Harley launches the Blackline motorcycle, a new Softail model

OFF THE WIRE
Aiming at younger riders seeking a motorcycle with barebones styling, Harley-Davidson Inc. on Friday unveiled a new model in its Softail line, named Blackline.
The bike has a suggested retail price of $14,999 and is in the same genre of Dark Custom motorcycles that Harley launched in 2007.
Dark Customs are meant to recall the looks of motorcycles just after World War II, when riders took military-surplus bikes and stripped away everything they could to reduce weight and give them a minimalistic appearance.
Wisconsin native Casey Ketterhagen, a graduate of the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, was the lead stylist for the Blackline.
Ketterhage n said he wanted to design a bike that was easy for its owners to customize. The bike would have minimal graphics, a subdued paint scheme, and minimal non-essential parts and covers.
"I was trying to get back to the basics of two wheels and a motor," he said.
The Blackline has the lowest seat height of any Harley-Davidson, which was part of the styling and was meant to appeal to riders with a short inseam. It makes the bike easier to handle, said Harley spokesman Paul James. The Blackline also is priced lower than another Dark Custom Softail, the Cross Bones, which sells for $16,999.
Harley- Davidson is the world's largest manufacturer of heavyweight motorcycles. In 2008, it became the No. 1-selling motorcycle brand to young adults in the United States, according to motorcycle registration data.
Yet critics have said the company, like other motorcycle manufacturers, isn't doing enough to attract new customers.
The Dark Custom series may convince current motorcyclists to buy a bike when they thought it was beyond their budget. But the barebones genre isn't necessarily going to pull young riders into the sport, said Cyril Huze, a custom motorcycle builder from Florida.
"These new dark models still look like the ones that their parents were riding. And we know that youngsters don't want to look and act like their parents," Huze said.
Harley says it is listening to its customers, and that the popularity of the Dark Custom series speaks for itself.
"We have the No. 1 market share in the United States and the No. 1 market share in 18- to 34-year-olds," James said.
The Blackline is more than another black cruiser bike with minimal graphics, according to James.
"It's customization through minimization and uses styling cues that are very classic. It's what people want," he said.
"I think we were able to capture what Casey was trying to do," said Korry Vorndran, Blackline's lead engineer.
"We were able to get the rear fender snugged down around the tire as tight as we possibly could. And the new look cleans up the bike's front end and brings back proportions that were lost," he said.
The Blackline is scheduled to arrive at Harley dealers in about a month. Suburban Harley-Davidson, in Thiensville, has already taken an order for one of the first bikes.
"I think it will be a good fit for the young demographic. Young people like stripping their bikes down," said Todd Berlin, Suburban sales manager.
Dealers say it's good that Harley introduced a new model in January, which is a slow month for motorcycle sales and a few weeks before the company's annual dealership meeting in February.
"I think it's really smart to give us something that we can have launch parties around," said Chaz Hastings, owner of Milwaukee Harley-Davidson.
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