New 2023 Harley-Davidson Lineup

What will the MoCo's 120th Anniversary year bring us, and what will it take away?

It's that time again, folks... Harley-Davidson has reached another year in business and, under the latest management team, it looks like we are in for some new models being added, and some classic favorites being taken away.

I'm not going to waste time by speculating on what may be introduced on January 18th, nor am I going to speculate on what we may gain or lose throughout this year. I will, however, look at what we currently know and I'll offer my thoughts on that. Let's get right to it...

The death of the Sportster

Now, I know that H-D has continued the Sportster lineage with the new water-cooled RevMax powered models, but we all know these new bikes are Sportys only in name- they share nothing with their predecessors. The Sportster as we know it, is dead for 2023. The EPA has finally won another round in their fight against the air-cooled machines that we love so dearly. While I don't hate the new water-cooled Nightster (will it make a comeback for 2023?), I personally think the new Sportster S is hideous. I'm sure it's fast and agile, but it looks like some hybrid compilation of German, Japanese and British designs, all mashed up in a single bike. The only thing "Harley-Davidson" about that bike is the name. The Nightster, on the other hand... while it shares the same DNA, at least looks like a Harley. The fake gas tank/air box is a turn off for me, though. Interestingly enough... in perusing the H-D website this morning, I didn't see it on the lineup. Did the MoCo nix the new Nightster already, or are they simply going to put some lipstick on the little pig and re-introduce it as a new model for '23 (with a higher price tag, no doubt)? I suppose we'll see in a week or so.

The Softail Lineup

It appears, from all I've read (which admittedly, isn't much) that the Softail lineup remains mostly the same. I wish they'd bring back the Deluxe, but at this point, it feels like H-D is going away from their tried and true classic designs in favor of the "power cruiser" designs that I thought we had finally started moving away from a few years ago. Bikes like the Honda VTX1800F, the Suzuki M109, the H-D V-Rod and the Kawasaki MeanStreak (just to name a few) were all terrible designs, in my opinion. With drag-style bars, forward controls, and high output engines cradled in cruiser-based frames...they were/are uncomfortable to ride and their engine performance was limited by their screwy frame geometry. While not a "power cruiser" by design, the venerable Wide Glide was put to pasture in 2017 when H-D foolishly killed off the Dyna line and, the closest thing they offered to the styling, was the... ugh... the Softail Breakout. What an awful bike it was. With a ridiculous riding position and a rear tire that made the bike look as if the designers were stuck in the early 2000's chopper trend, the bike was simply horrendous. Well, much to my dismay, it looks like H-D is going to be bringing that one back in '23. We're getting the new Softail that nobody wants... brilliant. Geesh!

The Touring Lineup

What can I say so far... it looks like the execs at H-D have finally lost their ever-lovin' minds. From what I've seen... they have removed their number one, absolute best, Touring bike from their 2023 lineup. The Road King is currently (as of this morning) no longer listed on the website and all the rumblings I've heard (again, admittedly... that's not much) is that the Road King has been discontinued. What the actual f**k!?! 

Has Harley-Davidson's executives inadvertently hired a corporate assassin with CEO Jochen Zeitz?? Who in Milwaukee has lost their fool minds? The Road King is the quintessential big twin Harley-Davidson! 

So let me re-cap so far... the Evo Sportster, the Sportster inspired RevMax Nightster and the Road King are all absent on the '23 lineup.  

Now, from the limited research I've done, it looks like H-D is going to offer a "new" bike in the Icons collection... with the model designation of "FLHFB"... which is the old designation for the Electra Glide Highway King of the golden, olden, days (think, mid 1960's) before the Road King (FLHR) was actually introduced. Now, for those MotoReaders that are unfamiliar with the Road King's history... let me give you a quick recap: 

