The old Heritage was hideous. The new Heritage is the most improved bike as far as styling goes. Not the best looking new bike though, that award goes to the Fat Bob.

 

LOL - if your idea of a Harley is a yamaha v-max... Sorry, I disagree 100%.

 

I'm perfectly happy with my 09. Some of the 2018s look like Japanese bikes with Harley engines crammed in them.

 

What bar/riser combo is that? Looks like exactly what I am looking for...

 

With the present 2018 models the MoCo is competing with:
- the Moto Guzzi California Touring 1400
- the Kawa Harley clones
- the Triumph Thunderbirds Touring 1700
and many others, a.o. BMW, Yamaha and some more.
But they forget the prices of the competitors, being at a max of 2/3 of the price or a HD. And young riders are not 'infected with the HD virus', but are 'Homo Calcularis' or better written:
"they compare the prices with the quality offered by the bike brands" And they give a damn about the legend of HD
And believe me, the rise in price of the 2018 models brings the MoCo in a worse competitive position than they realize. I don't know the competences of their market department, but bringing in some fresh blood may open some eyes in the MoCo.

 

Yep along with some new engineers ... maybe even some from those competing brands !

 

To my earlier point about taste being individual and subjective. If everyone liked the same thing there would only ever need to be one motorcycle. The "old" Heritage Classic was an iconic and enduring design that lasted for more than 30 model years.

 

I had a chance to see the 2018 Heritage Classic this weekend.
1) I didn't like not having the back rest. To us it is a safety issue. All I have to do is snap the throttle to much and she is not holding tight and off she goes. This is personnel preference to us I know, many don't see it as an issue.
2) I didn't like the new bags they looked fake (plastic leather) though the wife liked to be able to open it from the seat to grab our water.
3) did not like the low wind screen. On my 13' I went from the stock 19 to the 21'.
4) didn't like the color choices.
5) the 114 was tempting but I have mine tuned so well I am not sure a stock 114 would be a whole lot better.
6) Mine is paid off :-), I still like my color best and it runs just to dang good.

All-in-all nothing jumped out as a "gotta have".

 

I guess it's not important for me to label myself a "Harley guy" and separate myself from all other brands or styles. I love motorcycles, period! When a company comes out with a bike I like it doesn't matter what brand name is on it. Yeah, the new Fat Bob is unique and doesn't have the classic looks of Harley Davidson's of the past, but like it or not, it's a still a Harley and will outperform any bike Harley has ever made. If Yamaha or another company came out with this Fat Bob I'd still want one because a great bike is a great bike regardless of the manufacturer.

People who don't currently like the new HD's will either get used to HD moving forward, producing better, more advanced bikes, or they'll be riding Twin Cams and Evo's for the rest of their riding days. And there's nothing wrong with that if that's what you want. I recommend, though, that people embrace the change and experience the pleasure of riding better engineered bikes that do everything better than the past bikes did.

 

No,not buying a new bike.But looking forward to the new FXR to replace the Dyna....