Harley-Davidson Blackline joins 2011 UAE line-up

Harley-Davidson recently opened their Middle East headquarters in Dubai, and alongside their new regional presence in the GCC, they’ve launched a new motorcycle model, called the Blackline, based on the Harley-Davidson Softail model.

Intentionally stripped of accessories, the Blackline keeps decorative trim and lighting to a minimum, as “there’s just enough shine to make the black parts look blacker.”

The Softail chassis uses coil-over shock absorbers mounted horizontally along the frame rails below the powertrain, where they are out of sight. So “while the swingarm section replicates the lines of a vintage hardtail frame, the Blackline delivers suspension performance and handling that are thoroughly modern.”

The internally counter-balanced 1584cc V-twin engine is rigid-mounted within the frame, and mated to a 6-speed “Cruise Drive” transmission. The fuel-injected “Twin Cam 96B” engine makes 125 Nm of torque at 3500 rpm, good enough for a 294-kg bike, but horsepower figures are conspicuously absent.

Other features include a new oval air cleaner cover in chrome, black powdercoat frame and swing-arm, aluminium wheels with black anodised rims, Dunlop D402 tyres, new “Split Drag” internally-wired handlebars mount directly to the top triple clamp, asymmetric 18.9-litre Softail fuel tank is clean on the left side, with low profile fuel cap on the right. analogue speedometer with an LCD screen for the trip computer, deep two-piece seat and passenger pillion, “shotgun” exhaust and a security package with ABS.

We estimate the Harley-Davidson Blackline to be priced at more than Dhs 60,000.