The FLH line originated a long time ago in H-D history, and the "Glide" names were added with each new addition of a particular upgrade. For example, the first FLH had a hardtail frame, a springer front suspension and kick start. When H-D added hydraulic front suspension, the FLH earned the name, "Hydra Glide." The addition of a rear swingarm and rear suspension earned it the title, "Duo Glide." Once the engineers perfected the electric start, the FLH earned the name that we all know now, the "Electra Glide." The Electra Glide didn't actually get that iconic batwing fairing until 1969. Back then, the batwing fairing was, basically, just an outer fairing mounted to the forks. As these things tend to do, the batwing that we all know (and most people love) evolved over the next few decades until it became what it is today. Most of you may know all this already, but what you may not know, is that in 1989, H-D introduced the Electra Glide Sport... an FLH Electra Glide without a fairing (again). The bike was popular enough that it was offered for a few years before H-D's marketing team decided to rename it, you guessed it- The Road King, for the 1994 model year. 

The Road King has been an extremely popular machine since it's "official" birth in 1994 and has become a favorite of guys like me, who want a bike big enough to handle any road trip that we can throw at it, while still maintaining that cruiser DNA for riding down the Main Street on a Friday night. It is, in my humble opinion, one of the best Harley-Davidson motorcycles ever made. So, you may be asking why, if it's so great, is H-D apparently pulling it from the lineup? Easy... this is nothing more than a marketing scheme. Smoke and mirrors. Increase demand by decreasing availability. For '23, if someone wants a brand new "Road King"... they'll have to either get a Road King Special (the FLHRXS with a price tag of +/- $24k) or get the "new" ElectraGlide Highway King (the FLHFB) which, as an "Icon Collection" bike, will probably be a "limited edition" and have an MSRP of close to, or over, $30k. I happen to love my 2017 Road King Special, but I will be the first to admit that, compared to my other Road Kings (both of which were Classics-FLHRC), the machine is way overpriced. It's gorgeous, but corners were cut in the quality (see my long term review video here) and, in order for me to be able to ride it comfortably, I had to replace the poorly designed stock "mini-ape" handlebars. I finally have my bike all dialed in for my needs, so I won't be shopping for a new Road King anytime soon, but for someone looking to upgrade their current ride to all the glory that is the Road King... 2023 may not be their year to do it.

A new bike for the Riding Academy?

One more new bike being offered by H-D will be the Chinese-built X350RA. A small displacement, parallel twin motorcycle, that is being targeted for the overseas markets (and of course, the H-D Riding Academy). While many H-D purists may find this to be one of the most offensive things I've written on my little corner of the interweb, I will politely stay neutral about it... at least for now.

We all saw the shit-show that was the "Street" bikes that were built in India under the H-D moniker. The XG500 and XG750 were pure garbage. If you own one... let  me say that, I'm sorry. I'm not sorry if I've offended you, I'm sorry that you bought one. It's a Harley by name only. In the beginning, I heard some great things about the engines and I actually wrote a few slideshows for H-D Forums about folks modifying the bikes into some really cool customs, but as of recently, I've heard nothing but bad stories about them. Problems like, the brake systems having catastrophic failures and the transmissions randomly slipping between gears. I'm sure that these problems, along with the painfully dismal sales of these bikes, were the driving forces that ultimately led H-D to dump them (a smart move on H-D's part, to be sure). The Streets were (sort of) intended to be a stepping stone bike for new riders. Here in the U.S. of A., they were initially introduced as Riding Academy bikes. H-D recognized that their smallest bikes at the time, the 883 Sportsters, were still a bit too powerful, loud, heavy and torquey for a brand new rider, so they needed an underpowered, small and inexpensive bike to train new riders on. Enter the Street 500. A perfect-ish bike for the job. Too bad it was a piece of crap in terms of quality. So, here we are in 2023... the XG's are gone, but H-D is still running their Riding Academy classes and, as such, they still need a small displacement bike that won't be too intimidating for the faint of heart. 

