2009 Softail Custom

Considered to be one of Harley-Davidson's most comfortable softail rides, the 2009 Softail Custom has classic looks combined with the functional ride that Harley riders want.

The looks are accentuated by the low ape-hangers set on a custom riser, along with the one-piece seat. The 21-inch front wheel is covered by a new low-profile fender, while the 200 mm 17-inch rear wheel brings 87.90 foot pounds of torque @ 2750 rpm to the road when you want it.

In 2007, together with the 1,584 cc, air-cooled, V-twin, DOHC engine and the addition of a standard six-speed gearbox, the Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI) system became a standard feature on the Softail Custom.

The 2009 Softail Custom comes in these colors:

• Vivid Black
• Dark Blue Pearl
• Red Hot Sunglo (New for 2009)
• Two-Tone Deep Turquoise/Antique White (New for 2009)
• Two-Tone Flame Blue Pearl/Pewter Pearl (New for 2009)

Pictures:

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Worth Harley-Davidson Offering Employee Pricing

I'm about a month (maybe two at most) away from actually pulling the trigger and putting the money down on a new motorcycle, but if you're in the Midwest and looking for a Harley...you really should be checking out Worth Harley-Davidson in Kansas City.

From what I can tell, most Harley dealerships aren't very interested in getting too far away from MSRP, and that's good for people who want their bikes to retain their value. If you doubt me, just look at Chrysler and GM. Once you start offering significant discounts and rebates all the time - like Chrysler and GM did - everyone expects 'em and prices drop because everyone "knows" that their neighbor got that discount.

That being said, if the bikes aren't moving, you have to do something. According to the Journal-Sentinel Online, Harley dealers expect about a 10% drop in new motorcycle sales this year, although that number looks like it could be higher when you consider that new motorcycles sales are down between 20% and 25% from what they were a year ago.

Worth Harley-Davidson North is offering employee pricing on all the motorcycles on their sales floor.

Despite how annoyed some dealerships are going to be with this promotion, you have to respect Worth Harley-Davidson for making buying a Harley a slightly less financially damaging prospect. After all, the more people that can afford a Harley, the more people who are going to be buying parts, service and so on - probably from that dealership.

If I catch wind that another dealership within a day's drive of Omaha is offering a similar promotion in June, I would absolutely run down there on June 26th and put down my money and sign whatever contract they wanted. And I'd probably end up paying over MSRP anyway by buying a slew of accessories.

Bought My First Half Helmet

Back on the 21st of May, I stopped by Dillon Harley here in Omaha and looked through their selection of motorcycles. My wife and I chatted the salesguy up a bit, talking about a few things like the 2010 Harley colors and models that were going to be released soon.

Of course, while I was doing this, in the back of my mind I was thinking:

I might as well pick up a half helmet while I'm here.

So I did.

Nice box, huh?

Ok, after I opened the box, I had the nice surprise of seeing my new half helmet in a helmet bag. Now, I don't know if helmets usually come with bags, but this one did and it was a nice touch.

After opening the box:

And after opening the bag and moving things around a little bit:

What you see here is a Harley-Davidson Spoiler half helmet. This half helmet weighs just 1 pound and 11 ounces and isn't uncomfortable at all when it's on my oversized head. The weight is due to the Aramid fiberglass shell, and the comfort level is increased with the thick liner inside that is supposed to wick away sweat. The liner, combined with the forehead venting that is built into the front of the half helmet, should reduce the chances of my skull heating up beyond my ability to deal with it.

Not that I am concerned about sweat because I have a huge sweaty head, you understand.

The visor in front is removable, which I will probably take advantage of because half helmet visors tend to catch the wind and push your head back - which is just a general pain in the ass thing that I don't need.

Now, I'm not quite done with this helmet, or with helmets in general. I did have Holstein's Harley order a half helmet, which I'm probably not going to need at this point. And I feel like an ass for not picking that up, but...I'll go over there at some point and pick up (and pay for) a good 3/4 helmet with a visor.

Also, after browsing around on Amazon for a while I found an interesting accessory that I'm going to have to pick up - the Road Tech Bluetooth 2.0 Helmet System:

I don't intend to be out on the road without my iPhone, and driving anything without using a Bluetooth headset or earpiece to have a phone conversation with is a bad idea.

