For 30 years now, the Motor Company's ad agency has been Carmichael Lynch based in Minneapolis. The agency's copywriters churn out consistently effective advertising to promote the mystique and the image of the Harley brand. One recent ad that we especially liked is shown above.
Screw it, let's ride!
The Harley-Davidson XR1200 Sportster, previously sold only in Europe, will be available shortly in America. Watch for the announcement and media blitz starting on December 1. Consider it an early Christmas present from the Motor Company.
The newest member of the Sportster family was inspired by the legendary XR750, the most successful American dirt track racing motorcycle of all time. The XR750 earned the Number One plate in an unprecedented 26 AMA flat track seasons. In fact, as a tribute to the XR750, there will be a pre-sale of only 750 XR1200 models from December 1 to December 15.
If you've been hoping and waiting for an all-American sportbike, here's your chance, provided you hurry to the Chester family of Harley-Davidson dealerships. Click here for locations in Arizona, Idaho and Wyoming.
Five days of parties and parades, concerts and factory tours, demo rides and other goings on are about the start in Milwaukee, the birthplace and home of Harley-Davidson. It's the 105th anniversary celebration.
Deb and Trav Metcalfe are two riders form Chester's Harley-Davidson participating in the celebrations. Here's Deb's report:
The 105th was great. Many folks said more people came for the 105th versus the 100th. The highlight was participating in the parade on Sunday. We arrived at the staging area (photo below) at 7 a.m. along with the 7,500 other participants. As we started the parade route, it hit us: The citizens of Milwaukee love Harley-Davidson! Many were holding signs that welcomed us home and thanked us for their jobs. Wow, this lifestyle affects people many different ways!
Trav put on a total of 10,600 miles in two months on his 2008 Electra Glide Ultra. After meeting up with him in Sturgis, we rode to North Dakota, Minnesota, Ontario, Quebec, Michigan and Wisconsin before heading home. I racked up 7,200 miles in a month on my 2005 Screamin' Eagle Electra Glide.
Interestingly, not everyone on the planet believes 1903 is the correct date to celebrate. The Motor Company certainly does, but others believe otherwise, most notably Herbert Wagner, author of At The Creation: Myth, Reality and the Origin of the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle 1901-1909.
The year 1901 often is stated as the true beginning as that's when 21-year-old William S. Harley drew up plans for a small engine that displaced 7.07 cubic inches (116 cc) and had four-inch flywheels. The engine was designed for use in a pedal-bicycle frame.
The first Harleys powered by V-twin engines with the pistons placed at a 45-degree angle appeared in 1909. The engine design, which is covered under several United States patents, produces the signature sound of the Harley-Davidson power plant.
The crankshaft has a single pin, and both pistons are connected to this pin through their connecting rods. This design causes the pistons not to fire at even intervals. The V-twin runs like this: The first piston fires. Then, the other piston fires at 315 degrees into the stroke. There is a 405-degree gap until . . . the first piston fires again. This give the Harley-Davidson V-twin its unique pop-pop . . . pop-pop . . . pop-pop sound that some have described as "One potato, two potato, three potato . . ."
The Motor Copmany is inviting people worldwide to become a part of the Harley-Davidson Museum family through its new membership program.
Opening its doors in July 2008, the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee is offering several membership levels, and those who join the Museum by June 1, 2008 will be invited to a pre-grand opening preview of the Museum, subject to capacity. All who have signed up in 2008 will forever be known as "Founding Members."
Harley-Davidson Museum members will receive exclusive benefits and privileges reserved for those who want access to the back roads of the Harley-Davidson experience.
Just as riders have many route options, the Museum is offering five Membership levels to create the best ride for its new members. Memberships start as low as $40 annually, and each was created to meet the needs of customers, whether they are from Milwaukee or Milan.
The new
Harley-Davidson FLSTSB Softail Cross Bones cuts the aggressive profile
of an authentic custom bobber, but with some dark twists that deliver a
wickedly fun and emotional riding experience, says our man inside the Motor Company.
With the retro look of a Springer front end and other post-war era Bobber styling cues like a sprung solo seat, half-round rider footboards, gloss-black round air cleaner cover and chopped front fender, the Softail Cross Bones rides with a black and polished Twin Cam 96B powertrain, 6-speed Cruise Drive transmission and truly unique Softail suspension.
"Only Harley-Davidson could do this bike," said Bill Davidson, Harley-Davidson Vice-President, Core Customer Marketing. "It's a motorcycle inspired as much by our early Knuckles and Pans, as by our desire to deliver innovative technology and content to make the ride today as magical and transforming as only a Harley-Davidson can. Cross Bones is a bike that makes me want to strap a blanket across the handle bar, hit the campgrounds on my next road trip and get totally in touch with what's right about this land."
As the latest of Dark Customs from Harley, Cross Bones melds stripped and chopped custom creativity with rough and raw finishes. Soul mates of the Cross Bones include the Nightster, Night Train, Night Rod Special, Fat Bob and Street Bob.
As each Harley-Davidson Softail motorcycle declares its styling independence with exclusive components and inspired craftsmanship, the Cross Bones is a bold addition to an already free-spirited family. Many features of the Cross Bones and other Softails are reminiscent of restless riders of the past, whose defiant attitude resonates with those who march to their own beat in any generation.
The first Cross Bones to arrive in the showrooms of the Chester family of Harley-Davidson dealerships sold immediately. Additional inventory is expected soon, so plan to stop by. Bring your checkbook.
The Softail name originates from its rear suspension design, with a swingarm section that honors the lines of a vintage rigid frame, while delivering a smooth, comfortable ride. Hidden horizontal coil-over rear shock absorbers are strategically mounted out-of-sight below the powertrain. The counter-balanced Twin Cam 96B powertrain is rigid-mounted in the Softail frame to give the rider a core connection to the motorcycle. Harley-Davidson Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI) is standard on all Softail models, as is the 6-speed Cruise Drive transmission with its accommodating clutch lever effort.
The Softail Cross Bones takes on the road with a rebellious expression accentuated by a gloss-black painted Springer front end with chrome springs, black bucket headlamp and black mini ape-hanger style handlebar. While the chopped front fender exposes more of the front wheel, a Bobtail fender does the same for the wide 200 mm rear tire. Tires with matching treads ride on steel-laced wheels with gloss-black painted rims.
The sprung solo seat, gloss black round air cleaner cover and old-style half-round rider footboards form a nostalgic focal point of the Cross Bones, recalling images of a classic era on this contemporary motorcycle. With two coiled springs underneath, the adjustable two-position Cross Bones seat rides in modern comfort at a height of 26.6 inches. A distinctive Softail horseshoe-shaped oil tank with the time-honored Harley-Davidson patent badge is located below the seat.
An authentically designed five-gallon fuel tank sports a gloss black "cat-eye" styled console with accessible ignition switch and a new speedometer face. A hand-laced leather tank panel on the console compliments the sprung solo seat. A straight shot exhaust system with chrome slash-cut mufflers provides optimum performance and stands out in contrast to the Cross Bones' many darker components.
The FLSTSB Cross Bones is available in premium custom graphics with wicked striping and paint featuring new Dark Blue Pearl, Dark Blue Denim, as well as Vivid Black, Black Denim, Olive Pearl and Pewter Denim.
FLSTSB Cross Bones features:
The newest Softail was announced at the Harley-Davidson winter dealer meeting in San Antonio, Texas, a couple of weeks back.
