“The new FXSTC Softail Custom offers the ultimate ride for those who want to kick back with their feet stretched out for a comfortable solo ride, or with a passenger,” so claims the factory. “The new Twin Cam 96B engine and 6-speed Cruise Drive transmission enhances the ride, while the combination of laid-back chopper-inspired style and the comfort of a two-up seat and backrest is sure to stand out on the street.”
Where shall I begin? This is the classic factory custom pulled from the grave and delivered back to the world at large with a pumped engine, an overdrive gear in the transmission, a larger rear tire and higher bars. It’s the improved version of a classic that will never die.
”The Softail Custom goes wide with a 200mm rear tire on a polished slotted disc forged aluminum wheel wrapped by a traditional bobtail fender,” the gods of the factory continue in their detailed literature. “A polished stainless steel ape-hanger handlebar towers over a Fat Bob fuel tank adorned with triple-laid custom decals and embossed leather tank strap.”
“A bullet-style headlamp rides over a standard 21-inch chrome profile laced aluminum front wheel. With chrome details adorning the new powertrain, the only thing the Softail Custom brings from the past is its name. Choose from three solid and four two-tone color schemes, plus three two-tone custom color options.”
All of the above is true. I came from the chopper tribe and to ride a stock bike runs me dangerously close to the curse of Ming da Metal Flake. I immediately saw potential offerings to the god of the torch. We tested this bike as part of the Bikernet Independent Noise Study. We needed to reach out and find a bone stock bike to compare in our effort to point out that all motorcycle noise ain’t bad, and stock bikes are actually dangerous from an awareness standpoint.
You can check out our Noise Study by clicking here: Bikernet Independent Noise Study
I’m the outlaw of Harley-Davidson’s past. I represent all that H-D feared in the mid ‘70s, which brought them back to life in the ‘80s. They were dragged into the custom realm kicking and screaming, then came to enjoy its popularity, independence, pride and profits. Now we’re facing a new age with a smattering of expanded audiences of varied demographics. There’s the touring world that’s now at the top of H-D sales, whereas for over a decade the Softail ruled as king. There are also young gun riders straddling Sucker Punch Sally's flat black choppers and the RUBs on Big Dogs.
So where does the factory turn? The custom world exploded. The production custom universe expands daily with financing to allow a rider to buy a Big Dog or Saxon with a credit card. Ah, but there’s a tremendous portion of the riding public who demands only pure Harley-Davidson, the moderate, the warranty, the dealer network and the reduced price tag. We’ll grapple with each of those elements.
As I straddled this 703 pound monster with its 82 decibel exhaust and dodged traffic from Harbor City to the Port of Los Angeles, I thought about so much as the mirrors stood perfectly still in the wind. The 2007 Softail is mechanically refined, yet its styling package is awkward. The 1584cc engine stepped up to a new era with Twin Cams, but it wasn’t enough to silence the booming Evo tradition, and every production custom on the market sports Evolution technology proudly. Only a handful of custom builders deal with Twin Cam driveline installations, including Paul Yaffe.
Whereas Twin Cams sport adjusted pushrod angles, powered by Twin cams and the solidity of the transmission and engine elements mated securely make for a stronger driveline, I don’t hear screams from the aftermarket complaining about flexing stock Evo or BDL primaries. In some cases, the Evo technology appears to be a very compact, simple, refined mix of engineering developed in 1936 and improved on until 1999. I also hear reports of Twin Cam-cam bearing failures and HYVO cam chain problems at 15,000 miles. On the other side of the fence some builders stand solidly on the side of the Twin Cam as an improved design.
Sidebar from Bruce our copy editor:The tensioner shoe bugaboo seems to be something of a crapshoot. Mine lasted 58K before I swapped for gear-driven cams (although the inner shoe war nearly worn to its service limit). A friend of mine had a shoe grenade in his ’03 Road King at 40K, taking out an oil pump with it.
The “B” counterbalanced engine runs smooth, and although there was a clunk in first gear shifting, all other gears clicked effortlessly and the clutch action was light and easy. The factory has bent to the whims of the wide tire fans to install a 200mm tire with a whisper of a narrow drive belt, but Gates technology kept up with the slim action by producing an iron clad, tapered belt to handle the power of the new 96-cubic inch engine that comes stock on all big twins with 3.75-inch bore and 4.38 stroke.
