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| Take Your Effete, Dilettante Sportster and Stuff It |
| Reg Kittrelle |
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American Rider
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Looking as though it’s barely one step ahead of the police, EPA, DOT, and the Impeccable Taste & Easily Offended contingent, the pictured motorcycle started life as a pristine Sportster Nightster, arguably one of the best-looking Sportsters, ever.
Despite its appearance, this motorcycle is not suffering from neglect or mindless abuse. It is, in fact, a carefully crafted statement. A statement by its owner that says take your effete, dilettante Sportster and stuff it…or words to that effect.
During its 51 years the Sportster has evolved into “very nice,” “comfortable,” and “dependable,” not unlike your favorite aging aunt. An aunt who drives a hybrid and makes sure that everyone is buckled in before leaving the curb. There’s nothing wrong with this, but the Sportster started life in 1957 as America’s original muscle bike (though we didn’t know to call it that then). It was a kick-ass motorcycle with a serious attitude. There are some who believe that the XL needs to return to those roots, one of those being the owner of the pictured motorcycle, 28-year-old Rich Christoph.
Christoph is a designer at Harley-Davidson, and this statement is his personal bike. Notably, he was also the lead designer of the Nightster. When you speak with him about motorcycles the thin veneer of corporate correctness quickly wears away and you’re left with a hugely enthusiastic, obviously talented motorcycle designer with very definite opinions that he has no compunctions about stating. As with any true artist, he exudes an air of impatience caused by a head swimming with ideas, all vying for immediate exposure. Truly great designs come from fertile, slightly whacked minds such as Christoph’s; not from committees, or corporate templates.
To design a marketable Harley-Davidson—versus your personal vision of one—is, largely, to co-opt your art. Before your design reaches the street it must run the gauntlet of intense corporate scrutiny, the application of a myriad of laws and regulations, the oft times oppressive weight of tradition, and the practical needs of engineering, manufacturing and marketing. It’s a wonder that any inspired design ever makes it to the showroom. That they do can largely be attributed to the sheer passion of the designer’s continual fight for their ideas. A young designer will often lose these battles, but a good one will win enough of them to cause great things to happen.
Harley-Davidson needs great things to happen. They need designs that not only grab a rider’s attention, but also provide equally great performance. An example of this is the new Sportster XR1200 (page 32). This is a no-asterisk, no-qualifiers-needed, great motorcycle that instantly bridges the decades between the original Sportster and the demands of today’s marketplace. The lead designer of the XR1200 was Frank Savage, another young, edgy artist who delights in pushing the limits.
Harley is built on tradition. Its motorcycles are steeped in heritage, memories, and images tied to its 105 years of history. This has been a very good thing for Harley as it has fueled record-breaking growth, created ecstatic investors (OK, forget the last year) and developed worshipful owners: owners whose average age is not too far below 50 years. That is a problem for Harley. It must attract younger riders in order to sustain its success. While producing a trike is all well and good for us graybeards, it will have little impact on wooing a rider who grew up on four-cylinder Japanese hardware.
This is where artists such as Christoph and Savage come in. These guys were weaned on high performance and high style; their traditions began last year, not last century. They can talk to, and understand, today’s young riders. And, given the freedom, they will design motorcycles that once again fire the imagination. My suggestion? Lengthen their leashes, give ’em all the drawing pencils they need…and stand back.
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