RIIIIRIEC:J
2003 Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail Classic
You've heard of UJMs.
Say hello to the Universal
Milwaukee Motorcycle.
By SCOTT ROUSSEAU
PHOTOS By BRIAN J. NELSON
I
can hear my wife's voice in my
head at this moment, the forthcoming line appearing to make no
sense whatsoever.
"Umm's for dancing cows."
When conversing with my bride of
nearly five years, I'll often pause with
an "Umm" before adding to the previous thought. Or sometimes I'll shift
gears, tackling another subject.
Often, like most married men, I never
do validate the "Umm." By default, it
becomes the end of the thought, no
matter how complete or incomplete
that thought may have been.
42
APRIL 9, 2003'
cue
•
e
I got to thinking about this game
between spouses while hammering
out miles on our 100th Anniversary
Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail
Classic the other day.
"Umm," I thought to myself, the
subconscious voice modulating the
utterance to make it sound more like
"Hmm."
"Umm. I'm riding an Umm."
POINT OF VIEW
cannot exactly recall my very
first Harley ride, but I can still
remember my first Heritage Softail
ride. It came almost 10 years ago, the
sole purpose of which was to fill
n
e
_
s
pages for our Tour de Cycle News
feature story. While it had already
been a decade since Harley- Davidson
had "gone modern" with the introduction of the blockheaded Evolution Vtwin, my initial memories of that
bright yellow Heritage Softail Classic
are not totally pleasant. Fresh from a
turn aboard, of all things, a Kawasaki
Ninja ZX-11, which at that time was
the world's fastest production motorcycle, my stint on the 'Softie was like
stepping backward into a time warp,
which took place just as we encountered our first set of raging twisties.
Well, that's timing for you.
That 01' Heritage vibrated like a
washing machine full of cannonballs
and handled about the same. It felt
stiff, yet undersprung. It was choked
up and, generally, about as unrefined
as you'd imagine a "modern" motorcycle could be and still get away with
it. But even then, as a pink-cheeked,
sport-craving mid-20s lad, I was not
too na'ive to realize that in the vibration there was vibe, and in the lack of
refinement there was a visceral rawness and a sense of freedom that one
could really derive only from a
Harley-Davidson. Some 10 years
later, while rolling along aboard the
100th Anniversary version (It's
already the 17th anniversary of the
