Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

lar-section backbone and larger, stiffer downtubes, which combine to crea te a frame tha t is over 30 pe rcent stiffer than the old u nit. Other new developments include a re movable se a t post an d a s ta nd a rd steering head lock wh ich sha res the ignition key. According to Ha rl ey- Da vid son, the n e w ch assis requires 50 pe rcen t fe wer par ts, less welding, and is easier to manufacture. The new chassis required new electrical harnesses. The new looms are more accessible, use fuses and micro relay packa gin g, a nd fea t u re a d ia gno st ic hooku p so that Harley' s " Sca nalyzer" .softwa re can be utilized to assess the circu mstances in the event of a breakdown. . Both the oil and the fue l tanks were chan ged o n the new Softails. The oil tank' s capacity has been increased, an d th e ta nk itself now features chromed, '40s-style external hard lines to circulate oil to the engine. It also featu res an easier-to -read oil d ipstic k. The five-gallo n fuel tank is now a one-piece, single-filler mo del like th at found on the previous Dyna s. As such , it also has a fuel gauge integrated into the fau x cap on the left side to warn you when you' re running low on fuel. TheSo ftai l lin e al so o ffers better wh oa pow er thanks to the new four-piston , fi xe d caliper brakes that were released on the 2000 Dyna, FL and Sport ste r lines one month earlier. The more pow er ful binder s require less effort at the lever and less maintenance than the p revio us u nit s. It is also worth notin g th a t th ey a re r etro fi tt abl e to earlier Harley-Davidso n models as well . Add it all up , and what have you got? A ge nerat io n's wor th of improvem ent th at can hard ly be d iscerned a t fi rs t glance. Hey, wha t good is techn ology if you can't see it? Fire up the new Softail, ta ke a rid e and the an sw er s bec om e readily apparent. . Our part icular mod el for this test was th e en try -leve l pl atform in the Softail fa mily, th e FXST Softail Sta ndard . We had ou r cho ice of tes ting any mod el, with the exce p tio n o f th e s ti ll-to -bereleased FXSTD Softail Deuce, and we cho se the black-h ued , s tr ip per mod el Standard, figuring that if we d idn 't like the changes that Harley-David so n had ma d e to th e Soft ail, then no extra amount of chrome a nd leather flash a nd da sh was going to influence our judgement. We need not hav e worried. Thumbing the Standard to life immediately reveals the improved personality the Twin Cam 88B brings to the Softa il family. The motor quickly settles into a steady - if a bit muted - rumble, wh ile t he handl eb ars, con t rols a nd mir rors remain pr acti call y vibra tio n free. Still, the seat of yo ur pant s lets yo u know that yo u' re on one of Milwauke e' s 45-degree big ban gers, as yo u can feel the pistons pumpin g up a nd d own in th eir bores, and a blip of the th rottle provid es you with that familiar V-twi n exhau st note that probably mad e yo u fall in love wi th Ha rleys in the first place. Of course, if you don't care for that sort of thing, yo u prob ably won't even notice it. Tha t' s the beauty of the engineering. Acceleratin g throu gh the gears for the firs t time brin gs forth a no ther stra nge mix of new and familia r. You 'll apprecia te the noticea ble pep a nd responsi veness provided by the carbureted Twi n Ca m 88B in co ncert with the st eep er 32/70 geari ng (p revio usly 32 / 65). The l e w ino to r simply pu lls hard er and onger - more th a n eno ug h to ge t you rom gear to gear w heth er you prefer the hort-shift riding style or fancy the noisir " le t ' e r re v" men tality . What yo u zon't feel in either case is a lot of trernling from down sta ir s, your mirrors (Above) Where 's Waldo? The ob vious appearance of the Twin Cam 88 asi de, Harley-Davidson di sguised mu ch of the technology In the new -generation Softa il s so cleverly, it Is almost hard to see. Not e the chrome oil lines that feed the eng ine , th e no n-crossover ex haust and the new rear-br ake ca lipe r an d disc. (Below) Full of sup rlses: The new Softail chasis featu res a narrowe r drive belt an d a wide ned rear swingarm . Why ? Turn to page 30 to fi nd ou t th e answer. (A bove) The fivegallon fuel tank Is now a one-piece uni t, same as the Dynas, complete with a rlghtside fuel fill and a fuel gauge In the left-side faker cap. (Below) The new fourpiston front brakes are long overdue, providing better stopping power with half the effort. Bot ti the fro nt and rear rotors are 290mm units. (Above) Crank ing the new Softail Into a turn revealed the glory of the .new, sti ffe r chassis . The engine has been moved forward