Harley-Davidson Rocker C.

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Harley-Davidson Rocker C in the driving report

Harley’s most powerful answer to customizing yet

New York – Sudershausen. One look and it was clear. In front of me was Armin’s dream motorcycle. So I called him. Middle of the night …

VMaybe it was the magic of New York. Perhaps also on the long front fork, the chrome antlers, the wide leather saddle. Or the song "On the run" by Tina Dico. Anyway, last year I stood in one of those takeaways paved with greasy fries near Central Park, corner 58. The rising sun smeared glass palaces, white mist crept out of ventilation shafts, and an armada of yellow taxis spilled through Big Apple’s concrete valleys. The Rocker C, Harley’s most powerful answer to the subject of customizing, was parked in front of the streaky snack window. Only a few more minutes and then I would drive the machine for the first time. At that moment I remembered my old friend Armin.

Armin had approached the subject of cruising in an unusual way. In the mid-1990s, his cousin Dieter had to walk for a year and parked a 750 Intruder with him. Enduro freak Armin took the Trude a few times to the meetings and enjoyed the time-melting roll. In 1997 he fell in love with a Honda VF 750 C Magna, which he is still tinkering with today. Every time I’m back in my old hometown of Sudershausen, it proudly presents a new feature, even if it’s just a red anodized valve cap. I opened my cell phone. 6:30 a.m. New York time. Long ring. "Moin Armin, you won’t believe it, but I’m about to ride a Rocker C." “Are you nuts? It’s the middle of the night! What the heck is a stool toe? ” “Something to fall in love with. Brand new Harley, wide slippers, long fork. Extremely casual. ” “Costs?” “Around twenty -one. ”“ Bring them with you, huh. "Joker. But at that time I promised Armin to come by with the first rocker available in Europe. On the one hand because with their creation the Americans had set up a machine that redefined the epitome of customizing ex works, and on the other hand because with this machine my friend’s absolute dream would come true in one fell swoop.

It’s a storm-lashed day in late February. Exactly 447 kilometers are between my front door and Armin’s home workshop, a former sawmill. The sky is unforgiving, with swirling wisps of cloud in shades of gray from field mouse to urban snow. In a Stuttgart tunnel, the ceiling lighting discharges like a flurry of flashing lights in the chrome tangle of the rockers. Tunnel walls give the hard, pounding bass from the side pipes depth and impact. It sounds crazy to a biker, but from my point of view the entire 447 kilometers could be through cities. An endless string of enjoyable traffic light starts, now and then a tunnel with loudness effect, relaxed gliding between 50 and 60 km / h in third and fourth gear. Every quake of the 1584 cubic twin-cam 96 engine invites you to count. And each one pumps a feeling of well-being through your veins.

The secret rocker

Artist

Armin sneaks around the rockers like a hungry wolf around an injured bear. With respect, caution, curiosity and greed in their eyes.

I chose the country road. Eight hours, twelve minutes. More than enough to snatch the rockers’ secret from you … You are surrounded by an ultra-wide leather saddle. Legs stretched out slightly, arms forward. There is not a hint of uncomfortability. No, it’s homely in a nonchalant way. Nevertheless you see Hopper and Fonda permanently on your inner canvas, you feel as if someone has just slipped you the key to immortality. Somewhere up there, far behind the glittering risers and the flashing headlights, lies freedom, the wheel rotates. You don’t see it. But you feel it And despite a 1.76 meter wheelbase and 53 degrees steering head angle, you have a good feeling for what it is doing. The rocker doesn’t go. She swings. You experience slight steering impulses like movements in a hammock. The 327-kilogram rocker rolls gently, yet stubbornly, over her 240-inch push. That has authority. That has style. And silence. This Harley is not one of those machines that you just put in the corner after a ride and take out again at some point.

