2011 Harley-Davidson Blackline Softail

“Lean as wire, hard as iron, and dark as a tar road at midnight,” is how H-D describes what is essentially just a variation of the high-end Softail series, but the Blackline has several notable features that grabbed our attention when we saw it at its New York City media reveal last week.
The Blackline brings in a new “Black Denim” powerdercoating for its frame and swingarm, laced aluminum wheels with black-anodized rims, a fresh FX front end topped with a new “Split Drag” handlebars mounted directly to a thin upper triple clamp powdercoated black.

Harley-Davidson’s new Blackline was introduced to the world’s media in the SoHo district of New York City.

Inspiration for the Blackline came from H-D Senior Industrial Designer/Stylist, Casey Ketterhagen, who emphasizes the importance of the bike’s proportions, wanting it to look like “a person just riding a motor.”

The Softail’s typical tank-top gauge panel is replaced by a gloss-black die-cast trim panel that conceals the fuel pump hardware. A new multi-function gauge is set at the base of the narrow “Split Drag” handlebar.

To that end, graphics are subtle (with no raised badges), chrome is minimal (black is the main accent), and slenderness is emphasized. A Softail’s 5-gallon fuel tank is stripped of its tank-top instrument console to lower its profile and is substituted by a small gauge atop the triple clamp. The analog speedo is augmented with a miles-to-empty LCD readout, replacing the old fuel gauge that looked like a filler cap at the top of the tank’s left side.
Although the Blackline is fundamentally a familiar Softail, the H-D boys have made changes that pushed the legal limits. It all began by pulling the rear fender down as low as possible – the first thing done to this project – which helped bring the seat height down to 26.1 inches, the lowest two-up seat offered by the Milwaukee crew. Similarly, the mirrors are pushed inboard to the DOT minimum, and the upper triple clamp was made as thin (1 inch) as they could get away with while maintaining structural integrity.
“We tried to make it look as illegal as possible,” says Ray Drea, VP and Director of H-D Styling Department.
The minimalist theme carries over to the rear of the bike. A narrow (144mm) tire, borrowed from the pre-’08 Touring platform, is a middle finger to the tired fat-tire movement. Its rear fender is nicely bobbed and further cleaned up with Harley’s combination stop/tail/turn lights. A composite license-plate holder mounts to the lower edge of the fender. The rear fender struts are left in their raw forged finish and powdercoated matte black.
The stripped-and-lean theme is continued with the wide spacing of the FX 41mm fork tubes that make the 5.75-inch headlight look tiny, and a gap between the nose of the seat and the fuel tank exposes the top of the frame, contributing to the bike’s airiness.

The Blackline’s back end is narrow and trim, aided by turn-signals that double as the brake light.

The Blackline’s V-Twin is beautifully detailed with interesting surface finishes. Note the chrome lines leading into the horseshoe oil tank.

Just like other Softails, Harley’s counterbalanced TC96B powers the Blackline through a 6-speed transmission, but it boasts a fresh two-tone look. Its lower end is powdercoated gloss black, accented with silver powdercoat on the cylinder heads with machined highlights. Chrome brightwork is provided on its derby and timing covers and its simple, round air cleaner, followed by a chrome over/under shotgun exhaust. “Just enough shine to make the black parts look blacker,” says Harley.

Not Just Glides For Geezers!

Harley’s Mike Lowney on stage at Don Hill’s pub, preaching the Dark Custom gospel to media from around the globe. As the average age of H-D owners creeps upward, the MoCo’s Dark Custom line has been successful at reaching a younger demographic. Michael Lowney, Director of H-D’s Market Outreach, says Harley sold more bikes to the 18-to-34 year-old segment over the past two years than the total sales of Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Triumph and Victory combined! Harley now has the #1 market share position in all displacement classes among the 18-34 demo. Lowney says H-D’s 18-34 customers are split into thirds: first-timers, conquest sales, and repeat buyers. For whatever reason, younger riders are attracted to the black-intensive Dark Custom line, which includes the Iron 883, Nightster, Forty-Eight, Street Bob, Fat Bob, and Crossbones. But Harley has been proffering the dark theme for decades. It may have begun back in 1981 with the Sturgis, a blacked-out FX platform, followed more recently by the Night Train, which was dropped only a couple of years ago and also sold well among young adults.

