IN
THE
WIND
P48
HARLEY-DAVIDSON UNVEILS FORTY-EIGHT
SPECIAL AND IRON 1200
H
arley-Davidson's Sportster
has been a staple for the bar
& shield since the model's intro-
duction in 1957, which means
re-inventing them gets harder
every year. So for this year, H-D
is introducing the new Forty-Eight
Special and Iron 1200, two new
bikes that will be part of 100 new
models introduced by 2027.
"Since its inception, the
Sportster has offered the perfect
combination of size, power and
character that makes it appealing
to so many different riders," said
Brad Richards, Harley-Davidson
VP of Styling & Design. "A Sport-
ster is a relatively easy bike to
strip down and reinvent. What
we've done to create the new Iron
1200 and Forty-Eight Special is
what Sportster owners have been
doing with their own bikes for
generations."
The Iron 1200 and the Forty-
Eight Special get a new high
handlebar and new tank graphics,
as well as graphic elements that
harken back to the Sportsters of
the 1970s.
"The art on these two fuel tanks
reflect contemporary trends we
are seeing on custom bikes and
in design in general, a move away
from more complex and intricate
art to a look that's very simple and
clean," said Richards. "It's also im-
portant to note that these graphics
respect the shape of the fuel tank
and in the case of the Sportster,
that tank shape is a classic design
element in its own right."
