Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

f.·-· , ' .. . e, -. 't·.. -.--.•. . ,'. #.. . ,. .. .,. :-.. .- .. .. , ~.~~~g~;~ · . . . ....... . .." . . .... .. It.., , .-....... . .. ... . . .,.._.. .....'. - . . .... .. • : ~ ,., ...... e· o""'- •• , • . ...- ..• • • ••• • fIT fI >: . .. ~" ~ .•• I ~ •• • '-...... •, • The 1340cc Evo lution motor rece ived an im proved clutch . gained popularity a yea r or more after the model 's release. And th ough some of the journalists present q uestio ned wh eth er " Fa t Boy" was no t indeed th e name of o ne of the a tom ic bombs th a t the U.S. dropped on J apan to bring abo u t th e end of World War II (a painfull y hars h p arall el , i t wo u ld seem ), H arley spokesmen quickly retorted that this was no t the case - th e bo mb s were ca lled the " Fa t Ma n " and " L ittle Boy" - and had no bea r ing on the n a m e sel ection process. Changes to th e other models in Harl ey's lin eu p are m inimal, in keeping wi th th eir trad ition o f evolutio nary, ra th er th an revolutionary cha nge. Th is p hi losophy ap pea rs to be work in g, however , and in a tim e wh en new mot orcycle sales are slumping, H arl ey entered 1989 as th e top ma n ufa cturer in the hea vyweig h t mo torcycle field, co ntro ll ing 46.5% of the over-850cc market and 32.9% of that over 650cc. " Sitting back and resting o n o ur laurels is not o ur pl an , however," reads th e pr ess release. "A s proof, we ' offer th e 1990 Fat Bo y, o ur lat est metal marvel." In recent years th e Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based man ufacturer ha s been able to do no wro ng, sell ing virtuall y everything th at th e factory can produce. For example, when asked which mod el was their best sell er, a Ha rley spokesm an replied that th ere is rea lly no suc h thing th ey simply sell everything they're able to ma ke; which ever bi ke th ey produce in the greatest quantit y is th eir best 'seller. The few cha nges to the big twin (1340cc) mod els for 1990 in clude: 40mm CV carb for imp roved star ting a nd low -sp eed perfo rman ce, a nd better h igh-rpm ai r flow ; n ewl ydesigned clutch; h idd en evaporator h o se (Ca l i fo rn ia m odel s o n ly); improved speedome ter backlig h ting o n FX mod els; and im proved CB I intercom system a nd cruise con tro l for FL Ult ra Classic tourers, In th e Sportster famil y, th e o nly change is a new paper air filt er with a 32.9% hi gh er du st -capturin g efficiency. Perhaps th e biggest news here is that H arl ey-Davidson is enteri ng the club road raci ng arena with their first-ever cont inge ncy -paying series, U.S. Twin Sports, featuring nearl y stock, esse nt ially Su persport-spec 883cc Sportsters. Of course, there are new color o p tio n s a n d graphi cs o n man y m odels (in cl u d i n g a st u n n i ng aquamarine), a nd a custo m paint program is available. All told , the Milwaukee manufacturer is offering 21 models in 12 colors for a total of 77 different motorcycles , with four po lice motorcycles and three diff erent sidecars • , • .J.~' ~ ~.. .-.I ,J : - , -J It - .~. # • . • • • , ,-... .,--.: • • , " - . .~ . - - It " •• .,.~ . ~ , • • , • ..• . .\.....•. . . . . I .~ I • ~ -.\, • .J1' • ,_ . !' .. • • • • • - It It _. , • • iI - .. -. r----:;:----=--...:...::...---:--~"--=--..... --......:=-..... ' r------------------------------------------------, AttentiOI! - SubscriberS, When yoU 'l , For FASTEST service attach old mailing label in space be low. If mailing label is not ava ilable, print your name and address in th is box. Please allow 3 weeks for change to take effect. 2. Print your NEW address here. move. ••• ----- NA M E ADDR ESS CITY _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ STAT E ZIP 3 . Mail to: Circulation Department CYCLE News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801-0498 I I I I I I I I

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