First ride: Harley-davidson FXDR
The latest addition to the Softail family uses the word ‘performance’ a lot. But is it warranted?
THE POT-HOLED AND shiney roads of Greece’s second city, Thessalonica, might not be the ideal place for glowing first impressions of Harley’s new power cruiser but they leave you in no doubt about its pros… and cons.
We’re here to sample the latest addition to the fully-revised Softail family and, in many ways, it’s the most significant of the bunch.
Dubbed the FXDR, with the ‘R’ (in red) meant to suggest performance, it’s intended as the boldest, most aggressive version yet. It takes its cues from the drag strip and, with more modern styling than most Hogs, is also the beginning of the journey towards Harley’s all-new, liquid-cooled, younger-generation 975 Streetfighter, due in 2021.
And, to a large degree, the FXDR achieves just that, on face value at least. By using the biggest, 114ci (1868cc) version of the latest ‘Milwaukee Eight’ V-twin, but with a freer-flowing air filter, tweaked inlets and new, larger exhaust, the FXDR is the most powerful of the Softail family, making a claimed 91bhp.
The chassis gets an extra performance edge, too. Though the single-shock frame is essentially the same as the rest of the Softails, the FXDR gets a dedicated, lighter, aluminium swingarm carrying a fat 240-section rear tyre wrapped around a lightweight, solid-disc aluminium wheel which inevitably reminds of the V-rod. At the front, meanwhile, the drag theme is continued with a kicked-out, 34° head angle where fat, 43mm, inverted Showa forks reach down to an equally new and lightweight, 19in cast alloy hoop.
Finally, aggressively angular and modern styling comes via a new 16.7-litre tank, slabby single seat (with racy full rear hugger under), dinky headlight cowling and lightweight front guard. It works, too, and delivers the youthful and aggressive vibe Harley was looking for.
“Cues are from the drag strip”
Trouble is, on the strength of our day-long ride in northern Greece, that’s where most of the good first impressions end, too. The first time you get on board is a shock due to the extreme riding position: arms stretch forward to straight, stubby clip-ons a good 5-6in further away than you expect and when you then add in the foot stretch to the FXDR’S forward ‘highway’ pegs, you find yourself contorted far less comfortably than you’d like.
Then, as you head out of town on Thessalonica’s pot-holed arteries, you’re repeatedly jolted and jarred as the limited rear suspension travel (just 86mm in FXDR form) is revealed. And this is all made worse by the massive air filter which forces you into an asymmetrical riding position with either your knee pushed out or only the ball of your right foot on the peg.
And finally, as the roads at last improve (though you still have to watch out for stray goats and dogs) and the opportunity for some bend-swinging arises, you quickly realise the combination of that comedy rear tyre, kicked out front end and general awkwardness means tillering and wrenching and hoping is more the order of the day than any kind of scratching, slicing and general shenanigans.
If all of that sounds a little harsh, maybe it was heightened by the unsympathetic terrain. But there’s also no getting away from the fact that, great looks aside, the FXDR hasn’t really the performance chassis and, certainly not the performance engine to live up to its image. That 91bhp is only 5bhp more than Harley’s other 114s and would be embarrassed by a Yamaha Vmax, Ducati Diavel or even its own V-rod. Or, to put it another way: Harley’s Fat Bob has just as much performance, better handling and more practicality for a full four grand less. You’d have to love the FXDR’S looks to be willing to pay that much more for, in every dynamic way, less.