line to better suit the client base then go for it.

I'm still adapting to the new looks, they seem kind of stubby in images on my computer. I agree that they've destroyed the Street Bob, but then again it was always touted as a "blank canvas" even on their own website. I'm already starting to give a few of them a second look and liking them a bit more.

I'm sure I'll have fun with a demo just for giggles and see how performance goes.

How many threads are we gonna have on the same topic? I personally don't like the new models but that's just me. You can rationalize it any way you want but they look like metric bikes and they just don't have that Harley look. We all knew this was comin and there's nothing we can do but i will not buy one. It just isn't the style I like and my lrs is. Plus I've already got a 117 so going down to a 107/114 motor that I'm still hearing significantly negative reviews about just doesn't make sense. I feel HD should have tried releasing one or two of these models to see how they sell instead of replacing all Dyna and sportsters and forcing us to take it or leave it. I for one am not a fan of the softail frame on everything. I like softails but it's just not the best "fit" for me.