Enter the new X350RA. A lot of folks are probably cringing at the mere thought of it being made in... gasp... China, but I'd venture to bet that most of you fine folks are reading this on your Chinese made computer or smart phone. I may be a little biased (or would it be... unbiased?) these days, since I've recently added a small-bore motorcycle to my garage with the purchase of an American made Janus Halcyon (read more about that here) which is powered by a Chinese built CG250 engine. Say what you will about the Chinese, but many of their products are top-quality. Sure, not everything is worth the materials they're made with, but many of their products are and the Janus' little single cylinder, 229cc powerplant starts up every time and it runs smoother than a sewing machine. The bike is an absolute delight to ride, too... but that's a story for a different day. Today, I'm talking about the partnership between Harley-Davidson and the Qianjiang Motorcycle Company. With H-D bringing these little bikes to their Riding Academy, you can bet that they will be on showroom floors before the end of the year. After all, new riders are, naturally, going to want to buy what they learned how to ride on. Before you get too offended by the MoCo's latest partnership with a foreign company, let me point out that H-D has been doing this for decades. Does the Italian company Aermacchi ring a bell? If you know any of your H-D history, you know that H-D bought approximately half of Aermacchi's stock in the 1960's and that Aermacchi produced several of their single cylinder (and a few two-cylinder), small-bore, motorcycles with Harley-Davidson badges, all the way through the 1970's before H-D was purchased by AMF (again, that's a story for another day).

I actually have high hopes for the Chinese built H-D X350s. Apparently, Qianjiang is a formidable company in the Asian motorcycle market, building a variety of high-quality, small bore motorcycles for their customer base. I suppose that only time will tell, though. Hopefully, the partnership with QJ won't find the Chinese company building the entire lineup of H-D bikes, though because that would be a sad day for American workers. I also suspect that H-D's marketing team will probably suggest a retail price of the X350 on par with Jochen's "premium brand" business model for H-D, and it will most likely be way overpriced. Just to give you an idea, QJ's website shows most of their bikes coming in around the $2,500- $3,000 range and I seriously doubt that the execs at H-D aer going to allow any bike with the famous Bar and Shield logo to be sold with such a humble price tag. After all, Jochen's plan for the MoCo is to, apparently, make H-D motorcycles unattainable for the working class people that have been riding them since 1903. 

My final thoughts

To wrap this up today, I'll just leave you with these thoughts to ponder. If H-D does offer something new and fresh for 2023, I really hope that they make some attempt to make it reliable and affordable. If the latter (affordability) doesn't fit into the current CEO's business model, I at least hope that the damn things are built with higher quality materials and workmanship than they have been for the past several years. I also hope that the MoCo starts thinking about their future existence in the current global motorcycle market, because some of the decisions coming out of Milwaukee these past few years have been questionable, at best. I get that Federal emissions standards are constricting much of what we have always known in the motorcycling world, but damn, there's no Federal guidelines that are making them build ugly, watered down versions, or worse- overpriced versions, of their previous machines. The decision to kill off the Dyna line may have been driven by emissions, or even by financial, restrictions... but the decision to re-use the Dyna names on Softails was just lazy marketing. Seriously... no one could have come up with a new name for the Softail Street Bob or the Low Rider? You also can't tell me that designing a new twin-shock frame for the Milwaukee 8 engine was such a crazy idea... not after they designed these new RevMax powered bikes (the Nightster, Sportster S and Pan America). 

Whatever we see come out of Milwaukee in the coming weeks and months, I really hope that it is good, because my most recent desire to buy a new bike has been satisfied by my most recent purchase out of Goshen, Indiana. Between my new Janus, my Road King Special and, of course, my Dyna Street Bob, I don't see myself going to the local H-D dealer for any reason other than to visit my son.

With that- Happy New Year everyone! May 2023 bring you new opportunities for happiness, prosperity and good health!

Ride safe and make good choices, MotoReaders!

Dyna Update!

Fork seals

Ugh. Hydraulic forks are the best... until they're not. Most people will ride their motorcycles for years without ever even servicing them. The maintenance is pretty straightforward, most of the routine services simply require draining the old fluid and replacing it with fresh stuff, which, in a lot of cases, can be done without even taking the forks off the bike. Most fork seals last for years, and for thousands of miles, as long as the fork tubes are kept clean and free of debris.

