Harley-Davidson Switchback
Harley-Davidson Switchback
ROUNDUP
NEW FOR 2012 FIRST RIDE
Call it the new Bagger Lite
HARLEY-DAVIDSON HAS ELEVATED MIX-and-match model making to high art. Here’s another variation: the light-weight touring bike, a path that Harley has been down before. The idea of a touring bike based on something other than an FL chassis has been explored in the FXRT and the Dyna Glide-based FXDX more than a decade ago. Now, there’s the Switchback. It represents a new model and a fresh emphasis on product refinement. Rather than slapping a few touring parts onto, say, an otherwise unchanged Dyna Glide chassis, Harley’s engineers looked at what this model needed to be and who its key customers were, then applied changes to the Dyna platform to ensure it hit the target. A primary concern was what you might call accessibility—it can’t be too big, too heavy, too tall and certainly not intimidating.
A similarly mission-focused approach drove, of all things, the Switchback’s suspension design and calibration. A desirably low seat height comes in part from limited suspension travel, which is typically at odds with ride quality. Harley’s engineering staff tackled this problem with technology. The 41.3mm Showa fork has a conventional damping rod in the right leg but a more sophisticated damping cartridge in the left. Triple-rate springs make the most of the fork’s 3.4-inch travel. Under those chrome “cigar tube” shock covers live modern nitrogen-charged emulsion dampers with just 2.1-in. of travel and adjustable spring preload.
Harley nailed it. On our ride around Park City, Utah, during the press launch, the Switchback gobbled pesky small bumps with aplomb. Square-edged irregularities would jiggle the rider but never provide anything like a shock to the hands or backside. Sure, the low stance consumes cornering clearance,
so the floorboards drag well before the Dyna chassis shows discomfort; but to achieve the twin goals of a low seat (27.4 in. unladen) and a sophisticated highway ride is fairly amazing.
Elsewhere, good news, as well. The quick-detach windshield is sized perfectly for a 5-foot-9 rider—wind turbulence turns ugly only above 80 mph—and provides a reasonable amount of coverage. The 103-inch engine has near-perfect throttle response and fully acceptable, if not exactly your-beehive’s-on-fire, power. As a whole, the Switchback— priced at $15,999 in black or $16,384 for solid colors plus another $1195 for ABS—presents as both well-considered and thoughtfully executed. —Marc Cook