The factory was dead right in their rambling about the soft seat that’s bigger than the 5-gallon tanks and comfort level. But at 6'5″, I feel cramped on the Softail, although it looks big at 94 overall inches, with a 64-inch wheelbase and over 5 inches of ground clearance. The factory could take an ergonomic cue from Victory and study the average size of today’s rider compared to the madmen of ’36 and stretch the frame slightly. The chassis is a classic design, but needs refinement. The top of the neck looked like a cast chunk of railroad track.
At my height, the moderate high bars were a major plus for comfort and feel. I moved mine forward a bit and felt right at home, but someone pointed out that the old classic tank gauges are awkward to read at speeds, since the rider is forced to drop his eyes to the tank, almost two feet below.
As I stood back and looked at this classic, and my mind whirled with notions of custom changes and refinements, I slipped behind the scenes. In a sense, the Softail and its $16,900 to a $17,700 price tag, all with Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI), allows any of us a solid base to expand on our notions for independence (security system $325). That’s the Harley-Davidson mantra and the custom sport. If the bike was perfect how could we explore our imaginations, our creativity and individuality?
Harley gave us the reasonably priced base, and then it’s up to us to stretch the tanks, replace the rear fender, refine the frame, add paint, pipes and open the air cleaner to let the engine breathe. We can pump the performance, black out the look, add more chrome or turn it into a touring custom with bags and windshield. I know guys who can turn a stock Softail into a thing of beauty.
The factory afforded fans this base model on the coattails of the choppers of the ‘70s and then supplied us with a 900-page catalog of parts and accessories, including 40 pages of Screamin’ Eagle performance upgrades. They backed their catalog with a dealer network of over 684 dealers nationwide and 550 overseas. To top that off, there’s a gang of Harley Riders called Harley Owners Group (HOG) a support group for riders with 716 chapters in the U.S., 687 international chapters and 1,061,600 members total.
Sure, the brakes work fine and the teardrop turn signals have some style. I love the new wheel rim contoured shape on the standard 21-inch front wheel. I always like traditional spokes over billet or wheels that catch the wind like this rear job. The front end handles in the classic sense and is reshaped to give the impression of the hand-ground customized glides of the past.
The controls are ergonomic, wide and easy to pull. The foot controls are traditional and coated with heavy rubber for vibration dampening and grip. The shifter and rear brake pedal pads are easy to reach and adjustable for bigger or smaller boots.
She handled like a Softail handles with 33.5 degrees of rake angle and 5 inches of trail, and to discuss the performance would only be looking at the cover of the book. It’s not a sport bike but a super reliable cruiser with plenty of highway stability. This bike will take you everywhere and back.
Performance is in the eye of the Screamin’ Eagle Catalog or our vast aftermarket network. What quietly rolls out of a dealership is a far cry from the nightly burnout master. It’s capable delivering a solid 100 horses to the pavement anytime, anywhere with cams, tuning, big bore kits, performance exhaust and more. It’s unlimited.
So what’s the bottom line on this road test? Hell, I don’t know. It could be demographically defined. Does the new audience want to build bikes, make mods and feel the custom spirit? Or do they want to straddle a factory chopper and rock the world from coast to coast without ever changing a sparkplug? Harley tried to reach out to everyone by offering custom packages and Screamin’ Eagle based performance bikes, for the rider who has no downtime to burn.
They offer the old school 900 pages of options to afford the aficionado the opportunity to create his or her own rolling masterpiece. Plus they offer the world of motorcycling a lifestyle infrastructure like no company on the planet. You can party with your dealer, attend seminars, study rider training, enjoy HOG meetings, rent bikes, drag race, road race, flat track race, customize your bike, go to rallies and travel to the far reaches of the earth, all supported by Harley-Davidson. Sure, that clunky frame needs refinement, but what the hell. Let’s ride.
Here's Bruce's Slant on the new model compared to his '03: Seems like every so often, H-D kills a model and then resurrects it a few years later in the name of “nostalgia” or “custom,” huh?