But if you're a project hunter, like me, who can't turn down a great deal on a bike that needs a little love, chances are, you're gonna be doing a helluva lot more than simply swapping fluid. I've got two such bikes sitting in my garage, right now. One, is an '06 Sportster that I picked up for less than $2k a few years ago, and the other is an '11 Dyna Street Bob that I added to the stable a couple years later. Both of them were complete, but in deplorable condition- rust and corrosion was rampant on both, neither was running and both of them had been neglected for several years. But... I got them cheap and trusted myself with being able to get them back on the road, which I did. 

Both bikes have been awesome, but both have had the common issue of fork seal leakage, in part because I half-assed the job the first time on both bikes. Let me explain.

Sporty

When I first got the Sportster, the fork tubes were obviously roached. They were pitted with rust from top to bottom. The sliders were fine, but the tubes were simply beyond repair. Where I half-assed it, was I stupidly went on eBay in an attempt to save a few bucks and bought a set of used tubes that were significantly better than mine. With a new set of Genuine James Gasket seals and my new used tubes, I put her back together with some fresh 10w oil and she was good to go, for a few years anyway. After a few years of riding, one of the seals sprung a, very minor, leak. It was just minor enough to make me doubt if it was actually leaking, but after a few months, I realized that I was going to be doing a fork seal job again. 

Dyna

When I first picked up the Dyna- a 2011 FXDB Street Bob- I already had some knowledge of the bike's history. I bought it from a friend who, several years earlier, had bought it from a local Harley-Davidson dealership. He was the second owner of the bike and I was actually with him when he bought it. As it turned out, he didn't ride the bike as much as he thought he would and it ended up sitting in his driveway under a bike cover... for years. I hadn't seen the bike since he bought it and had no idea how bad of condition it was in before I agreed to buy it. It really didn't matter to me though, because for the price he was asking, it was worth it. When I first saw the bike, I was in awe of how bad it was. For a bike that was only 7 years old with less than 10k miles, it looked as if it had been abandoned in a field for a decade. I guess that's a drawback of living in the south, near the Gulf of Mexico- the salty, humid air makes short work of corroding metal. The ethanol based gasoline did it's own damage to the inside of the fuel tank, but that's a story for another day. 

The fork tubes didn't look too bad at first glance- the uppers were a little spotty, but the lower sides looked fine, even though they were both leaking. I assumed that the seals were leaking due to being dry rotted, and I wasn't completely wrong, so in my eagerness to ride the bike, I bought a set of Genuine James fork seals for it, then tore it down and put it all back together in an afternoon. I was stoked to ride it... for a few hours anyway. I assumed that the problem was with the seals, since I had previously installed a set of the same brand on the Sporty and they were now leaking after only a couple of years of riding. In my frustration, I cussed the Genuine James Gasket Company for all they were worth, then went online to do some research.

The Sporty fork saga, continued

Having had my fill of frustrations with the James Gasket seals, all my research pointed me to ordering a set of All Balls Racing seals for my trusty little XL. Once I got it tore down, however, I quickly realized that the seals weren't the problem. Apparently, something (probably sand, since I live near, and often ride beside, a beach) had gotten under the dust seal and made a nice little scratch on one of the tubes. The eBay tubes, if I'm guessing by their appearance, were most likely show chrome which is pretty, but not the most durable for a machine that is ridden a lot, so I bit the bullet and ordered a set of new hard chrome tubes, made by Hard Drive. I put it all back together with some 15w, for a little better dampening. She rides better than a new bike now...with no leaks!

The daggum Dyna

I like this damn bike, a lot, but boy it sure makes me cuss sometimes. After getting the new seals, I tore the forks down and, after a quick inspection of the tubes, put it all back together with the new All Balls Racing seals. Success! No more leaking! I was ecstatic... such a simple fix... 

...or so I thought.

