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NEW HARLEY-DAVIDSON® SOFTAIL® SLIM™ IS A CLEAN, OLD-SCHOOL CUSTOM

Stripped-Down, Narrow Styling with Less Chrome and Retro Details

MILWAUKEE, USA (Feb. 1, 2012) – Pare down a Harley-Davidson Softail motorcycle to its essential elements and you have the Slim. From its narrow rear end to its trimmed front fender, there’s simply less of the Slim; fewer covers, a solo seat, smaller wheels and tyres, and minimal chrome. Call it stripped. Call it old school. Call it lean and mean. What’s left is the elemental Softail profile and iconic Harley-Davidson style that recalls classic custom bobbers of the 1950s.

“It’s time to once again make the engine the design focal point of a motorcycle,” says Senior Designer Casey Ketterhagen, “so we put a Softail on a diet to get the proportions back in check. Scale down the rear with a narrow tyre and chopped fender and the heart of the bike, the motor, becomes the focus. We left a gap between the nose of the seat and tank so the rider can see the top of the motor. I like to be able to look down and see what’s moving me.”

To keep the rear of the motorcycle simple and clean, the Slim has combination stop/turn/tail lights. The rear fender struts are left uncovered, exposing the forged steel and fasteners. A thin formed-leather strap covers the fuel tank seam. The powertrain is finished with polished covers instead of chrome, and the black cylinders left unhighlighted. The FL front fender is trimmed to expose more of the tyre.

“My personal street bike doesn’t even have a front fender,” says Ketterhagen, “but unfortunately we can’t go that far on a production model. The Slim is intended to be a direct interpretation of home-built customs of the 1940s and 50s, and we used a number of components that evoke that era, beginning with a Hollywood handlebar.”

The Hollywood bar, identified by its wide bend and cross brace, was originally an accessory for pre-war Harley-Davidson models with a Springer® fork. The name may have been coined because owners of that era who used the cross-brace to mount lights and bags had “gone Hollywood” with excessive accessorisation. For the Slim, he chose a cross-braced bar finished in gloss black, with matching gloss black hand controls and louvered headlight nacelle. Other period styling cues include a gloss black “cat eye” tank console with a retro speedometer face, half-moon rider footboards, a oval air cleaner cover also finished in gloss black, and gloss black wheel rims and hubs. The solo seat shape is specific to the Slim, and the upholstery is finished in a tuck-and-roll pattern.

“The seat really gives you the feeling of sitting in the bike, rather than on it,” says Ketterhagen. “The bars are nice and low, too, so when you’re riding you have an unobstructed view forward, which reinforces the idea that this is a very elemental motorcycle, a real back-to-basics ride.”

A counter-balanced Twin Cam 103B™ engine is rigid-mounted within the frame, creating a solid connection between rider and the machine. The Softail chassis mimics the clean lines of a vintage hardtail frame, but utilises rear suspension control provided by coil-over shock absorbers mounted horizontally and out of sight within the frame rails. With the combination of a 650mm seat height and rider foot boards, the Slim comfortably fits a wide range of riders and offers light side-stand lift-off. A pull-back riser from Harley-Davidson Genuine Motor Accessories can be installed to move the handlebars back two inches without changing control cables and lines.

Key features of the 2012 Harley-Davidson® Softail® Slim™ include:

• Rigid-mounted, air-cooled, 1690 cc Twin Cam 103B™ counter-balanced engine with Automatic Compression Release (ACR) rated at 132Nm peak torque at 3250 rpm.
• Powertrain is finished in black powdercoat with polished covers.
• 6-Speed Cruise Drive™ Transmission.
• Chrome, over/under shotgun exhaust with slash-cut mufflers.
• Round Oval gloss black air cleaner cover.
• Classic 18.9 litre Fat Bob® fuel tank.
• Black cat eye console holds electronic speedometer with retro-style face.
• Dunlop 16-inch (MT90B16) front and rear (MU85B16) tyres.
• Steel Laced Black wheels.
• Hollywood handlebar with cross-brace
• Gloss black headlamp with chrome trim ring.
• Gloss black nacelle with punched louvers.
• Half-moon footboards with retro-style foot control pads.
• Chopped rear fender exposes rear tyre.
• Trimmed FL front fender.
• Combination stop/tail/turn rear lights.
• Solo seat with black tuck-and-roll vinyl cover.
• Forged gloss black rear fender struts.
• Gloss black oil tank.
• Color choices include Vivid Black, Denim Black, and Ember Red Sunglo.
• Security Package includes: Smart Security System with proximity-based, hands-free security fob and Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)

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NEW DYNA® SWITCHBACK IS A CUSTOM TOURING CONVERTIBLE

With Detachable Hard Bags and Windshield, Switchback is Two Bikes in One

MILWAUKEE (July 20, 2011) – The new Dyna® Switchback motorcycle from Harley-Davidson® is a quick-change artist. With its colour-matched hard saddlebags and a fork-mounted windshield in place, the Switchback is a custom touring motorcycle. But in seconds, the detachable saddlebags and quick-detach windshield can be removed without tools. Now the Switchback is a custom street cruiser with a gleaming headlamp nacelle, five-spoke cast-aluminum wheels and a mini-ape handlebar.