The Blackline’s riding position is aggressive, with a fists-forward reach to the narrow, internally wired handlebar. H-D’s designers first tried to fashion clip-on handlebars, but they proved to be hard to fit while maintaining adequate steering sweep, and they’d also take away customization options. Forward foot controls are polished.
The axles of the 21-inch front wheel and 16-inch rear are set 66.5 inches apart, while the rake angle is laid down to 30 degrees. As is typical of Harley’s slammed cruisers, lean angles when cornering are quite limited: just 24.4 degrees to the left and 25.9 to the right. Rear-suspension travel is a decent 3.6 inches.
Braking duties are handled by 4-piston calipers biting on 292mm rotors front and rear, which should be adequate for the Blackline’s 683-lb fully fueled weight. Anti-lock brakes are available in an optional $1195 package that includes H-D’s Smart Security System.  

The Blackline’s riding position has an aggressive forward lean for a cruiser. The diminutive passenger seat demands a cozy grip.

Although the Blackline began as a side project for Ketterhagen, Harley’s team of 12 designers all had their input, including the legendary Willy G Davidson. Harley’s Ray Drea describes the styling process as organic, adding the team reviews everyone’s projects each week. “We expect to have the garbage can filled with ideas,” Drea says about the synergetic progression.
The Blackline is now en route to dealers, retailing for $15,499 in its Vivid Black base version. An extra $499 buys your choice of Cool Blue Pearl or Sedona Orange.

Motorcycle Insurance: Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage

 Uninsured motorist places the value on you. The Good Hands people sell higher limits using the analogy of “Why would you protect your assets but not consider yourself your greatest asset?” It’s a good selling technique. In the auto world of insurance, the cost of the UM (uninsured motorist) coverage is not usually that high. It’s the exact opposite in the motorcycle world. The odds are simply not with riders, and the underwriters know it. That’s why uninsured motorist coverage has become one of the highest costs within the components of the policy. So, cost is absolutely a factor when dealing with UM coverage.

This article was actually completed before I saw a competing webzine touching on the subject of Uninsured Motorist coverage. It had one glaring issue: the writer is a personal injury attorney.
I certainly think that attorneys play their role in helping the injured. The attorney, however, is in it for the dough, and telling the consumer to buy the highest limits of uninsured motorist coverage doesn’t exactly come clean for me. I have three well known personal injury attorneys that are actual customers. I even refer customers to them if needed.

Crazy? Depends on how you look at it. When you find an agent like me or my sister, you will find we do it for the love of the job. Making 15% on your average bike policy means you have to turn out five times the business of a general agency for the same money. It’s not that simple, and my sister and I are certainly not wealthy by any means.
Just like the last two articles, you will need to consult your local independent agent, broker or on-line underwriter to get full details of the situation specific to the state you live in. Your state un/under-insured motorist insurance regulations are likely to be somewhat different than they are in the state of Georgia where I’m based.
So, would I suggest the highest coverage possible like the attorney from the other article suggests? Yes! The differences are what make an agent and attorney approach the subject from separate but connecting paths. Hospitals are expensive, the ambulance is expensive, and rehab is expensive.
With that, think about this: You are forcibly removed from your ride. You know that the minimum liability will barely pay for the ambulance and the Emergency Room triage. You purchased the additional UM coverage to match your liability limits, but it’s not your fault. The at-fault party has only the minimum liability limit (say $25,000) and you have just figured out that the broken bones in your leg need surgery.
Ms At-Fault will need to be sued because someone has to pay the bills and it’s not going to be you. You’ve hired an attorney. Good. You probably need it. But here’s where it gets tricky. Yes, she’ll get sued. But that takes time, and bills are due. Personal Injury attorney guy will ask you or your agent for a copy of your declarations page.
Why? To file a claim. Will you need it? Maybe. Is it your right to utilize it? Certainly. The company that underwrites your policy will probably subrogate (collect from the at-fault party at a later date), but the claim is filed and paid. Does it affect you?