So that helmet system might be one of my next purchases.
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2004 Custom Built Chopper By Big League Choppers of California

I think the owners of this 2004 Custom Built Chopper really say it best when they tell the viewer to go look at all the cookie cutter choppers that are out there, with their generic paint jobs, and compare them to this...masterpiece. Yeah, masterpiece is the only word I can use to describe this bike. The paintwork is phenomenal, the design is breathtaking.

You can say I like it. A little.

To be honest, with the unique style you're getting with this chopper, you're also getting a good price. $35,000. Not bad for something this unique. Not bad at all.

Click one of the pictures below to take a look at some of the shots they provide. The level of detail is incredible.

From the auction itself:

Every single part has been chromed, billeted, and/or custom painted. One of the most noticeable aspects of this bike is the paint which has a very rich Mahogany Base, topped with Apricot Flake, then topped with Root Beer Candy, with Silver Leaf Graphics in a Bandana Pattern. Combine that with a VERY, VERY, RARE Sugar Bear Front End, and the one off custom metal whiskey barrels make this bike a SHOW PIECE!

By the way, the rum barrels are functional…the left side is the Oil Tank, and the right side is a lockable glove box

So, does she run as good as she looks? She runs AWESOME! The motor is a 113 Ultima “EL BRUTO” show polished engine with ported heads, a 620 lift cam, and 42 mm Mukuni carb. It takes some getting use to before cracking the throttle. J The tranny is a 6 speed with a BDL open primary and custom cut cover. The pipes are Eddie Trotta Thunder Cycle design and let’s just say that with the cam and these pipes…she hits a nice lick at idle. Make sure you don’t have someone riding to the right side of you if you decide to crack the throttle. The air cleaner is from West Coast Choppers. Although this bike looks completely radical, it handles as well as any other chopper with perfect geometry. The front end gives the appearance of length without sacrificing handling.

To those of you unfamiliar with Sugar Bear of California, he is one of the original bike builders and has been building choppers since the 60’s. His front end has been patented and exclusively produced this front end design for decades. Look him up.

Go here to check it out or contact the owners with a bid.
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2002 Harley-Davidson Softail Fatboy “Cali-Style” Hotrod

Every now and then you get to see a real work of art on the road, a motorcycle that someone has really put their heart and soul into and made work.

This is one of those bikes.

And yeah, both the front and back raises or lowers based on how you want to ride this beast. If you want to slam it to the ground and ride low, or raise it up and ride at stock height, you can do either.

With over $80,000 in work and parts done to this 2002 Harley Fatboy to make it truly unique, it's going to take someone with deep pockets to bring it home. If you like to stand out, and if you have the cash, this is the ride for you.

Check out the auction.

From the auction itself:

"AIR RIDE FUN" those are the best words to describe this one of a kind and original 2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy that has been taken beyond the next level in cool custom work .
This Fatboy had been sitting disassembled 5yrs and 478mi were on the bike and finally finished at the end of last year when just 200mi more were added on for test and tune. The bike was taken completely apart and put together by a 20-year in business shop and HD certified mechanic with no expense spared.
Upon disassembly the frame was taken to the sandblaster to remove all the factory powder coating and prep the chassis for the next step the fabricator . The chassis fabrication shop added 3 degrees to the rake , fabricated covers , cleaned up all the factory flaws and completely smoothed out the frame for that super clean look.
The 88 stock motor and trans completely disassembled and taken to the powdercoater to be baked in a bright silver poly and then sent out to Diamond heads in Nevada to be Diamond cut on the jugs and the heads .
Upon return the machine shop got the motor which then bumped up the compression and cubic in to a 95incher with all top notch parts S&S gear drive , S&S cams , S&S lifters , Andrews push rods , Wiesco pistons , chrome moly rings , ETC ETC ETC and finished out in all ARLEN NESS chromed billet covers and assembled using all chrome Allen head bolts.
The trans now sports a JIMS 6 speed overdrive gear set and all ARLEN NESS chromed billet covers and all chromed Allen bolts also. The primary was tossed for a ARLEN NESS 3in chromed billet RAD primary with all chromed Allen bolts. All the lines were run thru the frame bars , 200mm rear tire etc.
I will try to break this bike down the best I can for you and to show you that in retail parts alone without the purchase of the bike and taxes I have 63 thousand plus dollars and anyone who is lucky enough to end up with this bike will be more than happy along with the response from other people which is priceless.