Within about a month of riding, that familiar old bead of oil showed up on the high side tube again. I put the bike back on the lift, pulled it apart for what felt like the hundredth time, and inspected it like a jeweler inspecting a diamond. All of a sudden, I saw it- a small, barely noticeable, chip in the chrome, just above where the seal sets when the bike is at rest. The chip was small, only about a millimeter in diameter and was barely discolored, making it hard to spot with a quick visual inspection. The location was such that, when the bike was rolling on relatively smooth roads, the seal didn't cross over the chip, but when the fork compressed under a harder bump, the seal crossed the chip and a tiny bit of oil would leak past. 

As I dragged my fingernail across the chip, I felt it catch the edge and at that moment, I knew that I had, now twice, cussed the Genuine James Gasket Company in error. Oops... sorry guys.

I did my best to try to smooth and polish out the chip, to no avail- it continued leaking, so I called my local indie shop, French & Son's, and ordered a new set of Hard Drive hard chrome tubes and a new set of All Balls fork seals. Once I had them back in the shop, I put the Street Bob back on the lift, tore it down for what felt like the millionth time, and went to work. Having pulled the forks apart so many times, it didn't take me long to install the new tubes and seals. I topped it all off with some fresh 15w fork oil, put it all back together and rolled it off the lift... again. This time it's (finally) fixed and now it rides better than a new bike, too. 

The lesson learned

My dad used to tell me that if you're going to do something, do it right the first time. Well, for the Sportster, the biggest mistake I made was trying to save a few bucks by buying a set of cheap, used fork tubes. In my defense, they lasted a few years before they got scratched. That could have happened to anyone, I suppose, but by buying the tubes used from an individual, I had no specs on them and ended up buying a set of nice looking, but not very durable, show chrome fork tubes that were susceptible to getting scratched. With the Dyna, however, I'll admit that I half-assed it from the jump. I should have taken the time to inspect the fork tubes before I ever put it back together the very first time, but I was trying to save time and money so that could get back to riding the bike as quickly as possible. In doing so, I ended up having to do the job, way more times than I should have. Besides the aggravation, I also wasted valuable time and money on seals and oil. 

Now that both of the bikes are back together, I can focus on actually riding them. Maybe, while I'm out riding, I'll stumble across another project bike that I can tinker with. One thing's for sure though, if I do get my hands on another crusty project, I won't be cutting any corners when dealing with hydraulic fork tubes... I might just go with a springer front end, instead!

Regardless of what you might find yourself working on next, remember this:

If you do it right the first time, you'll only have to do it one time. 

March 2021's Bike of the Month- Presley P.'s Sporty!

March 2021 Bike of the Month- Presley P.'s 2011 Sportster 883 Low!

I love motorcycles. That's probably pretty obvious to anyone who happens to stumble across this blog. It's not just the machines that I love, though. It's the people who ride them and the stories that they have to tell that really fascinates me. Motorcyclists are as unique as the machines they ride and they come from all walks of life. Each has their own direction in life and each takes their own different path to reach their goals. Many of us started our two-wheeled journeys in a similar way, but rarely do we have the same stories to tell. That's one of the reasons I started the Bike of the Month feature on this page- to hear your stories and share them with the rest of the motorcycling community. While Presley may not have a lot of stories from the road just yet... he's well on his way with his 2011 Harley-Davidson Sportster XL 883L.

Sportsters are...

Bad ass. I don't care what anyone says about Sportsters- I like them. We've all heard the same old crap about Harley-Davidson's incredibly popular XL family of motorcycles- "they are (insert whatever disparaging comment here)". One of the most common- they are "chick bikes." The ironic part is, for as many "chicks" that I've seen riding Sportsters, I've seen just as many ladies riding Road Glides, Street Glides, Road Kings, Wide Glides and Low Riders... so the attempts at feminizing the Sportster sort of falls dead on that one.

