First ride: Harley-Davidson Blackline

Meet Harley-Davidson’s latest anti-ageing remedy – the Blackline. The ‘dark custom’ is a new addition to the Softail family, and follows on from similar creations in the Sportster family with the Iron 883 and Nightster.

A few weeks ago, I touched on my first dalliance with the Blackline, after I had ‘misplaced’ the key and security fob somewhere in the 60km between the H-D dealership in Melbourne and my mate’s house.

That caused some anxious moments, but I eventually sourced replacements and then embarked on one of the most enjoyable Harley rides I’ve ever had, punting through the Macedon Ranges north of Melbourne – even though the roads were wet and snotty.

Not only does the Blackline enjoy all the home comforts of the Softail family, but there’s an X ‘less is more’ factor that I reckon gives it a little bit more of a macho element than its siblings.

The Blackline, a Softail “pared to the bone” as the H-D literature describes it, just oozes personality, from the black-out look to the spoked wheels, clean lines and bobbed rear fender.

And it’s all about awakening a younger audience, and the promotional video we’ve see of the bike definitely follows the theme. Young blokes with great looking -- and well endowed -- women, and not a high-blood pressure tablet in sight!

And it’s a marketing strategy which is appearing to strike a chord – but will it be enough to pry that demographic away from the more affordable Sportster Dark Customs?

H-D’s Twin Cam 96 cubic inch V-Twin powers the new Blackline, with the engine rigid-mounted to the frame. The company claims 125Nm at 3500rpm from the engine, which is housed with a balance shaft. The helical-gear transmission is six-speed, and the final drive is belt.

A gloss black powdercoat takes care of most of the powertrain components, and the cylinder heads are silver powdercoat with “machined highlights” (edges in other words). H-D is not a hairdresser. Either way, the edges do look pretty schmick.

The bottom of the fork gets black paint too, and the spoked aluminium wheels feature black anodised rims.

You’re probably already getting the message that the cleanness of the Blackline is what’s at stake here, which is why the ‘less is more’ philosophy takes centre stage – “back to a pure Harley statement of engine, frame and wheels” according to the company’s Softail styling boss, Kirk Rasmussen.

The effect of that ‘purity’ mission is there for all to see, and not only includes the spoked wheels, the bobbed guards and general ‘blackness’, but also the teardrop-shaped fuel tank, simple instruments (which are mounted on the top of the triple clamp rather than the tank), split dragbars and forward controls.

That’s certainly not a heady cocktail of features, but for the purpose of the Blackline exercise I reckon H-D has got the flavour just right – and it looks the part, too. Quality of finish is also excellent, and there’s no ugly external wiring to sully the view.

The rear suspension is signature Softail, with the twin shocks out of sight (but not out of mind on some of the bumpy roads I traversed), and the bike gets ABS – although a cursory inspection wouldn’t reveal as much. There are no toothed wheel sensors to oversee the system, but instead magnetic wheel bearings to feed a sensor. What was I saying about keeping things uncluttered?

The seat height is a boon for all-comers -- just 655mm -- which is a good thing, particularly at rest, as the bike is quite heavy at 294kg dry. And for the record, it’s the lowest seat height offered by Harley-Davidson.

The ride away price in Australia is $27,995 for the standard black livery, and for an extra $500 a pair of two-tone colours are available – Cool Pearl Blue/Vivid Black or Sedona Orange/Vivid Black. Warranty is 24 months, unlimited kilometres.

Visit the Blackline in Bike Showroom.

The Blackline is a resourceful machine, there’s no doubt about it. There are certainly no hiccups in the fuelling, which means that for around town you won’t be handed a rap sheet from your pillion of all the ‘jerky’ moments you put them through.

Instead the throttle response is spot-on, which certainly adds to the enjoyment factor. And Harley-Davidson has certainly invested a lot of time in streamlining the switchgear, which is now much more svelte and user-friendly. I’m talking the blinker switches, etc, and the Blackline has a mode switch on the left-hand switchgear to toggle through all the functions on the small LCD display inset.

The gearbox is a little on the clunky side, but this is the rule rather than the exception in the big-bore cruiser universe. And it’s a little stiff. But at least it shifts with some purpose, and I didn’t miss a gear during the whole test period.

I was a little perplexed by the lack of span adjustment on the brake and clutch levers. I could hardly reach the end of the clutch lever with my short digits, which I certainly became acutely aware of in the city.

As much as the Blackline is a chic city bike, I reckon its robustness makes it just as at home on the open road, and that’s where it certainly provided me a great deal more enjoyment, complete with a fruity note from the slash-cut pipes and just a lovely amount of engine vibes. Both unobtrusive in their own way, but without being too limp.

Certainly, the narrow bars did take some warming to initially, especially when it came to shoving the Blackline around corners, but I soon made ‘alternative’ rearrangements to mitigate that issue.

And that was a good thing, as on one particular three-hour twisty-road odyssey the rain was fairly intense, which always places a premium on sound cornering technique.

But despite its raked-out geometry and 21-inch front wheel, I was genuinely surprised how the Blackline devoured bends – matched to its stately ship-like qualities on the straight bits.

And the skinny tyres on both the front and back are a boon for handling – and the pared-back look – as they are easier to collaborate with than, say, a huge 240-section rear hoop which tends to do as it pleases.

The Blackline is a six-speed proposition with the top cog a true overdrive and while fuel consumption plummets in sixth, you’ll have to drop back to fifth or even fourth for a quick pass at freeway speeds.

The ABS, like on most bikes these days, works well. Although in big heavy bikes it can produce more of ‘wooden’ feeling compared to smaller, more slender offerings. Still, the H-D set-up works well and never once caught me off guard.

I was particularly enamoured with the front suspension, which soaks up most imperfections very well – certainly through the initial part of the stroke. It does have a tolerance level when pushed hard, but at least the front works in concert with the back so there’s no feeling of anxiety – ever.

Just one of he reasons I enjoyed the Blackline so much. It’s a flexible workhorse which doesn’t drop its head in any situation, making it a loyal companion for those riders who enjoy a bit of everything. If affordability is of prime concern it may be worth looking at the Harley-Davidson Sportster range, but if you want to join the Softail club, the Blackline is a stylish way to do it and a very agreeable ride at that.