Harley-Davidson Fxstc Softail Custom
HARLEY-DAVIDSON FXSTC SOFTAIL CUSTOM
Harley-Davidson's Harlley-Davidson
IF DENNIS HOPPER WERE TO REmake Easy Rider today. the bike he'd gun across the silver screen would be a Harley-Davidson Softail Custom. Like Hopper, the Softail is a little more close-cropped and refined than the raked-out chopper his character rode into counterculture immortality back in 1969. But again, like Hopper circa 1987, the Softail is still a little too elemental, a little too raw.
The Softail is a rolling, chromespeckled homage to the cruiser, as American as a thick slab of Porterhouse steak served up medium-rare. And about as subtle. This is a motorcycle that makes no apologies for its stratospheric price tag (although the standard Softail is available for $500 less, if you can make do without the blacked-out engine, solid-disc rear wheel and eagle-emblazoned sissybar). This is a motorcycle that makes no nods towards vibration control, since there’s neither counterbalancer nor rubber mounts to cushion the engine’s power pulses. This is a motorcycle that simply doesn’t care that it looks like something that just escaped from a 1950s custom-bike show.
Thankfully, there are some concessions to the Eighties. The hardtaillook rear end is actually a triangulated swingarm that attaches to twin, gas-filled shocks that reside under the engine, between the frame tubes, and provide almost four inches of suspension travel. Surprisingly, the rear suspension, with help from the widesplayed, Japanese-made fork, rewards the Softail with a thoroughly competent ride. Even on twist-infested mountain passes, this long, lonesome highway cruiser is remarkably at home. Our test riders also
liked the Softail’s seating position, which is stretched-out and offers some lower-back support courtesy of the wide, heavily stepped saddle.
On the debit side of things, the effort needed to squeeze the brake and clutch levers is ridiculously high; shifting is a clunky, long-throw procedure; the mirrors are useless at speed; and the air-cleaner cover competes for space with the rider’s right
leg. And performance-wise, the Softail comes up short when compared to the other bikes in this comparison. It has the slowest top speed, the slowest dragstrip times and the slowest roll-on acceleration.
Still, a measure of the Softail’s appeal is that at 60 miles per hour out on the road to nowhere, none of these things matter. The Softail is at home, and that’s good enough.
Harey FXSTC Softail
$9499
