![2008 Harley Davidson FXSTC Softail Custom](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/2008_Harley_Davidson_FXSTC_Softail_Custom.jpg)
A softail (shortened form of ''soft tail'') motorcycle intentionally looks like vintage motorcycles with a rigid hard-tail frame that has a triangle of steel tubes at the rear axle, like on a
bicycle frame
A bicycle frame is the main component of a bicycle, onto which wheels and other components are fitted. The modern and most common frame design for an upright bicycle is based on the safety bicycle, and consists of two triangles: a main triangl ...
, but on a Softail these tubes are actually a triangular swingarm, with the shock absorber(s) hidden, as opposed to clearly visible regular twin shocks on both sides of the rear wheel on standard bikes. Since the introduction of the
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...
''FXST Softail'' in 1983
as a
registered trademark
The registered trademark symbol, , is a typographic symbol that provides notice that the preceding word or symbol is a trademark or service mark that has been registered with a national trademark office. A trademark is a symbol, word, or word ...
of the Motor Company, ''softail'' has become a
genericized trademark
A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of products or ...
for other models of cruiser motorcycles with
rear suspensions hidden for retro style reasons. This was done even though the rear wheel was often hidden behind bags or exhaust pipes.
The hard tail becomes obsolete
The first
rear suspensions on motorcycles were introduced before World War I, and many companies offered fully suspended motorbikes before World War II, but most designs were either expensive, prone to wear and tear, or added more instability than comfort or better roadholding, especially when damping was insufficient. The models that remained hard tails offered suspended bicycle-like seats for a minimum of rider comfort. After World War II, imported British bikes with rear suspension and good handling became popular. Harley-Davidson replaced the ''Springer'' leading link fork in 1949 with a telescopic hydraulically dampened ''Hydra Glide'' front fork that offered more travel, a design that is still state-of-the-art today. After the all-new entry-level 1952
Harley-Davidson Model K
The Harley-Davidson Sportster is a line of motorcycles produced continuously since 1957 by Harley-Davidson. Sportster models are designated in Harley-Davidson's product code by beginning with "XL". In 1952, the predecessors to the Sportster, the ...
adopted the by now standard rear swingarm with twin shock absorbers, the Big Twin FL continued to rely on the big suspended seat until the 1958 ''Duo Glide'' got twin shocks, too.
The hard tail becomes cult
In the 1950s and 1960s, customized motorcycles appeared, many of them based on old Harleys, like surplus US Army
Harley-Davidson WLA
The Harley-Davidson WLA is a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that was produced to US Army specifications in the years during and around World War II. It was based on an existing civilian model, the WL, and is of the 45 solo type, so called due to its ...
, or other brands, and often with hard tail frames rather than suspended ones. While the earlier
bobbers still used the suspended single seat, the 1960s
choppers
Chopper may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Chopper (comics), ''Chopper'' (comics), a horror comic book mini-series
* Chopper (film), ''Chopper'' (film), a 2000 Australian film by and about Mark "Chopper" Read
* Chopper (Judge Dredd), Chopper ...
had a small seat cushion directly on the hard tail frame, giving the rider a position much lower and rearward than on stock Harleys, which at the time were mainly ridden by Police officers. This position was without doubt uncomfortable, but it looked cool and gave the rider a tough guy, outlaw image. Some other obsolete and risky features were still used for coolness, like the so-called suicide clutch that was operated by left foot, with the left hand working a jockey shift, or the kick starter, even after electric starters were available. Even the front brake was removed for a good clean look, like on the more famous of the ''
Easy Rider
''Easy Rider'' is a 1969 American independent drug culture road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda, and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American So ...
'' Harleys, the "Captain America". As seen in the movie, these hard tails were not easy to ride on bad roads. When a bump is coming up, like a railway crossing, the rider better lifts his butt up up or gets a possibly painful kick in the rear. Even after suspension was available for over 20 years, in the 1970s many riders preferred these old style tough guy frames, and even new hard tail frames were made by aftermarket companies.
In 1970, Harley only had the big twin full-dresser touring bike, the FLH Electra Glide, and the small XL Sportster. With the FX Super Glide, the Big Twin
Harley-Davidson Shovelhead engine was offered without the extras of the E-Glide, and with the narrow front end of the Sportster, later offered as the FXRS Low Rider. By the end of the decade, the FXWG Wide Glide was kind of a factory chopper, with a wide telescopic fork like on the FLH, narrow 21 inch wheel, buckhorn handle bar, bobbed fender, a small sissy bar, and even flames paint job. It still had twin shocks, though, and many bikers wanted the clean look of the hard tail frame, with the frame forming a straight line from the steering head to the rear axle.
