RSD Blackline Softail

 

We know custom bikes are not supposed to be jumped, ridden in the mud or thrashed. It’s something most people wouldn’t do and for good reason. It hammers your bike, your parts and your body. But the thing is many of our customers are hard riders, they come from all walks of life and sometimes they do the same dumb shit we do, so test we must. We ride in all conditions, dirt, rain, mud, twisty roads and anything else we can find to push ourselves past the norm in the name of improving our products. The black line got no preferential treatment.

 

 
Royal Purple is recognized for their high performance synthetic lubricants. Their sole mission is to develop products that significantly outperform the competition. It was an easy call when they wanted to work with us for their Outperformer Series campaign. They took over our shop a few months back filling it with fancy lights and other expensive camera equipment. They produced an amazing video and we would like to thank Royal Purple for this great opportunity. Check them out on Facebook!
Location: Long Beach
Photographer: Adam Campbell
 
In the early days HD was making a name for itself on dirtracks worldwide against Triumph, BSA, Indian and countless other brands. When it comes to big twins HD seems to of forgotten how much fun a massive V-twin can be in the dirt. That takes us to our Blackline. First we fully stripped her down and chopped off everything extra. Next was to add back to get her dirtrack ready. 19” RSD Judge wheels are the biggest attitude change along with Goodyears, a new fender and mount, RSD spring seat kit, prototype bars and gauge re-locator, among a host of other little changes and RSD parts. Dirty and narrow minded, just the way we like it.
Check back for the shots in action.

 

Finished rendering of the bike. We're a little bit behind on this blog but next is paint and our 2012 photo shoot. We have some great photos coming so hold on tight and have a happy New Year.

 

 

We opted out of the number plate as we found a solution using our RSD sporty gauge cluster and a sporty headlight which works perfectly with the black line gauge and puts the headlight in a nice location. Using the RSD low risers and a new moto bend welded bar allows a clear view of the gauge and a dirt track worth bar position.

 

 
Being hat she will spend some time in dirt we thought it only right to put some fork boot on her legs as well as building a skid plate in front of the motor that rolls under the frame rails.
 
 
Rear fender and fender mount finished. Got our first set of Black Ops Judges 19X3 front and rear for the Blackline. The goodyears fit perfectly and the bike now has a very aggressive dirt worthy stance. We’ll be wrapping the seat and tank cover in aged black leather with some tooling details by our friend Mauricio from Azteka. Design to come soon.
 
 
Handlebars. This was probably the most controversial part of the black line. You either hated it or you hated it. They just looked a little goofy and the worst part is the bars are impossible to change out without fabrication. We’re working on changing that. We’ve fabricated a clean set of dirt track pullback bars for plenty of control when pitching her sideways.
 
A simplified and narrowed up rear end was the chief priority so we removed the very heavy rear fender and struts as well as the seat. We fabricated a new narrowed fender that mounts to the swingarm and hugs the tire just right.. We’re thinking we might offer the Narrowed rear fender kit for softails in the future.
With the rear fender rigid mounted a new solo spring seat was next. We used the RSD spring seat kit which bolted up easily and gave us an instant vintage feel with no fabrication.
 
With the rear fender rigid mounted a new solo spring seat was next. We used the RSD spring seat kit which bolted up easily and gave us an instant vintage feel with no fabrication.
The Harley Davidson Blackline Softail was aimed at the younger customer looking for something raw and to the point. HD tried valiantly, but as with many other models, once you squeeze something through a committee and budgets you end up with what you end up with. In the case of the Blackline, it’s a slightly overpriced, blacked out, narrow rear tire Softail that has yet to inspire the mass majority of chopper geeks to pick up a torch. But what it lacks in punch it makes up for in possibility. We love the narrow rear tire and simplicity of the base model Blackline. All she needs is a little imagination and some elbow grease to get something that is going to be much lighter than the stock machine.
 
We're using the WR flat head as inspiration for this project. Light weight and trimmed up for a little dirttracking, or maybe a Dayton Beach sand race.
 
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