The Five All-Time Most Important Harleys
Road Captain
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 570
Likes: 0
From: Central IL
Most brilliant piece of journalism I've ever read. Give the man a 15% raise and an expense account pronto!
Oh, you meant serious replies. Well.... that's one man's opinion. Top 5 all time would be an endless debate with no possible real world resolutions. Article was easy to read and entertaining.
Bones
Oh, you meant serious replies. Well.... that's one man's opinion. Top 5 all time would be an endless debate with no possible real world resolutions. Article was easy to read and entertaining.
Bones
Good choices, some people say the Fat Boy, why?
It was not an important milestone in the development of the Harley Davidson line.
Culturally, maybe? Mechanically, not even close.
The most important bike there, was, and is rightly so, the 1936 61" OHV. They weren't called Knuckleheads until about '39 or later I believe.
There were so many improvements on the 61's over the Flatheads, mechanically and astetically. Most of the styling cues on the 61's are still found today.
Good write up.
It was not an important milestone in the development of the Harley Davidson line.
Culturally, maybe? Mechanically, not even close.
The most important bike there, was, and is rightly so, the 1936 61" OHV. They weren't called Knuckleheads until about '39 or later I believe.
There were so many improvements on the 61's over the Flatheads, mechanically and astetically. Most of the styling cues on the 61's are still found today.
Good write up.
Road Captain
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 593
Likes: 4
From:
I enjoyed the article and agree with all of the bikes on the list, but since I am only 45 years old, my list of bikes during my life would be different. We can't all agree on what were the most important 5 ever, so no need arguing. Nice article, we need more like that one.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,832
Likes: 127
From: Coastal Carolina
Interesting article and good arguments for the selections.
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Novice
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
From: San Diego
Top 5 Harleys...
Well, I thought your article was a good mix of the major transitional models and your reasoning is good as well.
I totally agree that the pre-39' 61" OHV bikes are THE standard for Harley. Innovative, stylish, and functional. A bikers bike, all the way around.
The WLA made for the military during WWII kept Harley in the fore-front and also helped to create many of the reliability and safety minded features we still have on todays bikes. Crash bars, suspension upgrades, durability, and most of all the American GI. Who doesn't admire the sight of our GI's riding on OD Green Hogs? The fact that these bikes ended up outnumbering the Jeep as the Army's general purpose vehicle also ushered in the modern biker era once the GI's came home.
I would have had to add the 77 FX Low to the mix as some of the others have mentioned. Best selling bike of its time. I consider this bike another example of a "bikers bike." As well, it became the base model for some of the most outrageous customs ever. Every time I think "chopper" I am thinking of this bike with a long raked springer front end and a tall sissy bar sticking up from the rear fender. If you are gonna have a shovel on the list, this is the one.
I wouldn't be caught dead on one, but you know the V-Rod is quite a milestone. Only time will tell where HDMC takes this one. I saw a documentary on the making of these bikes, and the most amazing thing to me was the way they used both the old time traditional ways of design as well as the most advanced technologies in engineering.
Just a few opinions from the peanut gallery...
I totally agree that the pre-39' 61" OHV bikes are THE standard for Harley. Innovative, stylish, and functional. A bikers bike, all the way around.
The WLA made for the military during WWII kept Harley in the fore-front and also helped to create many of the reliability and safety minded features we still have on todays bikes. Crash bars, suspension upgrades, durability, and most of all the American GI. Who doesn't admire the sight of our GI's riding on OD Green Hogs? The fact that these bikes ended up outnumbering the Jeep as the Army's general purpose vehicle also ushered in the modern biker era once the GI's came home.
I would have had to add the 77 FX Low to the mix as some of the others have mentioned. Best selling bike of its time. I consider this bike another example of a "bikers bike." As well, it became the base model for some of the most outrageous customs ever. Every time I think "chopper" I am thinking of this bike with a long raked springer front end and a tall sissy bar sticking up from the rear fender. If you are gonna have a shovel on the list, this is the one.
I wouldn't be caught dead on one, but you know the V-Rod is quite a milestone. Only time will tell where HDMC takes this one. I saw a documentary on the making of these bikes, and the most amazing thing to me was the way they used both the old time traditional ways of design as well as the most advanced technologies in engineering.
Just a few opinions from the peanut gallery...