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HARLEY-DAVIDSON® SEVENTY-TWO™ REVIVES A LEAN LOOK

A New Narrow Sportster® in Sparkling Metal Flake Paint

MILWAUKEE, USA(Feb. 1, 2012) – The Harley-Davidson Seventy-Two motorcycle is a metal flake dream machine, a Sportster on a trip back to the days when the cool kids rode a Sting-Ray and the big boys parked choppers in a row on the curb. Those motorcycles were long and lean; candy-apple color and gleaming chrome shimmering in hazy summer sunlight. From its Hard Candy Big Red Flake paint and ape bars to its narrow whitewall tyres, the Seventy-Two is a respectful nod to that era, and to the influence of the custom culture that still percolates today along Whittier Boulevard, the legendary cruising street in East Los Angeles also known as Route 72. A new generation of custom builder is tapping into that era and making a fresh statement, not just in California but in garages across the country, even around the world.

“In creating the Seventy-Two, we were also inspired by the vibe of the early chopper era,” says Frank Savage, Harley-Davidson Manager of Industrial Design. “Those bikes were colorful and chromed, but also narrow and stripped down to the essentials. You look at period examples and they are almost as simple as a bicycle. It’s a custom style that’s very particular to America and that California scene.”

Metal flake, an iconic design element of the ‘70s, appeared in everything from dune buggy gel coat to vinyl diner upholstery, and on custom motorcycles. Harley-Davidson brings the sparkle back on the Seventy-Two with Hard Candy Big Red Flake paint. This new finish is created by applying a black base coat, followed by a polyurethane system that carries hexagon-shaped flakes that are more than seven times the diameter of metalflake used in typical production paint. Each flake is coated with a thin aluminum film and then tinted red. Four applications of clear coat, combined with hand-sanding, create a smooth finish over the flakes.

“The final touch to the Hard Candy Big Red Flake paint is a logo on the tank top and pinstripe scallop details on both fenders,” says Savage. “Each was originally created by hand, and we recreated that art in a decal for production, so they still have the appearance of hand-applied graphics in that they are not exactly perfect. The graphics are then covered with a final clear coat application.”

A solo seat leaves much of the chopped rear fender – and more of that paint – exposed on the Seventy-Two. The powertrain is finished in Grey powdercoat with chrome covers and a new round air cleaner with a dished cover. A classic Sportster 7.9 litres “peanut” fuel tank adds a final period touch to the motorcycle.

Key features of the 2012 Harley-Davidson® Seventy-Two™ include:

• Air-cooled Evolution™ 1200cc V-Twin engine with Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI), rated at 96Nm peak torque at 3500 rpm.
• Powertrain is finished in Gray powdercoat with Chrome covers.
• Color choices include Hard Candy Big Red Flake with period pinstripe details on fenders and fuel tank, Denim Black, and Big Blue Pearl.
• Classic 7.9 litre peanut fuel tank.
• Dunlop white side wall 21-inch (MH90-21) front and 16-inch (150/80B16) rear tyres.
• Steel Laced Chrome wheels.
• Ten-inch mini-ape handlebars mounted on a two-inch high riser.
• Dished round air cleaner cover with center screw mount; eight-inch diameter.
• Chopped rear fender exposes rear tyre.
• Dual staggered exhaust with chrome mufflers.
• Solo seat with black textured vinyl cover.
• Handlebar-mounted speedometer with chrome cup.
• Chrome rear fender struts.
• Chrome coil-over pre-load adjustable rear shocks.
• Forward foot controls.

10 YEARS AFTER THE REVOLUTION, V-ROD® POWERS ONWARD

V-Rod® 10th Anniversary Edition and Updated Night Rod® Special Launched for 2012

MILWAUKEE (July 20, 2011) – Harley-Davidson celebrates a decade of high-octane performance with the V-Rod® 10th Anniversary Edition motorcycle, one of three models in a 2012 V-Rod line that also includes an updated Night Rod® Special and the V-Rod Muscle®. Introduced as a 2002 model, the original V-Rod led a new era of Harley-Davidson performance. Its 1130cc 60-degree Revolution® V-Twin engine was the first Harley-Davidson production engine equipped with overhead cam shafts and liquid cooling, and came with an high-winding 9000-RPM redline. Inspired by drag-racing bikes and monster-motor customs, the V-Rod debuted with aluminum disc wheels, a raked out chassis and anodized aluminum bodywork, a new styling direction for Harley-Davidson.

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