The hard tail becomes resurrected as FXST Softail
Bill Davis, an avid Harley rider and engineer from St. Louis, Missouri, designed his softail in the mid-1970s. His first design, which he worked on in 1974 and 1975, had a cantilever swingarm like on vintage
Vincent Motorcycles
Vincent Motorcycles was a British manufacturer of motorcycles from 1928 to 1955. The business was established by Philip Vincent who bought an existing manufacturing name HRD, initially renaming it as ''Vincent HRD'', producing his own motorcy ...
that pivoted at the bottom and sprung at the top with the springs and shock absorber hidden under the seat.
Davis then built a prototype based on his 1972 Super Glide. He patented the design and arranged to meet
Willie G. Davidson August 1976. Davidson was impressed, but made no commitments, and six months later, said Harley-Davidson was interested but would not use the design at that time.
In April 1980, Harley-Davidson started work on its own rear suspension design that would have the look of a hard-tail motorcycle. The job was given a low priority until later in the year it was transferred to Jim Haubert Engineering, a firm that Harley-Davidson contracted yearly to custom build motorcycles and prototypes. Haubert built a prototype using his own rear suspension design that closely followed the look of the earlier Harley rigid frames. This version was completed enough for review by Harley-Davidson in January 1981.
[Haubert, Jim (October 6, 2016)]
Softail Project Introduction
/ref>
Davis continued to develop the design, switching the pivot and the springing points around so that the springs and shock absorber were under the frame and the pivot point was at the top of the triangular swingarm. This allowed the traditional horse shoe shaped Harley-Davidson oil tank to be placed under the seat. Davis attempted to produce the new design independently as the Road Worx Sub-Shock, but the partnership he had put together for this purpose collapsed. Harley-Davidson executive Jeffrey Bleustein
Jeffrey L. Bleustein is an American business executive, and the former Chief executive officer of Harley-Davidson. He is credited with helping save the company from possible bankruptcy in the 1980s, and leading the company's resurgence as the domi ...
contacted Davis shortly afterward and began negotiations to buy Davis's design. Davis sold his patents, prototype, and tooling to Harley-Davidson in January 1982.
After further testing and development, Davis's design was introduced in June 1983 as the 1984 Harley-Davidson FXST Softail. This basically was an FXWG Wide Glide, but instead of the visible twin shocks, the softail swingarm was used, with the shocks hidden under the gearbox, which at the time was still 4-speed with kickstarter and chain. Other companies had introduced rear suspension designs with invisible shocks, but for performance reasons. The Harley Softail was the first modern motorcycle intentionally designed to look as if it was decades older. Between gearbox and seat, the rather dull asymmetric battery box (right side) and black oil tank (left side) was replaced by the symmetric horse-shoe shaped chrome oil tank around the battery in the middle, another feature of the old hard tail era.
In addition, Harley had just completed the "buy back" from AMF, and had developed the all-aluminium Harley-Davidson Evolution engine
The Evolution engine (popularly known as Evo and sometimes as Blockhead ) is an air-cooled, 45-degree, V-twin engine manufactured from 1984 by Harley-Davidson for the company's motorcycles. It was made in the displacement for Harley-Davidson ...
that was more reliable that the Shovelhead, and had heads that looked like square versions of the round Panheads. It was first offered in the Softail, and helped making it a success.
Other Harley-Davidson Softails
From 1986 onwards, Harley offered the Heritage Softail that copies the look of the 1950s Hydra Glide full dresser, with big front wheel, big head lights plus additional lights, big fenders, floor boards, saddle bags, windshield. By 1988, even the Springer front fork that was discontinued in 1948 was offered again, as a modern design with better bushings and a central damper. Even Heritage Springers were offered, that looked like the 1936 to 1948 Knuckleheads.
There have been many Harley-Davidson models with the Softail frame, including the Softail Standard, Custom, Springer Softail, Heritage Softail, Heritage Springer, Night Train, Deluxe, Deuce, Fat Boy, Softail Slim, the Dark Custom Cross Bones, the Dark Custom Blackline and Breakout. With the exception of the Deuce, which has a longer tank, these motorcycles have the same engines, transmissions, and frames, differing mainly in the fork, wheels, and accessories.
Front forks
The Softail model line has multiple front fork configurations. Historically, they have had Springer leading link forks, reminiscent of the sprung front-ends that were used before the Hydra-Glide in 1949. The FXST designation is used for 21" front wheel bikes or when the Springer fork is used with a 21" wheel, while the FLST designation is used for 16" front wheel bikes or when the Springer fork is used with a 16" wheel.
Engines
Because Softail models do not have rubber-mounted engines, they have more vibration in Evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
-engined Softails than in rubber-mounted Touring or Dyna models with Evolution engines. To compensate, later models used a counterbalanced version of the Twin Cam engine, the 88B, instead of the regular Twin Cam engine used in the Touring and Dyna models. The Twin Cam was enlarged to 96Bb and 103B before it was replaced by a variant of the Harley-Davidson Milwaukee-Eight engine
The Harley-Davidson Milwaukee-Eight engine is the ninth generation of "big twin" engines developed by the company, but only Harley's third all-new Big Twin in 80 years, first introduced in 2016. These engines differ from the traditional Harley Big ...
for the 2018 model year.