There’s a little company out there that collects all claims and payment information on every consumer insurance policy in existence. The information is processed at the point of sale. That means that with every new or renewed policy, the underwriter is using information gathered from this service to determine your rates. That broken leg that you are not supposed to be paying for, you will pay for in the future. I don’t recall Mr. Attorney mentioning that. He also forgot to mention that he’s collecting 1/3 of the recovered money for his work. If you manage to collect all that is due for making you “whole” (or as completely recovered as possible), you will have paid the attorney roughly the salary of an average American unless you get the bigger score of an upper management or VP employee. 
What’s the point? As an agent, I may not be involved in the process of the claim, but as my customer I will do my best to show you a direction that best helps you. Any good independent agent will do the same thing. We may not be allowed to fully help you legally since our job is sales and service, but we aren’t leaving you hanging out to dry. If we can walk you patiently through the process of recovery, it will lead to referrals of future customers as a thank you.
Attorneys will give you personal assistance and help get money collected, but they want their share as much as you want your share. It is completely unethical and against the law in the majority of states I’ve done business with to have an agent accept referral cash from an attorney. I refer people to attorneys I consider to be friends. The only things they send me are invitations to ride.
So, do your homework if you need a personal injury attorney. They say that the insurance companies aren’t there for you. I say that insurance is like Vegas without showgirls. You can come out a winner or a loser depending on how you play the game. Patience is your friend in the insurance world. Insurers want fast and painless acceptance of payment. You stand tough and things will usually work out.
I didn’t really cover the property damage of the UM coverage, but in most cases the deductible is $250 and it will cover the damage that Grandma Bluehair caused when she backed into your bike at the local Chinese buffet. Just make sure you take pics of the bike on its side and definitely get a police report.
Still to come is Part 4 of this series in which we discuss comprehensive and collision coverage, deductibles and your residential status.

Latest Bikes

Take an iconic motorcycle, blackout the frame, open up the exhaust, chop the rear and what do you have? A Harley Davidson V-rod starring in the movie “The Green Hornet”. The motorcycle also features rear set foot controls and a very stylish LED headlight. This motorcycle is really decked out and the start of the movie. The lucky actor who gets to ride this motorcycle is Jay Chou who plays the role of Kato.

In an interview with bizjournals.com Paul James, spokesman for Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson, said the motorcycle got placement in the film through the heavyweight motorcycle manufacturer’s “ongoing entertainment marketing efforts.”

The 32nd Classic Motorcycle Festival is scheduled to take place at New Zealand’s Pukekohe Circuit over the weekend of 5 – 6 February 2011. It is brought to us by the New Zealand Classic Motorcycle Racing Register (NZCMRR) Inc., who are dedicated to the preservation of motorcycles from Europe and the US built more than 35 years ago.

The event will feature well over 300 motorcycles from the 1920’s up to 1975 from American, British and European marques. It will also include a program with over 50 races (!) and parades and racers from all over the known world. The Classic Motorcycle Festival has become the largest and finest gathering of classic racing motorcycles in the entire Southern Hemisphere.

Among the many special displays will be one celebrating the 100 years of the world-famous Benelli marque, where many of the most important – and undeniably beautiful - Italian manufacturer’s motorcycles will be present. Another special display will be dedicated to the American brand Henderson. They were the first company to use an almost automotive-sized four-cylinder engine at a time when most road-going bikes were singles or twins. Henderson also influenced many other marques who copied their best designs. Also on hand will be more than 30 other historic marques including some very rare makes such as Miltaire, Cleveland and Ace. Organizers claim that this may be the largest display of vintage motorcycles the world has ever seen.

Riders will be attending from all over the world including the United States, Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom. New Zealand’s own Grand Prix celebrity Ginger Malloy, who has been racing for over 50 years, will be flying the Kiwi colors whilst racing his Bultaco 250cc GP bike; he recently won the Australian Historic 250cc Championship at Phillip Island on that same machine.

You may remember Malloy from the 1970 Premier 500cc Grand Prix class where he finished second overall to the legend that is Giacomo Agostini. Steve Wynn - who you may know as the Manchester (UK) Ducati dealer who sponsored the great Mike Hailwood’s record-breaking appearance at the Isle of Man TT - has arranged to demonstrate an original 1954 MV Agusta 500cc four-cylinder GP race bike at the event. Accompanying that MV will be even more amazing bikes, like a 1957 BMW 500cc Rennsport GP and a 500cc Jawa GP racer, and a compliment of Manx Nortons, Matchless G50’s, and AJS 7R GP racers.

The Classic Motorcycle Festival has developed an international reputation as a place to witness exceptional historic racing and to experience what is essentially a living museum exhibit. Many of the bikes shown at the Festival only come out into the light at this event, so this is the one chance to see and, in many situations, hear the motorcycles you have heard or read about for much of your life. The full weekend pass is NZ$30 and both entrance to the paddock and parking are free.

Following the Classic Motorcycle Festival (during 12 – 13 February), the NZCMRR hosts another classic and vintage motorcycle race at the new Hampton Downs Circuit only 15 minutes away from Pukekohe.