Brief history

The Sporty was born in 1957 and replaced the popular K model. The K model was different than the rest of the Motor Company's line-up with it's small, nimble, lightweight frame and unitized motor. The folks at H-D recognized the K's popularity and capitalized on the design for the new bike. The new Sportster's iron barrel cylinder heads earned it the nickname "Ironhead" and the MoCo ran that engine and it's variants for the next 28 years, until 1985. In 1986, H-D introduced the new Evolution Sportster engine and we've seen that mill in every Sportster since. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Evolution powered Sportster! The Evo engine comes in two sizes from Milwaukee- 883cc and 1200cc, but the beauty of the Evo mill is that with a few hand tools, some general knowledge of small engines and a relatively inexpensive kit of parts- an 883 is easily converted to a 1200. This also lends to the popularity of the bikes. Well, that and the endless customization potential of the Sportster. 

That's enough history for today though, let's talk about Presley and his 883L!

Presley's journey started early

Presley grew up around motorcycles his whole life, so it's really no surprise that he became the proud owner of his own scooter when he grew into adulthood. I've known Presley since he was a baby- his dad and I grew up together and even though our careers have kept us on separate continents, we have always stayed in touch and kept up with each other and each others' families. As such, I knew that Presley had spent much of his childhood on the back of his dad's bikes and had caught the motorcycle fever from a very early age. When Presley reached out to me and submitted his bike for consideration for the BOTM feature, he said that, even though he wasn't as "seasoned" as my usual crowd, he still wanted to submit his bike. Well, as far as I'm concerned, anybody that has spent their whole life on or around motorcycles, is seasoned enough to be featured in my little corner of the interweb.

Presley grew up as a military kid, living much of his young life overseas. When he graduated high school, he decided to attend college back home in the good ole' U.S. of A. After Presley moved back to the states, he got a car and went to work on his studies. As Presley was nearing the end of his college career, his parents decided to give him the gift of two-wheels. That was last March. Yep, right before the coronavirus pandemic started sweeping across the world. Needless to say, the timing was perfect. 

Getting the bike

Right before everything shut down, Presley and a friend drove four hours away to pick it up. Presley looked it over, then saddled up and set out on his ride back home. Just shy of a hundred miles into the journey though, he pulled into a gas station and realized that his new scoot was leaking oil, and leaking bad. Upon closer inspection, Presley saw that it was leaking from the derby cover, so he called the dealership that he bought it from and found out that they had recently done a service on it and the tech had probably pinched the gasket. But, Presley didn't have the tools to check it and fix it, so he decided to limp it to the next dealership... which was 30 miles down the road. He made it safely to the next dealer, who quickly got it fixed for him. It wasn't long before he was back on the road, heading home under clear, blue skies. Presley described the rest of his ride home as "otherwise uneventful in only the best motorcycle rider's ways."

The bike

After getting his Sportster home, Presley soon realized that there were a few things that he wanted to change. He started off with a better seat, swapping the saddle with a gel cooled Saddleman Profiler seat for those long, hot Texas days. Soon after, he installed a sissy bar to secure his luggage to. When Presley bought his 883, a previous owner had already installed a set of Vance & Hines Shortshots, so it was plenty loud enough to get him some attention on those busy Lone Star streets. Other than that, Presley's Sportster remains mostly unchanged from when it rolled out of the factory in 2011. 

Chasing sunsets and dreams

Presley rides his Sportster as his regular commuter to work as much as he can, but the rides that he looks forward to the most are the ones where he can find a sense of freedom, where he is free to wander and claim a piece of blacktop for his own, even if only for a few miles. He says that he yearns to feel the rumble of his bike through his entire body, as if it's telling him to "go faster, dive into that corner and find the next beautiful sunset." 

Presley recently graduated from college and is now chasing his dreams of working in the film industry. Perhaps he will produce the next Hollywood blockbuster, or maybe the next iconic motorcycle film? Either way, I have no doubt that he'll be successful in whatever he endeavors to do, because he comes from a good, loving and supportive family that has instilled in him, the love of riding and the courage to venture out into the world to forge his own path. 

Do you want to see your bike featured as the MotoWriter's Bike of the Month? Email me in your high-res photos and your personal motorcycle story to me and, if I pick your bike, not only will you get some pretty rad bragging rights, but you'll also receive a small bit of swag to show off your support of the MotoWriter! Thanks for all your support!