Harley Shows Cross Bones For 2008½

HARLEY SHOWS CROSS BONES FOR 2008½

At first, it was a mere flicker, a subtle, flat-black suggestion of the coming movement. But with the introduction of the Softail Cross Bones, Harley-Davidson has hit full speed with its “Dark Custom” line. On the heels of the Fat Bob, Nightster and the rest, the $16,795 Cross Bones “recreates the bobber look in a new way,” said Senior VP and director of design Willie G. Davidson. Added son Bill Davidson, H-D’s director of marketing, “The look is raw, simple, aggres sive and bad-ass. It’s a way of life. We understand it, we live it. It is a happening scene.”

Dark Custom is happening for Harley because the largest percentage of its young buyers wants this type of motorcycle. So this stripped-down, fat-tire, mini-apehanger Softail Springer exists.

You want authenticity?” asked lead engineer Jim Williams. “The part number on the seat pan dates from the Thirties.” That saddle, if you didn’t notice, is sprung! It is also adjustable fore and aft nearly an inch. The rest is powerfully evocative Harley-Davidson styling with its appeal tuned up for a growing market.

-Mark Hoyer