The 2008 Crossbones

Harley-Davidson's Cross Bones is one of the Softail's new additions based on the pre-war bobbers.
Key features include:
An air-cooled, 1,584cc Twin Cam 96B powerplant that produces 87.9 ft-lbs of torque at 2,750 rpm
A six-speed Cruise Drive transmission
An adjustable sprung solo seat that sits as low as 26.6 inches
Straight shot exhaust with chrome slash-cut mufflers
A 200mm rear tire
Gloss Black cat-eye tank console with a new speedometer face
Weighing 737 lbs in "running order," the Harley-Davidson Softail Cross Bones isn't the nimblest of motorcycles, but its bobber styling cues and retro details effectively reinforce the nostalgic style that typifies the Harley-Davidson brand.
The Cross Bones boasts ape-hanger style handlebars, springer front suspension with leading link forks, and a considerable height of 49.4 inches.

Dave Burton
www.bargain-motors.com

Harley-Davidson Softail

THE SPRINGER SOFTAIL CLASSIC
The Harley-Davidson have designed the softail frameto look like the hardtail bikes of the past, while still accomadating the comfort of rear suspension. The shock absorbers are positioned along the axis of the motorcycle, smartly tucked away under the transmission.
There are several Harley-Davidson models with the Softail frame, including the Softail Standard, Custom, Springer Softail, Heritage Softail, Heritage Springer, Night Train, Deluxe, Deuce, and Fatboy. These motorcycles have the same engine, transmission and frame with the exception of the Deuce.The engines on these softail models arn't rubber mounted,as this led to more vibration.To compensate for this, current Softail models use a counterbalanced version of the Twin Cam engine instead of the regular Twin Cam engine used in the Touring and Dyna models
The Softail range is the only range of Harley-Davidson motorcycle that offers a choice of front suspensions within the range.

Dave Burton
www.bargain-motors.com

The Early 90's Harley's

In 1990 Haley Davidison introduced the "Sturgis" model,which had a dualbelt drive also with the introduction of the "Fat Boy" machine,Harley lead the market in the heavyweight (over 750 cc) division. At the time of the Fat Boy model introduction a story rapidly spread that its silver paint job and other features were inspired by the World War II American B-29 bomber.In 1994 the FXR frame was replaced with the Dyna frame,although it was revived briefly in 1999 and 2000 for special limited editions.
A Harley logo edition of the Ford F-150 was introduced in 1999 updating each model through to today.

Dave Burton
www.bargain-motors.com

Harley Davidson in the Early 80's

1982 Harley Davidson

1981 saw AMF selling the company to a group led by the grandson of the co-founder William A Davidson and Vaughn Beals for $80 million.
The US International Trade Commission imposed in 1983 a 45% tariff on imported bikes over 700 cc to protect Harley-Davidson,as they claimed the japanese were dunmping bikes in their country.
Rather than trying to match the Japanese, the new management deliberately exploited the "retro" appeal of the machines, building motorcycles that deliberately adopted the look and feel of their earlier machines and the subsequent customizations of owners of that era. Many components such as brakes, forks, shocks, carburetors, electrics and wheels were outsourced from foreign manufacturers and quality increased, technical improvements were made, and buyers slowly returned. To remain profitable Harley continues to increase the amount of overseas-made parts it uses, while being careful not to harm its valuable "American Made" image.

Dave Burton
www.bargain-motors.com