Harley Davidson Cross Bones: The Newest Softail by Harley Goes Old School
May 11, 2008 – 8:42 am
This past weekend, the motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson unveiled its latest Softail of the bobber-style as the infamous nightclub “Viper Room” located on the Sunset Strip. The actual tie between the unveiling of the new bike and the Hollywood scene wasn’t exactly all that clear, but it would be a safe guess to say that Harley-Davidson just wants to let everyone know that the Cross Bones is one extremely cool bike. So, what better way could you express that image, than to just go where all of the cool kids hang out. One of the other themes that Harley-Davidson was focusing on was the dark scene, which is a theme that goes hand-in-hand with Harley’s dark customs. In the event that you haven’t seen or even been by the Viper Room, the exterior of the nightclub is entirely black so there is virtually nothing that indicates that it is a nightclub.
The unveiling of the Cross Bones consisted of a scene completely full of the very young hipster types which includes the obnoxious, quintessential loud guy, plenty of media, foxy ladies, munchies and free flowing booze. All-in-all, the premiere of the Cross Bones was classic Hollywood, and just like in a typical premiere fashion, there were some really big names on hand. When the term big is used, it is used to describe the big names like Willie G. Davidson and his son known as Bill Davidson. You know when the el jefes make their way out, it is extremely important to them.
Once Willie G. Davidson and Bill Davidson finally decide to lift the silky cloth that was covering the bike to reveal what the lied beneath, what all of the viewers saw was a motorcycle that reaches deep within Harley Davidson’s past for an inspiration. The Cross Bones by Harley Davidson is a Softail motorcycle that pays its homage to the past post-war with the springer front end, the bobbed fenders outlining the fat sixteen and seventeen inch tries that are riding on spoked wheels, ape-hanger bars, springer solo saddle that was adjustable in two positions, as well as elegant but simple paint highlighted by blacked-out finishes covering absolutely everything from the turn signals to the engine. In fact, there is such a dark array of componentry that it’s actually quiet hard to maintain a constant track of all of it, however one of the other neat styling cue is the indicator that is console mounted and the idiot headlights that remain completely hidden from plain slight, that is until they have been activated.
Similar to its dark cousins the Night Train, the Nightster, the Night Rod Special and even more recently, the Street Bob, Harley Davidson’s Cross Bones keeps chrome at a bear minimum, having only a few engine covers. In fact, the exhaust pipes are known to be the shiniest bits located on the bike. Some of the other slick touches consist of a black face located on the console speedometer that is tank mounted nostalgic rounded foot boards and air cleaner cover, and fuel tank trim that are made from hand-laced leather.
Tags: Cross Bones, Harley Davidson, motorcycle, Viper Room
