sundown on my last day with the lowrider s my conclusion is I love it drop-dead
gorgeous effortlessly powerful is the kind of machine you want to live with
the kind I don't want to give back at sunrise tomorrow but let's screw tearful
goodbyes I mean there's a few cold riding hours left between now and dawn
and this hardly isn't afraid of the dark in the long history of the Motor Company
only three models and peaked my interest the f XR the XR 1200 and this lowrider s
so hardly files what am I getting at the FX r was a stripped-down f LT with more
power less vibration and cornering suspension the XR 1200 was a style
throwback to the famous flat tracker the lowrider s of course is a perfect bit of
both it's a Dyna on a diet getting the same sport treatment as the original f
XR but it is also a style symbol the humpback seat taken from my beloved flat
tracker the heavy breather air intake also a nod to the racer but the night
reveals something else blacked-out parts and control buttons bikini fairing tall
risers drag bars that's animage to the dark side the club
style Dinah's that you might find parked outside sketchy nightclubs or in police
impound laws ripping off Jax tellers ride from Sons of Anarchy was a clever
move for Harley they say the S series is going to attract a younger customer or
someone who might outlive the current crop of gray-haired hog enthusiasts and
with this dark Beauty I think they're right my only visual complaint is the
cast aluminum wheels not only calls them scorched chrome a color you've probably
known for a while as brown they look dull and cheap in real life not nearly
glossy enough to match the inky black tank nor the shimmering gold logo
the thing about riding in the middle of the night is there are a lot of lonely
roads lonely roads to fill with a hundred and fifteen foot-pounds of
torque more than any other s-series bike and
fifteen more than the standard lowrider and because it's a Harley horsepower is
somewhere between who cares and good enough in the civilized world we'd said
that the lowrider s has a 1801 CC v-twin but this is a murican machine so I have
to say that it has a 110 cubic inch screamin eagle twin cam
oddly enough the beefy powerplant doesn't feel more powerful than the 103
that the other diners get the only difference I noticed is that this engine
flexes its muscles further up to tack where the 103 hits its stride around
3000 rpm this 110 loves to sit above 3,500 problem is the limiter is set at a
tame 5500 rpm so I always find myself bouncing off the glass ceiling it's as
annoying as a two period hockey game I mean just when things start to get
exciting it's over but raising the rev limiter is a simple aftermarket ignition
fix and once that's done the lowrider s fills the night with smooth
heart-pounding power
Chinatown a labyrinth of neon alleyways not the place for a cumbersome Harley
but the lowrider s has a nimble triangle minimal pullback at the bars mid
controls 27 inch seat hitting all three corners means leaning in to applicable
riding position and I've got the premium ride suspension to back it up
motion shocks that are quicker to turn in more planted in a corner but also
more comfortable on rubbish roads now I didn't want to say for a Harley anywhere
in this review but the truth is at 305 kilograms
only it really passes for lightweight at a Harley dealership in the same way the
brakes are good for a Harley I have dual 300 millimeter discs they do stop
quicker than most hogs but I still have to squeeze the shit out of the front
lever and balance that with a few pumps on the rear it's typical Harley numbness
and the doctor's orders are the same as usual steel braided cables and better
pads on that note it's important to understand what a sport package does to
Harley it makes it handle better in the everyday sense obviously but the low
rider S is still no canyon card the lean angle ain't much and it isn't even
consistent Bank left you'll scrape the foot peg at thirty point five degrees
bank right and you'll scrape the exhaust at twenty nine point five and of course
the wheels are a long way apart with a ton of weight in between so the chassis
does squirm around a bit in the corner I will say though with it for a bike with
a thirty point five degree rake the front-end feel is actually pretty good
it's not that vague chop shops shipyards bad neighborhoods
tonight they make me nervous because everything on the lowrider s is worth
money Harley starts with a standard lowrider
seventeen thousand and change here in Canada then they had the 110 engine
premium ride suspension chalk rear fender ABS cruise control 5.5 inch
risers fat 49 mil Forks a heavy breather air intake and the two into two
tommy-gun exhaust from Fat Bob it's a fortune in parts and that gives the bike
a real worked on look in fact it'd be a thirty thousand dollar custom where you
to build it yourself using the standard lowrider and all the accessories from
the parts catalog and yet somehow Harley rolls this lowrider s off the factory
line for only twenty thousand six 99 I wouldn't change much of it either
the exhaust doesn't look anything like Tom begun if I'm being honest it doesn't
breathe all that well either so I'd hack it off and install something with less
back pressure and more ground clearance that way I'll actually reap the
potential power gains from the heavy breather air intake and I'll get an
extra degree of lean angle while I'm at it
then I'd swap these stubby to point one inch shocks it'll kill me because
they're worth 800 bucks and I've never actually bought in the mount but taller
suspension is going to give me another lean angle or two plus it'll raise the
seat height that means my knees won't have to make such a sharp bend now the
only problem is the Sun is about to rise in this little keyless fob that disables
the stock alarm system and lets me start the bike that doesn't belong to me my
hands are still numb from the vibration of that rubber mounted engine my right
leg still burning from the stupidly hot header pipes my neck is still sore from
craning give you a tachometer that sits miles below the line of sight and in my
pocket I still have this rain sock for the ridiculously exposed air filter
it's hard to forget the lowriders flaws weird thing is though I don't want to so
I blew off my meeting with the Harley rep and I've got myself one more day
with a lowrider s