Here at the Superbike Blog, I've been writing quite a bit lately about Harley-Davidson and its seemingly very successful attempts to reinvent itself in the face of a changing American motorcycle demographic. It has repeatedly gone roughly against the grain with the older, mostly baby boomer traditionalists who've been its lifeblood in years past to produce stripped down, retro-modern interpretations of its classic styles which appeal strongly to a new generation of riders, most of whom grew up in the direct influence of metric cruisers and sportbikes.

Over the past few years, H-D's Dark Custom line of motorcycles, including the Sportster 48, Crossbones, and others have breathed new life into the Motor Company®, and this year they pull no punches with two new Dark Custom additions aimed at the same 30-something demographic, as well as Latinos.

This week in California, Harley-Davidson introduced the Sportster 72 and Softail Slim for 2012 (pictured right), two more minimalist pieces of irresistible eye candy that should sell like hotcakes.

The Softail Slim harkens back to the post-World War II Army surplus Harleys that gave birth to modern American biker culture. The more expensive of the two new bikes ($15,499 for the base model), the Softail is essentially a low and lean factory bobber with strong styling references to the WLA.

The 72, on the other hand, is all about lowrider homage. It's whitewall tires, metal-flake paint, ape hanger handlebars, slim spoke wheels, and narrow mid-section are clearly designed for the urban rider who wants an unmistakable '70s-style chopper. And at $10,499 for the base model, the price is about as right as it can be for a new Harley.

Both bikes, let's face it, look great and feature the latest in available Harley technology. My guess is that they'll sell well and help H-D continue to increase its market share at a brisk pace.

Congrats once again to Harley for getting it right from the design, business, and marketing perspectives combined. If they stay on the right track, this could be their new golden age.

I took a ride with a friendly group of motorcyclists called the Stonegators on New Year's Day, and took the opportunity to try out my new Contour ROAM (Model 1600) HD action camera, which I attached to my helmet. Over all, I'm generally pleased with this small, idiot-proof video device, which you can fasten to pretty much anything and record your adventures. I had the camera set to 720 in the video below, which was put together with the latest trial version of Media Edit. The camera, I recommend. The editing software, I do not. Anyhow, enjoy the video. More adventures to come.

This Reuter's article reports that Harley-Davidson's recent attempts to lure younger riders to their brand with stripped down bobbers at lower price points, a marketing plan which was scoffed at by some H-D traditionalists, is working:

For the past decade, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Harley-Davidson Inc had largely been stymied in its attempt to reach a younger audience.

As it poured resources into entirely new lines of bikes, often designed to lure the 20 and 30-something crowd, or used advocates like a Victoria Secret supermodel to encourage younger buyers to feel it's cool to own a bike - Harley's core customer base of well-heeled baby boomers only got older.

But the effort is finally gaining traction under Chief Executive Keith Wandell, who took Harley's helm in 2009. He immediately began modernizing the company, from the assembly line to the dealership floor, even if it meant offending loyalists.

The effort to get younger has consumed millions of dollars worth of investment in design changes, aggressive marketing of lower-priced bikes, and a massive effort to teach thousands of aspiring bikers to operate a motorcycle.

As expensive as new sportbikes have become in recent years (for example, a 2012 ZX-6R is almost $10,500), H-Ds in general seem more affordable comparatively. Plus, given the difference in insurance premiums between a Sportster 48 and a CBR600, the new bobber-style Harleys are appealing in more ways than one to young riders.

And predictably, some in the old guard of H-D loyalists don't like the change they see going on around them:

Some of the old timers already are pushing back on the company when they see new bare-bones retro bikes that make up the hot selling Dark Custom lineup and are aimed largely at youth, said Joe Fredo, sales manager of Harley-Davidson of New York City.

"They're like, ugh, that's not a real Harley," he said.

I've seen this elitism for myself at various moto-gatherings in my own neck of the woods, especially regarding attitudes toward the newer Sportster-based models. The boomer on the 30,000-dollar custom HD bagger doesn't like the idea of some young dude buying a used, stripped down Harley for 6,500 bucks and so easily getting to be "in the club", so to speak.

The funny thing is, the Sportster line are some of the most appealing motorcycles Harley's ever built. I'd much prefer one over any of the ginormous geezer bikes in the lineup.

Every time I hear one of the older Harley guys ragging on a 48 or Nightster or XR1200, I wanna wanna walk up and say, "What's the matter, man? Are you pissed off because that bike is cooler than yours?"

But I don't, because I'm a lover, not a fighter.

I'll openly admit that I really do like bikes such as the XR1200, Sportster 48, and Nightster. They have plenty of zip and look great. And for some inexplicable reason, I'm glad to see HD gaining ground again. In our current government-decimated economy, it's sort of nice to see.

On the other hand, a new Triumph Bonneville is $3,000 cheaper than the Sportster 48 and goes just as fast with better handling. It's also equally as beautiful. That's something those interested in traditional styles of motorcycle design should keep in mind. Harley could do more to bring down the price of their motorcycles, but maybe not without getting out from under the thumb of their unions and other internal dynamics.

At any rate, kudos to Harley-Davidson. Here's wishing them many more years of success and prosperity in the good old USA.

The picture at right is the street I live on in arid Midland, Texas. At least it's supposed to be arid. For the past few weeks it has been sleeting and snowing intermittently, with obviously lower than average temperatures. And today, Christmas Day 2011, is a white Christmas.

For most, that's something to look forward to, or so I've read and heard in song. The problem for me is that I'm never dreaming of a white Christmas, but rather a warm, sunny Christmas season when some of my time off can be spent having fun on two wheels. One of the advantages of living in the desert southwest, after all, is that we don't mothball our bikes for four months out of the year. We ride all the time, and the holiday season is usually no exception. Well, except this year.