If you're waiting for an engraved invitation, you're not going to get it - go check the bike out yourself here...(Sorry, bike's gone)

2009 Fatboy

Made famous as Arnold Schwarzenegger's ride in Terminator 2, the Fat Boy has consistently been one of Harley-Davidson's best sellers. With a 17-inch wheel in the front and a 200mm wide tire on the back, the Harley Fatboy has a look all its own and lends itself well to customization.

Priced at $15,999 in vivid black, picking a Fatboy in any of the upgrade colors will bump the price up a slight $350, bringing the total cost of the bike to $16,344.

Upgrading the Fatboy's wheels to the polished chrome aluminum set will cost you $700, and the Harley-Davidson factory security system option will run you another $345.

The 2009 Harley Fatboy comes in these colors:

• Vivid Black
• Black Pearl
• Pewter Pearl
• Flame Blue Pearl
• Black Denim
• Red Hot Sunglo

Pictures:

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2010 Harley-Davidson Color Information

I stopped by Dillon Harley here in Omaha tonight and chatted with Jason Davis again. He's got to be tired of seeing me come in.

I didn't have a whole lot of time to spend there, which was a relief to my wife, but I did confirm with Jason that the list of 2010 Harley-Davidson colors has been out for a while now and that the turquoise and antique white two-tone will be discontinued.

Jason and I also talked a bit about the custom motorcycle painting that Dillon Brothers can do. For about $2500 or so, (and this is just a rough guesstimate on his part, so I'm not holding Dillon Brothers to it) he said they could do just about any color scheme I could think of.

That might be fun, I mentioned, as my wife shook her head.

Yeah, I's still thinking about it.

After I got home and did a little searching, I was able to find the official list of colors that Harley's are going to be available in for 2010.

First off, Harley's going to discontinue these colors:

• Black Pearl
• Pewter Pearl
• Dark Blue Pearl
• Pewter Denim
• Red Hot Denim
• Dark Blue Denim
• Crimson Red Sunglo

So if you had any of those colors set in your mind that you really wanted, you might want to put your money down now.

Here are the colors and color combinations that are going to still be available on the Harley 2010 model year:

Solid colors

• Vivid Black
• Flame Blue Pearl
• Brilliant Silver Pearl
• Black Denim
• Red Hot Sunglo
• Mirage Orange Pearl
• Brilliant Silver Denim

Two-tone colors

• Brilliant Silver Denim/Black Denim
• Vivid Black/Mirage Orange Pearl Race Stripe

And here's the list the new colors that Harley's going to be introducing on the 2010 model year lineup:

Solid colors

• Scarlet Red
• Black Ice Denim
• Black Ice Pearl

Two-tone colors

• Black Denim/Brilliant Silver Denim Race Stripe
• Vivid Black/Brilliant Silver Pearl Race Stripe
• Scarlet Red/Vivid Black
• Flame Blue Pearl/Brilliant Silver Pearl
• Vivid Black/Brilliant Silver Pearl
• Vivid Black/Black Ice Pearl
• Flame Blue Pearl/Vivid Black
• White Ice Pearl/Black Ice Pearl

Here are some pictures I managed to scrounge up of the Harley 2010 colors:

I can say with all honesty that I'm really looking forward to July, when Harley-Davidson is expected to officially release all the 2010 model year information.

2009 Softail Deluxe

If there's one classic-looking motorcycle in Harley-Davidson's lineup, the Softail Deluxe is it. The fenders cover classic wide whitewall tires on chrome laced steel wheels. There's a tombstone taillight on the rear fender and a whole lot of visible chrome.

For 2009, Harley-Davidson redesigned the seat on the Softail Deluxe, implementing collapsible pockets in the shell that make the seat narrower when the rider straddles the bike while it's at rest.

With just a 24.5 inch seat height, the Softail Deluxe is among the lowest riding full-sized motorcycles, making it a good choice for shorter riders.

Classic design touches include wide whitewall tires on Chrome Laced Steel wheels, tombstone tail light on the rear fender, intricate cloisonné and sparkling chrome.

Function has to follow form, and the Softail Deluxe features an easy-reach pull-back handlebar and riser package, a lowered suspension, an extended kickstand and an exclusive integrated luggage rack.

