New life, new bike: Is a Harley-Davidson Switchback the right choice for South Africa?

Harley Davidson FLD Switchback 2014. 

Well it's been a while since I posted here...

And lots has happened - I've spend few years in Dubai since 2012 - bikeless as it really 'ain't the right place for regular bike usage - and now here I am in South Africa, thanks to a job transfer.

The immediate attraction of the job offer - apart from more sensible temperatures - was the chance to get a bike back into my life.

And one of the first things I did was set about finding the right machine.

I took ownership this week of a 2014 Harley-Davidson FLD Switchback - the Dyna chassis with a sixties' Duo-Glide look that came up at the right money.

South Africa's massive and I felt something comfy with a bit of touring ability would fit the bill. Took a look at the
new Honda Africa Twin. Liked it, cheap too over here (129,000 rand) and checked out the BMWs: there's a lot of lads over here with the full ali panniers and Ewan McGregor Long Way Down look. But not really for me. Bit too committed at this stage and I hear there are lions and stuff in these parts.

I've also always had a soft spot for Harleys. Posters on the bedroom wall as a kid in the seventies, when it was AMF owned and way before the Yuppy-fuelled growth of the eighties and the 'lifestyle' driven corporate machine that is HD today. I have form for HD support that goes back almost 40 years.

I owned a 2001 model 883 Sportster from 2002 until 2006 and travelled all over Europe on it. Simple to maintain - rectifier blew up once, snapped two drive belts and the exhausts vibrated themselves to pieces on a few long 90mph motorway runs from Germany back to the UK - but simple and a super reliable engine. Never underestimated the Sportster Evo 883/1200.

Incidentally, today the Sportster is all grown up with some ace versions - Nightster, Iron, Forty-Eight - and Harley recognising its value, and a selling price that has crept up. I do like the 16-inch fat front tyres on the new crop, but personally a Sportster to me will always represent the early sixties trying to compete with the British twins from Triumph, BSA and Norton.

Sportster has heritage

But in the UK, and elsewhere during the massive growth of HD sales in the nineties, the Sportster was seen as the 'entry-level' Harley, maybe someone who couldn't quite stretch to one of the biggies. That was always b*llox as far as I'm concerned, it's a bike with genuine heritage, but during my ownership it was clear that most other UK bikers don't like Harleys and most Harley riders were a bit snobby about it.

Despite that, and the aforementioned lifestyle marketing machine, which is Harley, the bikes do have something. Personality still, maybe, or just the 'agricultural feel' that everyone talks about and really means its old fashioned. They are still cool to anyone who knows nothing about bikes and I'd argue the camaraderie among owners is second to none.

I looked at the Sportsters but decided the time was right to get the machine I lusted after as a 15 year old. Well that would have been an Electra Glide 1200, the chocolate brown one turned out in 1977/8 under AMF ownership (see pic below), which I remember from Superbike Magazine in the UK.

Today the Electra Glide doesn't exist... but there's a Street Glide (which I test rode in 2009 than went and bought a Suzuki 1300 B-King) and some touring behemoths that have a sound system better than my car. On impulse, I liked the look of the 'smaller' FLD - the cool mags are a bonus because I can't be bothered to clean spokes any more...ever. And as many have pointed out, the five-spokers give a little nod to the American Racing mag wheels, like those found on Steve's '68 'Bullitt' Mustang.

As originally advertised on the Johannesburg Harley website. Paint job is not original (even though they assured me it was)

So, burning with the desire to get on the road asap, I slapped down the deposit on the FLD at Johannesburg Harley Davidson (nice enough bunch of blokes) and waited for the tediously slow South African banking process to transfer my money into the country. It took a looong time. Anyone looking to transfer personal cash into this country - don't bother. Pay by credit card and offer the dealer to make up the few percent they'll lose.

Finally picked the Dyna up last weekend, eight weeks after first seeing it.

Before taking delivery I wondered whether I should have gone for a full fat (100lbs more) Heritage Softail or one of the proper tourers. Having ridden about 100 kms (yes they use them here too), I must say it is a heavy b*stard bike still.

Easy to ride, low centre of gravity,  and comfy enough ergonomics, though the gear leaver and truck-sized rear brake pedal need a deliberate lift of your foot. I'm getting old too so not having my knees tucked up is another bonus.

Power is ok. Quick enough with a little hesitancy from idle, which is a nuisance rounding slow bends. I've come across this hesitancy before on lean fuel injected bikes and while it p*sses me off, there's no going back to carbs in the current world. Altitude may be having an effect on the power too: you're more than a mile above sea level in Johannesburg and from what I read, that's 6% loss (ish).

No engine mods on this baby either. No loud pipes, no Screamin' Eagle kit at all. I don't really mind and I suspect I won't be tempted to screw about with the 103cu in motor. What's the point? I don't need more noise and if I want something that's quick, I would chose another make,

It's had a paint job (over the original sparkly white), that may be as a result of a minor accident or little scrape somewhere, a peaked chrome headlight rim (which I really like) and that seems to be about it.

Likes: quick release panniers, though the right one was a little rattly in its clever three-point mountings.

Dislike: Quick release screen, which makes my head wobble like Noddy at anything over 80kmh (50mph). I'm 5'10 and it may be the new open face helmet but there's an issue. Anyway I like the bike better without the screen and I'll solve the problem before any epic road trips.

There seems to be a decent Harley following here in South Africa, a country that's seen its currency fall by half in just five years.

Gonna pop along to check out the HOG lads and lassies here and then see from there.

As I write, it's my intention to keep a record here. And I'd be pleased to hear from any Switchback owners and, of course, any bikers here in South Africa.

And hopefully over the next few months (years?) I can answer the question at the top: Is a Harley-Davidson Switchback the right choice for South Africa?