Harley-Davidson Softail Standard 2024 — Specifications

Stripped down, clean, bobberized, unadorned, this Softail achieves pure emotion in this Standard expression. It appears here simple, like an obvious fact: it's a Harley! Nothing less, and certainly not more.

With its 1745 cm3 engine and its entry-level price, the Softail Standard becomes the gateway to the Big Block. Destined for the appropriation of the American myth, it doesn's burden itself with fripperies, trim or embellishments. Nor a passenger. It seems to murmur that only riding matters.

The focus is on the M8 107 ci. Spitting out 86 horsepower here, the American twin is determined to distribute little vibration at idle, awakens as the engine speed increases and then demonstrates its strength with a maximum torque of 14.7 mkg at only 3250 rpm. A generous hand to carry one of the lightest motorcycles in its family. But despite its minimalism, its truncated rear, its front end where a single disc works and where the fender is reduced to a cap, its single-seat saddle and its 16-liter tank, the Softail Standard is close to three quintals.

A single color in the catalog. A "Black" as wide as the night and as shiny as the asphalt after the rain. Saddle, tank, air filter, the major part of the engine and the frame are covered in black. The shine stands out even more, highlighting the Shotgun exhausts, the valve covers, the spoked wheels (19" - 16"), the lateral engine covers and the fork - immense, seeming to lengthen above the beard thanks to its large Mini-Ape handlebar.

The instrumentation is reduced to a minimum, and novices would even believe that the rear shocks have disappeared. No, as a good Softail should be, the Standard has a deceptively rigid rear, with a shock absorber hidden under the saddle. The FXST managed to escape the abundant electronics that are gradually entering the H-D range. Here, no traction control, no TFT screen, no smartphone telemetry or other stripping modernity. Metal and throat, period!

It feigns simplicity, because it is particularly destined for personalization. Almost a piece of clay that each will shape to their tastes, to their measure, to their vision or to their extravagances. A black canvas where paintings, patterns and accessories will create the psychotic fruit of creative effervescence. One can choose: to leave it natural or to blind it with spices.

This Softail allows you to acquire the taste of the M8 engine at a rather well-placed price for a large Harley custom. A large potato cooked under the ashes, without having to remove the skin. It remains to be determined whether to bite into it or to spread it.

M.B - Manufacturer photos