{"id":33322,"date":"2014-09-01T13:56:46","date_gmt":"2014-09-01T17:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/?p=33322"},"modified":"2020-04-07T12:39:46","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T16:39:46","slug":"lowrider_1200t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2014\/09\/lowrider_1200t\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Old is New"},"content":{"rendered":"
Harley-Davidson releases two new models based on vintage styles<\/p>\n
The modern cruiser can trace its roots directly back to the 1977 Harley-Davidson Low Rider. During Harley\u2019s AMF years (1969\u201381), there really weren\u2019t many models to choose from: a pair of Sportsters, the Super Glide and a couple of FLH touring bikes. The FXS Low Rider was introduced to capitalize on the custom-bike craze of the early seventies and earned its name due to its low, 27-inch seat height. It also boasted some styling features usually reserved for custom bikes, including a flat, drag-style handlebar set on dog-bone risers, a two-into-one exhaust, and factory-installed highway pegs. A massive primary case connected the 1200 cc Shovelhead V-twin to a four-speed transmission, and it had electric and kick starting.<\/p>\n
The Low Rider became instantly popular, transcending platforms and evolving from the rigid-mount FX frame to the rubber-mounted FXR in 1987, and then to the Dyna platform in 1995, also featuring rubber engine mounting. A year after introduction, its Shovelhead grew to 1340 cc and was replaced by the Evolution engine in 1984, before settling on the Twin Cam engine in \u201999. The Low Rider remained in Harley\u2019s line-up until 2009, when it was discontinued due to low interest, since there were so many other models to choose from. Well, the Low Rider is back for 2014, with styling cues that hark back to the original 1977 model.<\/p>\n
<\/a>The new Low Rider is again built on a Dyna chassis, and it features a seat height of 680 mm, a hair lower than the original in \u201977. The rubber engine mounting is designed to lessen, not to eliminate vibration, reducing it to a low-frequency throbbing. At idle, the engine shakes in the frame, transmitting a soothing, quaking vibration that dissipates into the chassis as you pick up speed. The source of the shaking is the latest version of the Twin-Cam 103, displacing 1690 cc and producing plentiful torque at low revs.<\/p>\n The resurgence of the Low Rider is part of Harley\u2019s Project Rushmore, a project that oversaw many improvements to the company\u2019s touring bikes late last year, including the new Twin-Cooled engine. However, the Twin-Cooled engine, which uses liquid-cooled cylinder heads, is not used in the Low Rider because there\u2019s just no room to seamlessly integrate a radiator into the Low Rider\u2019s fairing-less chassis.<\/p>\n Project Rushmore is responsible for a few comfort-enhancing improvements, though, including a seat with a removable bolster that moves the rider 40 mm forward. The pegs have been moved 50 mm forward from where they\u2019re usually located on a Dyna, and although the dog bone\u2013like risers of the original Low Rider have returned, they now pivot at the bottom, allowing you to swing the handlebar fore and aft over a 60 mm range. Reminiscent of the original Low Rider, the speedometer and tachometer are placed atop the 18-litre fuel tank.<\/p>\n Harley did a great job of remaining faithful to the original Low Rider look, and if you were to replace its stock pullback handlebar with a drag bar, and the front fender with an original strutted front fender, it would take more than just a glance to distinguish new from old. Even the tank graphics are faithful to the original, and the air filter is teardrop shaped, not unlike the S&S filter that riders used to replace the filter with on the original. Cast wheels are standard, with spoke wheels available as an option (though I prefer the look of the cast items on this bike), and they use tubeless tires.<\/p>\n The adjustable ergonomics are said to accommodate rider heights from five foot one to six foot one; I\u2019m six feet tall and was very comfy with the seat bolster removed and the handlebar adjusted in the middle of its range. Foot pegs are a comfortable reach, and their slightly forward position puts your feet roughly where they\u2019d be with floorboards, though you will not be able to move your feet around.<\/p>\n <\/a>When it comes to weather at Daytona, you should always assume that the forecast will be wrong. Three different news sources were forecasting highs of about 18 degrees Celsius around Daytona Beach, and the overcast morning skies were supposed to clear by noon with no chance of rain. The sky looked promising as morning temperatures hovered around 14 degrees, so I dressed in anticipation of the 18-degree high.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t take long after leaving on our ride to realize that the relatively inviting weather forecasts were probably broadcast so that Bike Week attendees wouldn\u2019t turn around and head home. Either that, or the weather forecasters in Florida have a very twisted sense of humour. Temperatures plummeted, and worse yet, it began to rain. The Sunshine State was anything but. Of course, the Low Rider\u2019s lack of bodywork reminded me of Florida\u2019s cruelly comical weather folk, as temperatures dropped from 14 degrees Celsius to six, where they remained for most of our ride.<\/p>\n The Low Rider\u2019s transmission contains two more ratios than it did in \u201977, and unlike that agricultural gearbox, which had canyon-like gaps between ratios and clanged so hard when shifting gears that it shattered windows, the FXDL\u2019s transmission is light in operation and the ratios are well spaced. Gear ratios are almost irrelevant, though, because the engine is torquey enough to allow you to pull away from as low as 50 km\/h in top gear. It\u2019s a great engine that doesn\u2019t rely on revs to generate enthusiastic acceleration, and it sounds good to boot.<\/p>\n Steering is lazy, though it easily holds a line and contributes to unwavering stability, and the suspension is quite compliant, but even a rigid setup would be considered compliant on Florida\u2019s straight, flat and smooth roads. In the interests of technological advancement, let\u2019s chalk up the Low Rider\u2019s suspension performance to Harley\u2019s use of tri-rate springs and damping settings tuned for an \u201cengaging\u201d ride.<\/p>\n The Low Rider, at $17,429, is at the lower end of the price range in the Dyna line-up, and it is my second-favourite Harley model next to the Switchback. If you\u2019re looking for a sportier mount, well, you\u2019ll have to change brands. But if you want a proper American cruiser, the Low Rider has the lineage, it has accommodating ergonomics, and its Dyna chassis is a competent platform, whether you\u2019re interested in endlessly lapping Daytona\u2019s Main Street or crisscrossing the continent. And it has the right look, which for some riders will be the most important factor of all.<\/p>\nSuperLow 1200T<\/h3>\n