Oh the Harley-Davidson Softail, how conflicted our relationship is. You have some of the best lines of a stock cruiser, mimicking the frame of a chopper and hiding your suspension underneath your chassis, but you also scrape around every corner I turn and have sort of crummy suspension. Regardless, this drag race style Softail was instantly enough to stop us dead in our tracks and think about just how much true style is worth.
Motorcycle Cruiser
Custom Softail with clip-on handlebars from 089 Garage
Clip-on handlebars, full drag-style foot controls, a tiny little gas tank, and an all wooden seat make this bike one of the most unique Harleys at the show. Coming from 089 Garage, a shop local here in Italy, the bike looks like it would be a little difficult to ride around town, but incredibly fun to tear down a drag stip or a stretch of open road.
Motorcycle Cruiser
Custom Softail rear brake and drag-style foot controls from 089 Garage
Stay tuned for another Bike of the Day tomorrow and for more information on 089 Garage, turn on your Google Translator and check out their website Garagini.It
Motorcycle Cruiser
Custom Softail with wooden seat from 089 Garage
Motorcycle Cruiser
Custom Softail from 089 Garage
Motorcycle Cruiser
Custom Softail front brake rotor and caliper from 089 Garage
Well unfortunately the time has come to give back the Harley Davidson Slim S build we did and I’m not going to lie, I’ll miss this bike. Once i got the new HD Chizeled bars on, that was it for me, i was hooked. We had a ton of fun on this bike stock and customized. That 110 motor paired with the Slim’s weight is great. It may be December, but here in Southern California it is still riding weather. I took the Slim S down to Seal Beach to get some last photographs for you all. You know what they say, all good things must come to an end.
The time has come to give back the Harley Davidson Slim S build we did and I’m not going to lie, I’ll miss this bike
It’s not all bad news though, I will be returning the Slim S in a few days but I will be picking up our next project bike to start on. I am extremely excited for the new 2016 Sportster 48 that we will be trading the Slim S for. We already have the parts on order and we think the direction we are going with it will be a crowd pleaser. Stay tuned!
I have been riding the new 2016 Harley-Davidson Slim S for about a week now and I’m having a blast riding Harley’s new Softail muscle cruiser. First things first, it has a great look to it. It is already all blacked out and I love the cleanliness of it: Everything you need and nothing you don’t. Just a solo seat, nice clean chopped fender and the fact that features H-D’s throttle-by-wire setup and a hydraulic clutch to keep the bars looking nice and sanitary, the Slim S comes standard with cruise control, which is great for highway cruising.
What is there to say about the motor…. It is fast! The Slim S is the lightest bike that Harley has put the 110ci Twin Cam motor in. It is also the first, along with the Fat Boy S, to get the 110 motor without being a CVO. The Slim S comes in at 712 pounds. Pair that with the 109 lb-ft torque and you have a little rocket ship on your hands–for a Harley cruiser at least. The 110 motor slamming those big pistons up and down is bound to increase vibration, but the Softail lineup is equipped with Harley-Davidson’s Twin Cam B motor (counterbalanced). The 110 Twin Cam B engine does a great job of removing vibration just as its smaller motor siblings do.
Like everything though, there’s no such thing as a perfect motorcycle. We understand for styling purposes Harley wants the bike to sit lower, 28.2″ seat height to be exact, but it is so low that on damn near every somewhat-aggressive turn we end up scraping the floorboards. And with these floorboards, when you make contact with the pavement, you’re compromising the floorboard itself, not just the cheap replaceable peg scrapers found on some of Harley’s other models. That can get costly to the owner replacing ground down floorboards all the time. That said, if you’re planning on tearing up the tarmac in the canyons, prepare for some serious sparks in the turns.
Also, If you get caught in the city in stop-and-go traffic, be prepared for a warm-in-the-saddle ride. Being a large air-cooled motor, it is expected, but at idle your nether regions will be cooking for sure. Keep the shorts in the drawer when taking this one out for a downtown breakfast cruise.
I’m also feeling a little lukewarm about the stock handlebars with a 6.87″ rise and 6.63″ pullback. I am at my most comfortable with at least a 12-inch handlebar. It’s been said that taller bars cause you to lose feeling in your hands and have discomfort in shoulders, etc., but for me I have discomfort in my elbows with just about all stock bars. The Slim S stock bars aren’t hurting my elbows yet, but my personal preference would be to run a taller bar… hint-hint!
The position of the bike is comfortable. At 6-feet tall I’m a big fan of floorboards with heel-toe shifters. I know for some folks the heel-toe shifters are distracting and hard to get used to, but I’ve been riding Harleys for a while and I’ve grown very fond of the heel-toe shifters, especially since I am not a fan of forward controls except in floorboard form.
Speaking of making some changes based on personal preference, I thumbed through Harley-Davidson’s gargantuan parts bible of accessories, the Harley-Davidson Genuine Accessories Catalog, and ordered a long list of parts that I think will make the already-cool Harley-Davidson Softail Slim S that much cooler. Stay tuned for more!
We just picked up the new 2016 Harley-Davidson Softail Slim S! The Slim S is a new model to the year 2016 and we have a The Softail Slim came to us in 2012, but the 2016 Slim S has a nice little list of upgrades. The biggest addition would be the Screamin’ Eagle 110 motor. That’s right, this baby comes off the showroom floor with the beastly SE 110 motor. It also has throttle by wire, a hydraulic clutch, and cruise control. Stay tuned because we have a long list of Harley-Davidson accessories that we’ll be installing over the course of the next few months. What parts would you like to see us install on this Slim S? Leave a comment in the section below!
Check out our preview piece and photo gallery on the 2016 Harley-Davidson Slim S Here!
The Softail has always been a hit for those that like the old-school look. The rear swing-arm being an obvious homage to old hardtailed bikes, it only makes sense that the rest of the bike would catch up with the vintage aesthetic as well. Put simply: Harley knocked it out of the park with this one.
We love the bobbed rear fender, the instant classic paint with the large white star, the dual 16″ wheels, and most of all: how darn skinny the thing is.
Combined with new dark elements, and powerful new upgrades, the Softail Slim S is built to turn heads and get you where you’re going in the ultimate comfort and style.
Softail Slim S
SPECIFICATIONS
Dimensions
Length
92.3 in. (2390 mm)
Seat Height
28.2 in. (665 mm)
Fuel Capacity
5 gal. (18.9 L)
Dry Weight
682 lbs. (309 kg)
Powertrain
Engine
Air-cooled, Twin Cam 110B
Displacement
103.1 cu. in. (1690 cc)
Engine Torque
109 ft. lbs. @ 3500 RPM (136 Nm @ 3000 RPM)
Transmission
6-Speed Cruise Drive
Wheels/Tires
Wheels
Black Steel Laced
Front
D402F MT90B16 72H
Rear
D402 MU85B16 77H
Color Options
Solids
Vivid Black, NEW Olive Gold Denim
For more information on Harley-Davidson’s 2016 lineup, visit H-D.com
Kerker says its 2:1 SuperMeg “shifts the power curve to the top-end providing high RPM power for unsurpassed performance gains.” While we can’t verify that statement a the moment, we do know its 2.5-inch non-baffled core and packing are rebuildable and that the SuperMeg is available in chrome or black. The black version features a black chrome head pipe and black ceramic coated heat shields and muffler body. The Kerker 2:1 SuperMeg is available for 91 to15 Dynas, 230mm and 250mm wide tire customs, 84 to15 Softails, 04 to13 Sportsters, and 85 to15 Harley-Davidson baggers. Kerker’s…