New Softail from 2018 onwards
In 2017, Harley unveiled a completely redesigned Softail frame for the 2018 model year, the first major change since the introduction of the Twin Cam engine in 2000. The 2018 Softail frame uses a differently shaped swingarm suspended by a single rear shock absorber, mounted underneath the seat in a similar fashion to the original Haubert and Davis designs. Harley claims that the new chassis is significantly stiffer and lighter than the previous-generation Softail and Dyna platforms, the latter being discontinued with some of its models being carried over to the new Softail chassis. The 2017 Street Bob 103 ci was dyno tested and made and at the rear wheel. The new 2018 Street Bob 107 ci makes and at the rear wheel. The 114 ci motor such as in the 2018 Heritage Classic produces and at the rear wheel.
Customizing
The Softail is the most popular Harley-Davidson model family for heavy customizing and is often used for show bikes. Many aftermarket manufacturers around the globe have specialized in Softail parts & accessories like wheels, fenders or tanks to change the look of the custom motorcycle
A custom motorcycle is a motorcycle with stylistic and/or structural changes to the 'standard' mass-produced machine offered by major manufacturers. Custom motorcycles might be unique, or built in limited quantities. While individual motorcyclis ...
. Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...
also started an Inspiration Gallery to show their latest factory custom parts on all new models [ ] - many have their origin in CVO Softails, which are handmade Limited-Editions of the regular models.
File:FatBoyLo (2).jpg, 2011 Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...
FLSTFB Softail Fat Boy Lo
File:2008 Harley Davidson FXSTC Softail Custom.jpg, 2008 Harley Davidson FXSTC Softail Custom
File:Harley Davidson Fat Boy 2018 FLFBS.jpg, Harley Davidson Fat Boy 2018 FLFBS 114 ci
File:Harley Davidson Softail Slim 2018.jpg, Harley Davidson Softail Slim 2018
Softails by other brands
Other softail-style motorcycles:
*Honda VT600C
The Honda Shadow VT600C, also known as the Honda Shadow VLX, is a cruiser motorcycle made by Honda from 1988 through 2008. It has a liquid cooled V-twin engine, a four-speed transmission, 35° rake, chain drive, and a single-shock softail-style ...
(Shadow VLX)
* Kawasaki Vulcan 800, 900
__NOTOC__
Year 900 ( CM) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Abbasid Caliphate
* Spring – Forces under the Transoxianian emir Isma'il ibn Ahmad are ...
* Suzuki VL 1500 Intruder LC / Boulevard C90
* Victory Vegas
*Yamaha Royal Star
In 1996 Yamaha introduced the Royal Star motorcycle. This motorcycle uses the basic power package from the Yamaha Venture Royale.
Other machines using variations of this engine include the Royal Star Venture, the Royal Star Tour Deluxe, and the ...
, Royal Star Venture
*Yamaha XV1600A
The Yamaha XV1600A is a cruiser-style motorcycle. It is also called the Yamaha Road Star or in Europe the Yamaha Wild Star. It was produced from 1999 through model year 2014 when the Roadstar model line was discontinued. The 1999-2003 models wer ...
(Road Star, XV1700)
*Yamaha DragStar 650
The Yamaha DragStar 650 ''(also known as the V Star 650 and the XVS650/XVS650A)'' is a motorcycle produced by Yamaha Motor Company
is a Japanese multinational manufacturer of motorcycles, marine products such as boats and outboard motors ...
, 950
Year 950 ( CML) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Arab–Byzantine War: A Hamdanid army (30,000 men) led by Sayf al-Dawla raids int ...
, 1100
* Zero Engineering Type 9
*Daelim
Daelim Industrial was established in 1939, and its E&C (Engineering & Construction) and Petrochemical Groups are the main lead of the Daelim Business Conglomerate (Chaebol).
The fields covered by Daelim Industrial as one of the top EPC Company ...
VL Daystar
See also
* Bicycle suspension
Bicycle suspension is the system, or systems, used to ''suspend'' the rider and bicycle in order to insulate them from the roughness of the terrain. Bicycle suspension is used primarily on mountain bikes, but is also common on hybrid bicycles ...
* List of Harley-Davidson motorcycles
A list of motorcycles produced under the Harley-Davidson brand.
Pre-war
Hummer/American Lightweight
Aermacchis sold as Harley-Davidsons
Aermacchi
Aermacchi was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Formerly known as Aeronautica Macchi, the ...
References
External links
Cruelworld Softail
at Von Dutch Kustom Cycles.
{{Harley-Davidson model families
Motorcycle suspension technology
Bicycle parts
Harley-Davidson motorcycles