and features a low er cg , greatly aiding in bo th su spensi on cush and on-the-road fll ckability. remaining jiggle-free at acceleration or whi le cru ising. Another thing, the ka-chunk shifting of the old tran smission is gone - at least the lea is. Tru e to Harley-David son traditi on, technol ogy has been quell ed (thankfu lly, we might add) in favor of tradition . Thu s the chunk still remains. And we were able to find neutra l 'from either first or second gear when we want ed to, and not fr om a ny o the r gea r wh en we d idn't want to. Log more mil es, and the improv ed ride of th e new Softail mak es a hu ge impression, eve n thou gh the fron t and rear s us pe nsi o n dampi ng s pecs are essentially the sa me as they were on the old Softail models. Cr edit thi s to the chass is, which features new rod ends for the shocks and new rubber bu shin gs to help redu ce th e transmiss ion of har sh road impacts to the rider. But that's the least of it, really, as the new, stiffer Softail frame tubing actually 'allows the rear shocks to work to full dynamic capacity, wh ereas the old frame had the tendency to "wi nd up " a bit, hindering the performance of the shocks through portio ns of th eir s troke. Further assi st ance to th e rear end comes fr om the fac t th at th e engi ne has been moved two inches forward, a nd al so has a lower ce nte r of grav ity, which takes a bit of we ight off the rear wh eel. T ha t lo w er cg really makes a n impression wh en it comes to high-speed handling, too. Prev iou s Softails wer e noted for having pretty decent handling cha racte r is ti cs al ready, but the new model flat buries the old . Whether laying it in to a corne r or snapping it from side to sid e to change lanes, the new Softail Standard feels a tad on the feathery side compared to the more deliberate steering of the Evo editions. And with its laced 21-inch front wheel to aid in steering input, th e new Softail Standard is, dare we say it, the most flickable Harley- Davidson big twin that we' ve eve r ridden. Then there are the improved brak es. We would venture to g ue ss that th e requi red lever effort in order to produce the desired stopping effect has been cut by about half compared to the old system . As overdue as this change was, if th e new p uck s had been int rodu ced a year ago, they wou ld have s hared top billing with the Twin Cam 88 engine, bu t on the Softail they are simply rep resen tative of the effort that Harley-Davidson is making to improve every detail of its motor cycles. That's a good thin g. Of course, throu gh it all, there is one gripe that we have about the new Softail, and that is wh at the seat do es to our tail af te r more than 150 miles of r iding. Despit e th e roo my, com fy e rgos . smoo the r engine and excellent sus pe nsion, the seat of the Standard fails miserably when it comes to keeping up with the rest of the package. Padding a tad on the soft si de conspires w ith a co nto u r that is a bit abrup t to force the rider into what is basically one spo t for the duration of the ride. As good as the new Softail is, you' re going to want to ride it for a long way. The seat will all but assure that you can' t. It's too bad , really, becau se the way th e rest of the bike performs, we could see ourselves riding a new Softail for 400 miles or more with nary a complaint, were it not for the saddle! At least it' s an easy fix, and one that you will gladly make in order to experie nce t he best Harl ey-David son th e Mo tor Co mpany has offered ye t. So many changes, and yet it is still the same great cruisi ng motorcycle, likable not so much for how it feels, bu t for how you feel when you're aboard. That leads us to believe that wh at Harl ey-Davidson has really don e is set a new "Standard" for the next milleni- urn. 1:1'1 Harley-Davidson FXST Softail Standard Specifications Engine Air·cooled V·twin Valve gear Twin-cam. two valves per cyt. Bore" stroke 3.75 in. x 4.00 in. Disptacement 1450cc Compression ratio 8.8-9.0:1 Carburetion (ll Keihin 40mm CV Ignition Carb-sequential. single·fire Transmission Five-speed Frame Tubular mild steel Wheelbase 66.9 in. Rake/trail 34'/5 .0 in. Seat height 26.1 in. Suspension Front .... .4 1.3 mm custom telescopic fork w/ 5.61 in. of travel Rear ... .Twin horizontally mounted gas shock absorbers w/ 4.02 in. of travel Tires Front . .. .Dunlop Elite II D402 MH90-21 Rear .. .Dunlop Elite II D402 MT90B 16 Brakes Front Single 290mm disc with four-piston caliper Rear Single 290mm disc with four-piston caliper Claimed dry weight 628.6 Ibs. Suggested retail price . . . .$12 .355 (Black. 49-slate) $ 12.645 (Black. Calif.! C> :> « 33

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