But that said, after a year of the worst drought conditions on record in Texas (along with massive fires that destroyed millions of acres), I'm trying not to complain too much about the sogginess and cold we've been experiencing as of late. We need precipitation, and I'm glad it has returned. It just sucks to get all mentally prepared for the magic of winter riding in West Texas, and have your schedule reduced considerably.

All that whiney bitching aside, I will say that there've been a few bright spots this winter. We've managed a few really good day rides in very cool conditions where the use of full winter gear made for enjoyable journeys around West Texas. The picture below, from November, is a good example. It's me (pictured right) and one of my best friends, drummer Britt Parker from Dingo Sanctuary, standing on some railroad tracks between Crane, Texas and Rankin, Texas. It was a good riding day, that one, and I'll be staring at the pic fondly until another day comes when we can make it happen again. Stay warm everybody.

I was looking through the new motorcycle offerings this week which are being brought to America for 2012 by the Big Four®, and I think I can now safely say that the availability of a proper Japanese motorcycle is largely a thing of the past here in the USA. That's right, standards and big street naked are nowhere to be found. Unless your idea of traditional design is a cruiserbike, your only choice now is a sea of passionless, computer-designed, cartoonishly angular, fully fared sport and sport-touring scalpels with less collective soul than a gaggle of Ed Wood zombies.

Gone from the American lineup are virtually all the traditional hooligan bikes. The naked Suzuki Bandit, for example, has been fully clothed for 2012 and revamped once again into a machine barely separable in general appearance and style from its repli-racer counterparts. The ZRX1200R, several years gone now from Kawasaki's lineup in America, has no 2012 counterpart or grandchild. In fact, it's latest incarnation, the ZRX1200DAEG, is -- sadly -- available only in Japan. Save for Yamaha's barely naked 2012 FZR1000, which has lost most of its original design cues at this point, everything else Japan is offering looks like it came right out of a late-night Anime marathon on Adult Swim.

And if you think a big naked Japanese streetfighter is hard to find these days, you can forget about buying anything new even remotely resembling an old-school UJM. Even more racy naked bikes based on the UJM idea like Yamaha's XJR1300, Honda's CB1300, and Suzuki's GSX1400 are nowhere to be found.

These are sad times. I never thought I'd see the day when I could go into a Japanese motorcycle dealership at the beginning of a model year to kick tires, and lay eyes upon absolutely nothing I wanted. I mean nothing. Shame on you, Japan, for giving us nothing but a generic sea of plastic bodywork. And shame on you, America, for not supplying enough demand for anything else.

On the bright side, there is yet hope for those of us interested in riding something that actually resembles a motorcycle. Triumph, God love 'em (as just one example), are still offering modern incarnations of ravishing beauties such as the Bonneville, Thruxton, and Scrambler. These bikes are better performing than ever, prettier than ever, and more reliable than ever by all accounts. Triumph, much like Harley-Davidson, know when they have a winning, timeless design, and are preserving it for those with a keen enough eye to seek it out.

So maybe I'm looking at the wrong dealerships these days. Perhaps it's time to start seriously looking, for the first time ever, at what Europe has to offer. After all, at an average price of nine to ten grand for a new Japanese bike this year, the Euroscene of offerings doesn't seem as expensive as it used to.

Perhaps I'll consider this possibility a bit more over high tea.

Indubitably.

We're discussing this article at Two Wheeled Texans.

This webpage absolutely made my day.

In fact, I just ripped the entire thing onto my hard drive in case bandwidth issues shut it down, as it has gone viral. The owner of the site grossly underestimated the affect its content would have on motorcyclists. The pics are like a million dreams I've had of riding through heavenly settings during a perfect, storybook age.

Do yourself a favor and check it out.

I thought this was interesting. Strange music selection, but a fun time-waste to be sure:

By the way, don't worry. Johhny's apparently okay.

Those of you who remember this ride report from 2009 will recall that the last time we made a Trail of Tears run, we were having a very wet year in West Texas. 2010 was even wetter; near record-breaking precipitation-wise, as a matter of fact. But in 2011, not so much. Ravaged by drought and wildfires after 300 days without measurable precipitation, all of West Texas (and the American Southwest in general) is suffering terribly.

So, two years after getting soaked on this ride, we returned to see what the dry conditions had wrought upon the land and lakes between Midland and Colorado City, Texas. Following was our route, both coming and going. It's the classic run through the ghost towns Otis Chalk and Hyman along the West Texas Trail of Tears:


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Our first stop was an obligatory break at the Big Spring State Park:





Right now, all the salt lakes in the region are completely dry except for the big one in the distance:



From the park, we headed to Otis Chalk and Hyman, enjoying the closest thing we have to twisty roads in the area. As usual, we stopped at the old church on 2183, and were pleasantly surprised to see that it's still standing:





Once we'd made it into Colorado City, we made a stop at the Sportsman's Club for lunch. It was a bit sad to see that most of the water in Lake Colorado City is gone:





Compare to this picture from two years ago:



A few blocks down from the Sportsman's Club is the lake cabin of my buddy Leslie, who made the ride with Britt and I:





We stopped in to take a look at the condition of his floating dock, which -- as you might imagine -- ain't exactly floating right now:



In fact, nobody's dock is floating:





By that time, the heat was upon us and we decided to head back home. We made a return stop in Big Spring for water and to soak down our shirts:



Total Mileage: 236
Total Trip Time: 6.25 hours