A lot of the things they’ve done with the Custom, I did with my ’03 FXST, minus the chrome foofraw – mini apes, a cushy Mustang seat ‘cause the stock seat was killing my lower back. The bike pretty much fits me like a glove, but at 5”7” and 165, I don’t suffer from oxygen deprivation like you big guys. I briefly considered getting a new bike a few months ago, then thought fuck it. This bike fits me, and with the engine mods, my 88B’s torque equals that of the stock 96 and its horsepower is way beyond the anemic 69 of the TC96B. –Bruce Snyder 2007 FXSTC Softail Custom features: New rigid-mount, 1584cc Twin Cam 96B balanced engine CLUB H.O.G DOWN HOME ANNOUNCES ENTERTAINMENT AGENDA FOR 2007– MILWAUKEE, Wis. (May 22, 2007) –Headline acts Montgomery Gentry, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, and Cowboy Mouth will fill two stages of live entertainment with the sound of stomping boots and thunderous applause at the Harley Owners Group (H.O.G) Club H.O.G. DOWN HOME: 24th Annual Rally, August 24-25, 2007, at Chilhowee Park in Knoxville, Tenn. Harley-riding duo Montgomery Gentry has rocked the country music world since 1999 with their blue-collar anthems and tales of life, love and patriotism. Winners of numerous national awards, they were recently nominated for the 2007 Academy of Country Music Award for Top Vocal Duo. Montgomery Gentry will rock Club H.O.G. DOWN HOME on Friday, August 24, at the Harley stage. New this year, Colorado-based band Big Head Todd & the Monsters brings its laid-back, slightly jazzy, blues-based rock to the Harley stage Saturday afternoon. A favorite on the national recording and concert scene since the release of its breakthrough album, “Sister Sweetly,” in 1992, the band just released “From the Archives – Vol. 1,” a collection of their greatest hits. Crowd favorite Cowboy Mouth returns to CLUB H.O.G. DOWN HOME with its New Orleans style of rock 'n roll and legendary live shows sure bring down the house Saturday at the Miller Tennessee Tap stage. Perhaps Cake magazine said it best when it wrote “…on a bad night they'll tear the roof off the joint and on a good night they'll save your soul.” Other performers include genre-bending master guitarist DB Bryant Band, high-energy Blues, Rock and Boggie band Dixie Werewolves, steel horse-riding traditional Country artist Sundance & the Roughriders, Blues/Rock power trio Sonny Moorman Group and the “Road-tested Country” group the Drew Davis Band. Performances at the Stunt Zone include Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Motorcycle Drill Team, Seattle Cossacks Stunt Team, Bubba Blackwell: The Buell American Daredevil, ILLConduct, and Bruce Rossmeyer's Ft. Lauderdale Harley-Davidson Drill Team. While most activities are limited to registered H.O.G. member event attendees, the Knoxville community is encouraged to participate in various rally activities such as free demo rides on 2008 Harley-Davidson 105th anniversary models and Buell motorcycles, viewing the newly re-designed Harley-Davidson Traveling Museum and cheering on the motorcycles during the Knoxville Parade of Harleys on Saturday morning. The public is also invited to attend the Smoky Mountain Shindig: Where the HOG Meets the Dragon on Thursday, August 23, at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson and Buell in Maryville, the Knox Rocks Down Home HOG Fest hosted by Knoxville Harley-Davidson and Buell on Saturday, August 25 at both local dealerships and Down Home at the Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson and Buell on Saturday. H.O.G. members can pre-register for CLUB H.O.G. DOWN HOME by visiting www.members.hog.com or by calling 1-800-CLUBHOG (1-800-258-2464) for a fee of $15 plus $5 shipping and handling. On-site registration will also be available for $15. Scheduled events are subject to change.
Black powder-coated engine with chrome treatment
New 6-speed Cruise Drive transmission
New wide 200mm rear tire with wide, sculpted Bobtail fender
Polished, Slotted Disc Forged Aluminum 17-inch rear wheel
Chrome, Profile Laced Aluminum 21-inch front wheel
New chrome button tufted two-up seat with chrome backrest
New profile ape hanger handlebar with bare knuckle risers
New custom, silkscreen graphics on traditional Fat Bob fuel tank with custom-sewn, leather strap
New front fork slider cover and chrome bullet headlamp
Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI) standard
Hard tail styling with hidden, horizontal rear shocks
Raked FX front forks
Forward highway-style rider pegs
Chrome horseshoe oil tank
Harley-Davidson Authorized Rentals Program
Their rental is available to anyone with a valid heavyweight motorcycle license, who has a credit card and is 21 years of age. They like their customer touse a Harley-Davidson country-approved helmet and raingear, and all the bikes come equipped with short-term luggage storage and24-hour emergency roadside assistance
The rental program began in 1999 and currently has 295 outlets, 72 of which are overseas. Operators are available in 43 states and 16 countries. The top three models requested include Heritage Softail Classics, Electra Glide Classics and Fat Boys. This program is used by riders world wide to experience Harleys for the first time, demo bikes they might purchase, fulfill a dream ride, are on business and need to escape, want the convenience of not shipping their bike to a distant location and finally to be able to ride while their bike is being serviced.
