Silent Gray Fellow, Flathead, Knucklehead, Panhead, Shovelhead, Evo (blockhead to some), VRod, Twinkie and now....."The No Head"? That'll take some getting used to.
Lets face it, Harley has been twisting in the wind with falling sales for a while due to the younger, upwardly mobile crowd wanting to be more hipster than biker. Least around here.
When the Shovel came out the purist Harley owners lost their minds for one reason or another but mostly because it was change. A sports equipment company had taken over our beloved American motorcycle company because it couldn't adapt. Right?
I still ride my jockey shift bowling ball FLHP proudly. For if it wasn't for that "stop gap" abomination of a motorcycle, there would likely be no Willie G collection or H.A.W.G. to speak of 30+ years later.
About a month ago while in Hollister, my son and I were trail racing. He on his '01 KDX 200 and me on the San Diego built Hawg ('97 ATK 350). I was keeping him in front of me (as I didn't want to roost him with my incredible speed
) and we were moving at a pretty good clip when all of the sudden out of nowhere, an orange flash blasted by us roosting the both of us with close to 50# of terra ferma.
I was pretty bent to say the least.
Later, the boy and I were talking about it and realized it was an electric KTM that had just doorzed the both of us. I still can't figure out if I was pissed because I didn't hear it coming and it scared the bejeezus outta me or because it smoked the both of us without issue. It was ridiculously fast though!
Now... before the flame job starts, let me say that I have no intention of ditching my Shovel and installing a charging station in preparation for my new "Headless" bike
I just hope that this newest iteration of the "bowling ball bike" - the Live Wire will allow the company to chart its own course and adapt for the changing market yet still have a little something for us older hang arounds who still shift by hand and clutch by foot.
Rest assured, if they don't get the jump on it, someone else will and playing catch up seldom works in the favor of the catcher upper.