Some of you probably already know the history of the Softail. I only knew there were "hardtails" from the "old-days" = rigid-framed bikes with no real suspension, although I imagine the sprung seats allowed some absorbtion from bumps and dips. I did a on-lline search and found this on Wikepedia, assuming it's accurate it's neat history, sounds like a "necessity is the mother of invention" idea, with the caveat he wanted to keep the clean lines of the hardtail (because bikes with shock absorbers had been around much longer):


"Bill Davis, an avid Harley rider and engineer from St. Louis, Mo. designed the softail in the mid-1970s. His first design, which he worked on in 1974 and 1975, had a cantilever swingarm pivoted at the bottom and sprung at the top with the springs and shock absorber hidden under the seat. Upon working out his design, Davis built a prototype based on his 1972 Super Glide. Davis patented his design and contacted Willie G. Davidson, arranging a meeting in August 1976. Davidson was impressed, but made no commitments. Davidson replied six months later, stating that the company would not be able to use the design at the time but was still interested in it.
Davis continued to develop the design, switching the pivot and the springing points around so that the springs and shock absorber were under the frame and the pivot point was at the top of the triangular swingarm. This allowed the traditional Harley-Davidson oil tank to be placed under the seat. Davis attempted to produce the new design independently as the Road Worx Sub-Shock, but the partnership he had put together for this purpose collapsed. Harley-Davidson executive Jeffrey Bleustein contacted Davis shortly afterward and began negotiations to buy Davis's design. Davis sold his patents, prototype, and tooling to Harley-Davidson in January 1982. After further testing and development, Davis's design was introduced in June 1983 as the 1984 Harley-Davidson FXST Softail."

Every motorcycle I've ridden since the early 1970s has had some sort of suspension, so I cannot speak from experience what it was like to ride a true "hardtail." I heard of some die-hards who only ride these machines. My dream is to ride a 1930's ear Knucklehead someday. To me, that machine is the greatest looking HD model ever made.

 

good artcle i read it in hot bike maginzine

 

Yep, I've known about this for awhile now and it is a great story. That is why there isn't anything you can reasonably compare to a softail. It is only motorcycle of it's kind and the fact it was invent by an average Joe who was passionate about his Harley makes it that much more amazing of a story.

 

I had a 51 pan head in the very early 70's and it was a hard tail (jockey shift and ratchet clutch). It had the sprung seat and it wasn't uncomfortable at all. Now the constant vibration from the engine would wear on you after a few hours. I've ridden several "real" hard tails in the vision of Easy Rider and those things will break your back and rupture your kidneys. I've known several folks that rode that type of bike from here to California and back and they had to be pissing blood before they got done.. The later model softales are cadillacs in comparison..

Edit: Also, you guys these days are really missing out, not having to kick start your bikes..

Only problem here is the guy is on the kick start wrong..

 

In 1984 I bought the first Softail my dealer got . It was EVO and belt drive all new to me stuff . A year or two later I got sick and could not ride . I put that bike in my basement and it set there for about ten years . In the mid 90,s a friend called and ask if I would sell it as he had a buyer . I think I gave around $10,000 for it new and it had 15000 miles on it and had not run in years . I told him to have the buyer make an offer just one and I would sell or not . Only Harley I ever owned I made money on .

 

Sorry you couldnt ride, but Funny that you had it stored in the basement for that long. The 51 pan head I had had a similar story. Bought it in 71 with 500 miles on it. The guy bought it, the wife hated it and told him to sell it. Instead he stored it in a storage facility and didn't tell the wife. When he died they found it. And, shortly afterward I bought it. Hadn't run in 20 years. Serviced it, points and gas and it started on the 6th kick.. Gotta love it..

 

When I got sick (lost my Kidneys ) I just could not sell it . I got a Kidney transplant and spent over a year just getting to a point I could walk without passing out . I bought a new bike in 95 and just left the Softail in the Basement . We kind of remodeled around the bike and I was not even sure we could get it out but we did . I loved that Harley and spent a night or two setting on it thinking someday I would ride it again .

 

I hope the guy had a good lawyer and neither he or his kids have to work a day in their lives

 

I rode a '52 Harley hardtail panhead for 8 years. It's my signature avatar. Had a sprung solo seat but that was it. It was common to use a high profile "grasshopper" tire on the rear and only run about 10 psi in it. The lack of suspension in the rear also effected the braking, the rear would hop if you hit the brake too hard. Had a suicide clutch and jockey shift. It was fun to ride but far from the comfy ride of my Fatboy

 

I guess all of us Softail owners are ostensibly keeping the heritage of the old-time HD's alive, albeit with more comfortable riding features thanks to guys like Bill Davis. In terms of pure aesthetics, I think HD's best looking bikes all came before WWII. After WWII, bikes, cars, trucks, just about all consumer goods, seemed to become gaudy. While I had a Sportster, it wasn't until HD released the CrossBones that I was able to finally have a machine that satisfied the "hunger" - although I did have to modifiy it somewhat from stock.

The first motorcycle safety course I took back in the 1980s had metric bikes with kick-starters. They were small nimble machines as I recall, and the kick-start was kind of fun. I could see how it could get to be a pain over time, especially as one gets older.