I saw 48 painted in that flake paint scheme over at HD dealer. Bike itself is a good looking machine but paint ruins it for me. The only place I see it fit would be a gay pride parade or drag queen get together. Personally I hate it.
I saw one too, such a great bike ruined by the glitter. And they just do the tank which makes it look weird but if they did the fenders It would look worse, strange catch 22.
It wasn't that flake paint jobs aren't good. Harley just chose the most ridiculously over done schemes of flake. I saw one solid flake in one of their specials that looked like a good 1c^2 chunk. They were just done badly. Take it all out and you could probably smelt a frame from a few paint jobs.
I see a LOT of Bobbers etc... around here with the Fleck paint and most of them look really good, HD someone how made them "Safe" i guess is the best word I can use. Plus that type of scheme would be a personal touch I think, can you imagine showing up and someone else having the exact same Fleck Paint scheme as you?
They definitely are a better personal touch rather than mass production. Moderation is the key as in most things. Standing alone they are nice make a sea of them and special glasses are required to walk around my dealers show floor.
I've seen in-person several of harley's flake-paint , both on sportster's and dyna's ( I think ) . I have to say the 'quality' of the flake-paint is second to none . I lived through the first wave of paint like this in the 70's , and I didn't like it then either . So back then , instead of painting the bikes like that , it got switched to painting the helmets . Didn't get any better . The green flake-paint that harley chose is downright awful . I know that all bikes can't be black , but I won't be sorry to see this flake-paint go away . Just my 2 cents .
Mike
Thats what I was thinking. Back in the 70's I had a Murray bicycle, with green metal flake paint job and green flake banana seat. Man I loved that bike . I am in the minority on this one thou, as I like that paint. Now, I am not buying one, so that is a big diff to HD.
I believe the solid color paint schemes still dominate the show room floors. At least the dealers I've been to. Especially the real hot sellers - the baggers.
The heavy flaked bikes are definitely in the minority so it would stand to reason they would be in the lower percentile. Stats can be manipulated any way someone sees fit but I believe also that the flake will die a quick death.
Another reason They dont sell is because most of those fancy paint scheme bikes are way more expensive than the regular ones, especially graphic paint schemes which are mostly on CVOs with their ridiculous price tags...
I have to wonder what percentage of the production mix have the flake paint and if the sales are meeting Harley's targets? If the target was 8 to 10 percent then we will continue to see it offered. If the uptake rate was expected to be 25 to 30 percent then they have failed miserably and it will probably go away. I say probably because Harley rarely does anything that makes sense.
I took that survey.... it was long before the new flake bikes were introduced, so I think it's a little premature to associate it with the sales of the new bikes. There were few flake painted bikes available before this new model year.
Keep in mind that most buyers chose to pass on special Mopar colors like "Plum Crazy" and "Panther Pink" in the early 1970s—but look at the current demand for musclecars originally painted such rare and unusual colors. To each his own, I guess.
Rumor has it that a crossbones/V-Rod marriage is in the works. Apes, springer, spoke wheels and a split tank, center dash. Stock power is upgraded to a 1370cc.
The big hold up is big flake paint, loud graphics or plain black.
It will be good to see a revo in "another bike". Maybe if it would cross over into a few more places the techs they have might start learning how they work.
The flake reminds me of an acid trip - without the fun part of the 60s, free sex!
(LMAO - you would've had to be there. Some here are old enough, of course)
Had to go to the dealer for a set of exhaust gaskets today and they had a few of the single and multi-colored flake bikes with mini-apes.
All I could think was that the Seventies were the Seventies for a reason, and there's a reason all of that stuff was left in the past.
Ick.
R.
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