The 2009 Harley-Davidson Softail Deluxe comes in a good variety of colors. Solid colors on the bike will set you back $17,794, while the two-tone colors have an MSRP of $18,104. Basic Vivid Black is $17,449.

The 2009 Softail Deluxe has these colors available:

• Vivid Black
• Flame Blue Pearl (New)
• Black Denim
• Red Hot Sunglo (New)
• Two-Tone White Gold Pearl/Pewter Pearl
• Two-Tone White Gold Pearl/Black Pearl
• Two-Tone Deep Turquoise/Antique White
• Two-Tone Red Hot Sunglo/Smokey Gold

Pictures:

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2009 Rocker C

Pricing is pretty simple for this model. For the 2009 Harley-Davidson Rocker C, you've got three choices in colors. You can have Vivid Black, Flame Blue Pearl and Crimson Red Sunglo.

This bike's MSRP is $19,499 if you get it in black and will cost you $19,844 if you order it in one of the colors.

Available Options:

Security System - $345

Pictures:

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Visiting Holstein’s Harley-Davidson Dealership For The First Time

As part of the whole process of shopping for a new motorcycle, I'm going to be checking out as many dealers in the Omaha area that I can. When you're preparing yourself to drop about $18,000 to $19,000 on a new motorcycle, you want to make sure that the place you buy it from is going to be able to take care of you, that you can trust them a bit not to rip you off.

From the looks of things, unless they want to drive for a while, people who are interested in buying a Harley in the Omaha area have three choices - Dillon Brothers Harley at 180th and Maple, Frontier Harley in Lincoln and Holstein Harley-Davidson at 72nd and L street.

While it's not the first dealership I went to, I did have the opportunity to stop by the new showroom of Holstein's Harley-Davidson on the 15th of May, 2009.

Holstein's Harley-Davidson new store is located at 4940 South 72nd Street, right across from where Rod Kush's furniture store is/used to be.

I've been talking with some co-workers about different dealerships in the area, listening to their experiences and getting ideas about what the motorcycle-buying scene in Omaha is about. We have some long-term riders in my workplace, who have been buying motorcycles for decades in the Omaha area. Everyone I've talked to about the different dealerships in the area have been pretty unanimous - with most people having a negative opinion of Holstein's Harley. In some cases, vehemently negative opinions...

I've been told that Holstein's dealership wasn't really interested in selling bikes, that they just kept the franchise to get the dealership discount, that their service department sucks, that they treated people like dirt during the years that they were the only Harley dealer in town - that type of thing.

I snuck the visit in with the wife as we were heading home from Kubat's pharmacy, so I went with my wife and kids in tow. The kids were tired and the wife was tired of the kids being tired, but she indulged me and hauled everyone inside to check things out.

From what I could tell during my visit to the Holstein's dealership, it looked like they'd put some money into the building and the presentation of the place. It was very clean and well-lit. They had a pretty good selection of bikes on the floor, both new and used.

From what I saw, they had about as many bikes on the floor as Dillon Brother's Harley has. I wandered up and down the aisles and checked out the bikes. I noticed that Holstein marks their freight and dealer prep on the tags attached to the bikes - something that was missing during my many previous visits to Dillon Brothers.

I was asked once if I needed any help by a youngish-looking salesguy. I didn't need any at the moment, told him so and he left me alone, which is what I wanted. There were a few other customers in the store, more customers than salesguys, so I figured I'd let him go help someone who might want to buy today.

The selection of clothing and accessory merchandise didn't seem as extensive in Holstein's dealership as it did in Dillon Brothers. I checked out a few helmets while I was there, and was helped by a nice saleswoman. Woman, not girl. She seemed knowledgable about helmets and was eager to help me find what I needed. When she didn't have the exact helmet that I was looking for in stock, she took down my information and told me it would be ready in about 5 days. She asked if I was law enforcement, I explained my situation and she told me to mention it when I pick the helmet up to get a discount. Good customer service there, as long as they get back with me.

Despite what I've heard about their dealership, my first experience visiting Holstein's Harley-Davidson dealership was a good one. I haven't actually talked to anyone there at length, but I'm waiting for that call back about the helmet and will talk to an actual bike salesperson the next time I stop by. We'll see how that goes.
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