Harley-Davidson unveils 2010 customs, but can they stop the bleeding?

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The news from the dairy state isn’t good. Harley-Davidson’s motorcycle sales were down 30% in the second quarter of 2009 versus one year prior, according to the company’s most recent earnings report, prompting a 25% to 30% reduction in this year’s bike shipments and the impending layoffs of 1,000 employees. Ouch.

But there is, Harley hopes, a bright spot, and that’s with its Custom Vehicle Operations – limited-production, factory customs that cater to Harley’s most loyal and moneyed fans – bikers who’ve already owned a half-dozen Hogs but are willing to give up even more garage space for their habit. For 2010, Harley loyalists have a lot of options to flaunt the fact that they still have jobs and good credit. Milwaukee’s given four very different models the CVO treatment – two all new, two fan favorites that are returning for extra curtain calls.

New this year is the just-in-time-for-Sturgis Softail Convertible – a bike that can shed its touring garb and transform into a boulevard-cruising beauty in mere minutes – and the Street Glide, a hot rod bagger with a tight-to-the-wheel front fender that’s trimmed to show some leg, er wheel. The Fat Bob is back for a second CVO spin, with a new smoky chrome finish and distressed, brown-leather saddle, and the cream-of-the-crop Ultra Classic Electra Glide dresser continues for a fifth CVO year with blinding, wraparound LED taillights and an improved backrest to keep the old lady from grumping.

All four bikes use the power monger’s special – the CVO-exclusive 110-cubic-inch motor that first debuted for the 2007 model year. All four feature paint schemes that will never be available to the working stiffs who buy non-CVO versions of the same bikes, though many of the features and accessories that are making their custom debuts in 2010 will trickle down to future product or be immediately available as accessories in the Harley catalog. So much for exclusivity.

I had a chance to taste test all four bikes for a day in early July, and here are my impressions.

CVO Softail Convertible: Anyone who’s slogged to Sturgis from L.A. on a dresser immediately regrets it once the bike’s parked. Sure, the windshield was great on the freeway, but it’s a bug-splattered eyesore in town, which is why Harley has come up with the concept of ‘extreme detachability’ – a package of quickly detaching accessories that can be pulled off the bike without tools and hauled to your hotel room ‘til checkout. Harley first introduced the quick-detach concept on its short-lived Dyna convertible almost a decade ago, but it’s re-introduced and expanded it here. The shorty windshield, saddlebags, passenger seat and backrest can all be de- and re-attached in minutes. I tried it, and it was easy. It isn’t 100% flawless, however, i.e. the rubber strips that remain on the rear fender after the passenger seat’s been peeled off, and the metal brackets that are left after the bags have been put away, mess with the aesthetics of the bike in its show-pony mode, but I guess you can’t have everything.

Ride-wise, this lightweight tourer is extremely comfortable, if low. With a 24.4-inch saddle, it’s one of the shortest bikes in Harley’s lineup, which makes it very easy to control – and even easier to feel macho, because you’ll be scraping pegs through the turns. Just be careful in the twisties, because this bike is a bit of a butter knife. With a wheelbase of 64.2 inches, it’s more of a straight-line ride.

CVO Fat Bob. The Fat Bob is already one of my favorite bikes in the Harley lineup because it’s so sleek, fast and nimble, but in its CVO incarnation it’s a real hooligan. Outfitted with the 110-incher, this bike rides like a bronco on cocaine. It’s so torque-y, it wants to ride out from under you at the slightest twist of the grip, which is a blast unless you accelerate hard, in which case your feet will be pried off the pegs. Flat-out fast on the straightaways, it’s a real whippersnapper in the canyons.

Based on its performance characteristics, red would seem the appropriate color, but this bike is (Charlie) brown. Brown isn’t a paint color you see that often on bikes, but on the Fat Bob it’s stunning because of the way the paint is applied. It’s a clear overlay on the grinder-ed metal of the fenders and tank, which, in the sun, makes the paint looks as if it was inlaid with feathers. Complementing the paint is the distressed brown leather saddle, which is a gorgeous, and novel, detail that makes this already outstanding bike look even more Wild West and special.

CVO Ultra Classic Electra Glide. Already, this is Harley’s top-of-the-line machine – a fully dressed tourer with so many trimmings it could practically ride itself. But there is always room at the top to be even more top-end, which is what Harley’s done with its fifth CVO version of this bike. In addition to its Harman/Kardan stereo system, in addition to heated leather seats, in addition to cruise control and anti-lock brakes, this $35,999 machine now has an adjustable lumbar support in the passenger backrest, the thinking being that a happy passenger makes an even happier rider, and a wraparound LED taillight that could blind approaching traffic from the rear. The luggage now has LEDs inside as well, so riders no longer need to wish for a full moon or seek out parking near a lamp post while pawing around in their bags. And, there are now carry-out luggage liners for the sidebags and Tour-Pak top case. The only thing this bike’s missing is a butler.

For a bike that’s practically a car, the Ultra Classic handles extremely well, thanks to a 2009 chassis overhaul that made it handle more like a sport car and less like a truck. For a fat man, it can certainly dance, even in major twisties. Even though this bike weighs 168 more pounds than the Softail CVO and sits an inch taller, I found this heavyweight tourer was more nimble in the canyons than Harley’s lightweight Softail Convertible.

CVO Street Glide: The wheels Harley intros on its CVOs are some of its bestsellers, and it’s the wheels on this version of the Street Glide that Harley is doing its best to show off. The sevencurved spokes on the 18-inch ‘Agitator’ wheels look like the teeth of a saber-tooth tiger, which, if you like wild game, may be pleasing. The floating front brake rotors and the shortened front fender were both designed to highlight this bike’s gams.

-- Susan Carpenter