Can you spot the rear shock adjuster?
Harley Davidson is not holding back or onto tradition by the looks of it. The release of the 2018 Models show that they are serious about making changes.
Gone is the Dyna line of motorcycle. Three “nameplates” of the old Dyna line have been retained but they are now part of the “new” softail family. The Wide Glide and Low Rider S are gone completely along with the exposed twin rear shock Dyna frame.
The V-Rod and its 125HP right out of the box engine is gone too! No more V-Rod Muscle or Night Rod. Those bikes have been around for more than a decade but have been rolled out of the lineup for whatever the future is bringing.
The softail line has been totally changed! New engines (the Milwaukie 8), new frame and a new rear shock. Gone is the under frame, dual shock configuration, replaced with a mono-shock that is hand adjustable from the outside of the motorcycle!
As noted above, some of the old Dyna names moved over to the softail world. The Street Bob, Low Rider and Fat Bob models are additions to the softail lineup while the Softail Slim S and Fat Boy S have been dropped. Speaking of the Fat Bob… wow they really hit the styling cues out of the park, well at least for me!
Everything said and done, excluding the Sportsters, all the motorcycle in the Harley Davidson stable are now water cooled… or twin cooled to use their terminology. Harley Davidson is making waves with all the changes. Their promise of 50 new models in 5 years and 100 in 10 is well underway.
So what is my take? I like it!! Harley Davidson took a big step on technology with the Softail family. While the bikes might look the same, it is only sheet metal. Folks that have been complaining about how Harley does not embrace new(ish) technology cannot say that now. Between the new engine, water cooling, monoshocks, this is not your Dads’s softail or maybe not even your brother’s or sister’s softail.
P.S. Mr. Davidson also stated that their electric bike will be out within the next two years, how is that for embracing new technology.
The FAT BOB is looking good!
Motorcycles are small, so many people don’t make a spacious enough bike garage. Those people only think about the bikes themselves, not all the tools and machinery necessary to work on them. That could be a mistake, because there is a lot of equipment that’s nice to have. Lifts, parts cleaners, air compressors, work benches and a whole bunch of other tools will probably find their way into your space. It’s best to make sure you have the space to accommodate them all. That’s why you should add on extra space that you don’t believe you will use when coming up with the details of your space with the contractor. You will use the space, trust us.
Several band of storms later we woke up to another beautiful morning and the weather radar showed that there was no rain anywhere!!!!!!!! Our new plan was to ride cross county to Hartford, CN then down to Danbury then on to Orange County Choppers headquarters in Newburgh, NY.
Teutul’s, the bikes they produced during the run of their show are just so cool to look at in person.
We needed to reach Port Kent, New York no later than 930AM in order to make sure we are on the first ferry of the day 
The 
From the top of Whiteface we headed into town to the Olympic Museum. The museum is in the Olympic ice rank facility and while small packs in a lot of history. This is a worthy stop if you are in the area.
Shortly after crossing into WV you head into the Appalachian Mountains. These mountain roads are some twisty fun for a motorcycle! Swooping around turns, quick climbs and steep descents (up to a 9% grade) with spectacular views from the mountain tops and rolling farmland in the valleys make this a route, in my opinion, as much fun as any of the roads around the Tail of the Dragon. By the way I dragged the floorboards of the bike a few times without even trying!
I had forgotten that Route 50 passed into Maryland for a few miles so today we traveled in 4 states. When we left Maryland and rode the motorcycle back into WV Route 50 also became the 
We did make a side trip to Cairo … I am still taking my wife to all the 
There are two groups of motorcycle riders who participate in Rolling Thunder. Those that go to the Pentagon (the starting point for the parade) and those that do not go to the Pentagon. That second group seems to always be nearly identical in size to those that go to the Pentagon. This group typically rides into the city and then parks along the parade route to watch the motorcycle pass by.
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 