Despite their iron feel, the rubbing coolness and the electrifying smell of fuel and lubricant, you treat them like your little daughter. Go to see how you’re doing before you go to sleep. Caress the headlights, tank, saddle and mudguard with pleasure, and be thievingly happy when the V2 wakes up as soon as possible. And will be brutally torn from your dream in case someone disagrees. “And?” “Already rusting.” “How, is it rusting? These are the inner flanks of the brake discs. It just looks like it. ”Armin sneaks around the rockers like a hungry wolf around an injured bear. With respect, caution, curiosity and greed in their eyes.
“No, well, the front is too narrow for me personally. Otherwise the box looks perfect. "

Artist

"The Rocker C does not drive. She swings."

Oh look, it works. We exchange. I get into the saddle of his old VF 750. Despite all its improvements, it comes across as if there was a hook next to Schwarzenegger. And unfortunately drives like that too. Nothing against the performance. Honda has given the V4 a decent 88 hp. The V2 of the Harley has exactly 17 HP less despite the double displacement. But it just doesn’t fit. To get to the point: The Rocker has the blues. And that is moving and sensual. The Magna is a well-functioning vehicle that cannot be blamed. Armin has to experience that with suffering. We stop at Bratwurst-Leinemann, the cult snack bar in southern Lower Saxony. If you stand there with our curry for less than two minutes, someone will join us. Peter from Detmold drives a Yamaha Vmax and has read about the Rocker C somewhere. "It’s the goat with the passenger seat hidden in the saddle, you can fold it out somehow …" That’s right. To demonstrate, I snap up the saddle, pull the holder out of the hiding place and click the pillion seat on it, 30-second thing.

On the road

Artist

"The rocker did the blues. And that is moving and sensual."

“Man,” says Peter, “who do you want to take with you? I was at a meeting the other day. One of them was wearing a robe with the following inscription: If you can read this, my old woman fell from the bank. Harley can deliver such a habit as standard with the Rocker … ”I look at the pillion seat. Little bigger than the palm of your hand. Peter is right. Armin goes one better: "With BMWs R 1200 C you could at least fold up the pillion bun as a sissy bar and lean against it …" Ten minutes later we are back on the road. What am i driving? Magna, of course. Unfortunately. Our goal is Armin’s workshop, because now the sky has opened its locks. We are at the traffic light. I can guess Armin’s grin under the helmet. He’s about to knock first gear into the gears – a great event, by the way. When the gearbox mechanics of the first get married, such a tremendous jolt goes through the vehicle as if someone had hit you in the back. Big cinema.

Great cinema for those who drive behind. Tea mighty fender follows every movement of the tire – it seems to float above it at a distance of just two or three centimeters. I’ve known Armin for half an eternity. Knows what’s on his mind now. All the tours with his 750cc. Peloponnese, Alps, Granada. He thinks about the fact that the Honda, with 38,334 kilometers under its belt, has not let him down once. He sacrificed countless hours and invested thousands of euros. For example, the rear rim has been widened for half a fortune, his Magna now rolls on a 170 instead of a 150. Something like that cannot, no, cannot be sold. When dusk sets in, we are in his screwdriver workshop. “Why don’t all manufacturers use timing belts?” Armin wants to know. Legitimate question. "Are there already footrests for the pillion passenger that you can simply retract when not in use?" An idea that should be passed on. It will be a long evening with petrol talks in a stylish atmosphere. An evening that ends with Armin’s realization that he too can no longer ignore the trend towards a second motorcycle.

Data Harley-Davidson Softail Rocker C

Engine:
45-degree V-2 engine, displacement 1584 cm3, bore 95.3 mm, stroke 111.1 mm, two valves per cylinder, injection, mechanically operated multi-plate oil bath clutch, six-speed gearbox.

Landing gear:
Double loop frame made of steel, 49er telescopic fork in front, triangular swing arm in rear, disc brake in front, Ø 292 mm, disc brake in rear, Ø 292 mm, tires f / h 90/90 H 19, 240/40 R 18.

Price: 21,635 euros

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