Feedback on the new Harley-Davidson models

Feedback on the new 2018 Harley-Davidson models

• Daymaker
• Digital speedometer 
• Frame, spring element
• The 114ci and 117ci Millwaukee-Eight engines
• Elimination of the V-Rod
• Bluetooth

Now a few days have passed and the mood is different. The Dyna fans are a bit disappointed about the discontinuation of the Dyna series, but they don't really know the new models yet, and you can certainly see it differently.

Harley-Davidson has to bring changes to the streets and rest on the old traditions, that can't be the case either. The market is highly competitive and the knives are sharpened for the next season with innovative new models.

The Harley-Davidson dealers are an important sign of the mood; they want to sell machines and know best what is in demand and what is not. In this case, forums don't count as much as personal customer contact.

The customer says what he likes and this feeling is often passed on to Milwaukee. And the mood is good, the tenor is that we finally have something fundamentally new that we can talk to customers about.

DAYMAKER – LED reflector

The most noticeable thing will be the Daymakers, who will increasingly appear on the streets next year with their sharp looks.

They bring a very good light onto the road and offer a significant level of additional safety “see and be seen” . They have proven themselves very well in the large tourers, and the light is incredibly good, especially on the Road Glide.

Now the Daymaker has finally found its way into the Softail series as standard, some have retrofitted the Daymaker to their machine, which makes sense, that doesn't have to be the case anymore.

The new LED headlights are particularly noticeable on the Fat Bob and Heritage; you can see them coming from afar. You can be sure that in terms of design, you can differentiate between a Fat Bob, Street Bob, Heritage or Fat Boy.

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DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER – USB – Keyless Ignition

New digital displays have now found their way into the Street Bob and Breakout models. They are minimalist in design, offer extensive information and appear modern.

They have been available on the aftermarket for years, now directly from the factory.

Finally, a USB port and keyless ignition catapult you into the new Harley era.

CENTRAL SHOCK STRUT ON THE SOFTAIL MODELS

The idea is not new, it was already the case with the old EVOs, the central shock absorber saves up to 15 kilos in weight.

The weight savings will be noticeable in handling, as a comparison you could say that it makes the same difference whether you have filled up the tank or not, a full tank makes the weight difference more noticeable than a shock absorber. A big advantage is that it is now possible to change the suspension setting without any fiddling.

This means you can quickly adjust it to the situation at hand, you can quickly find out what the best setting is with or without a pillion passenger, or if you're going on a big tour, you can react quickly if the set-up isn't right.

THE 114 MILWAUKEE-EIGHT ENGINES IN THE SOFTAIL SERIES

Harley-Davidson is now introducing the 114 Milwaukee-Eight engines as an option in the Softail series, the new frames have the necessary rigidity to handle this powerful engine, even the 110 engine in the Slim S , was simply cool and has the Slim S made extremely sharp.

The high torque of 155Nm will bring the new 2018 with the 114ci engine out of the basement when the performance is required. What the exact performance development will be like in connection with the translation will be shown when they can be seen at dealers in September.

If you want, you can, that's perfect, you don't have to, because the 107 engine is not underpowered, but that's just the way it is, there will be enough people who would like to drive the 114, especially in the Fat Bob become a road rager. It has the basis for a real beast, and we'll be particularly excited about the conversions we'll see in the next few years.

Data of the Fat Bob 114ci (manufacturer information):

Displacement 1,868 cc

Power: 94HP at 5020rpm

Torque: 155Nm

Weight, ready to drive: 306kg

Fuel capacity: 13.6L

THE NEW HARLEY-DAVIDSON MILWAUKEE-EIGHT 117 CVO ENGINE

Many people didn't even really notice, as the large tourers, the Street Glide CVO , Road Glide CVO and Ultra Limited CVO, were not fitted with the Milwaukee-Eight 114ci engine, but rather the extremely powerful Milwaukee-Eight 117ci engine.

This is the most powerful Harley-Davidson V2 engine in the range, its technical data speaks for itself, it has an incredible 166 NM torque, in comparison the 107 engine in the Road Glide Ultra has 153 NM torque and you don't have that with this engine Impression that he lacks performance.

So we can assume that the CVOs with the 117 can put a lot of pressure on when they are driven along the highway with their 105 hp.

In order to maintain the distance from the 114ci engines in the Softail series, Harley-Davidson has now installed the 117ci Milwaukee-Eight in the exclusive 2018 Custom Vehicle Operations (CVO). 

Not everyone is happy about that, those who bought the 2017 CVO model have the 114ci engine, they are priced the same and they are not worlds apart in terms of performance. Basically, this is one of the most beautiful Harley-Davidson models you can buy. (Technical data according to manufacturer)

Elimination of the V-Rod / Muscle models

Now they are finally out of the range, the engines cannot meet the new Euro 4 standard.

There are rumors that something really hot will come out of this area next year.

It wasn't easy for them, they used to be ostracized, the price for used ones was in the basement and at some point that suddenly changed. Some customizers have specialized in the model and the prices have gradually increased.

The last Night Rods are in great demand

The last night rods were suddenly in high demand and some with day registration from 2016 are probably still available.

The history of the V-Rods has really been up and down, at least it has its history.

Even Roberto Geissini didn't miss the opportunity to offer a converted V-Rod in collaboration with NLC Customs. The story certainly won't be completely over yet, let's wait for spring 2018 to see if anything else will happen.

BLUETOOTH COMMUNICATION

It's not always easy, with the big tourers with the BoomBox II you're actually already well positioned.

Not everyone has the socket for the cable headset installed and the headset didn't work via Bluetooth because of the Bluetooth protocol. Third-party manufacturers couldn't be paired (one should be able to do it? Just who?), somehow that didn't work.

The phone paired, but it's just a shame if you can't make calls using the headset.

Harley-Davidson has now launched its own Bluetooth headset.

But there is now a Harley-Davidson solution for this, which is something. The communication between the drivers is actually popular, which makes it all the more questionable that Harley-Davidson didn't have it at the top of the list, but neither did the field didn't want to leave it to a third-party provider.

Because the BoomBox II is available, the CVO, Ultra and Limited models have the socket and telephone calls, or the transmission of announcements and music works perfectly in great quality.

Now Harley-Davidson has stepped up and is presenting its own Bluetooth headsets that can also communicate with third-party providers. The headset boom! Audio SPH10 and the Boom! Audio 20S is now the desired something from the BoomBox II communication center.

Conversations with other drivers are now possible; the versions are now available for full-face and jet helmets.

Conclusion

Some believe that the Fat Bob could also be a Yamaha in terms of appearance, that is based on the perception of the viewer, the explanation is that Harley-Davidson wants to appeal more to the younger, wealthy customers.

Maybe not the very young customers, for them the entry into the Sportster class with the Iron 883 might be more interesting, but those in their mid-twenties can feel addressed and there is no upper limit anyway.

Harley-Davidson really kept the secret about the new machines until the last moment, there were hardly any photos to be seen even though they were already in production, that was really Apple like.

Even the hot Harleysite wires were all cold!

That won't be all, it will be exciting again in the spring!

We will see them live at the European Bike Week at Lake Faak “Harley on Tour” Open House at the latest They will be at the dealer in September.

And now don't demonize everything new, let's let it get to us, now it's time for the European Bike Week at Lake Faaker See and next year we'll be celebrating one of hopefully many more anniversary parties in Prague and Milwaukee.

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