The New Reborn Harley-Davidson FXDL Low Rider®

dynalowride1The mid-year release of the retro-cool Harley-Davidson Low Rider® seems to have pleased a lot of you. Launched in 1977, the original Low Rider became synonymous with a rebellious attitude and as such is one of the icons of the Harley-Davidson production. After a five-year hiatus and thanks to good ergonomics and a well calibrated suspension the legendary Low Rider motorcycle offers an agile chassis for easy and comfortable cruising.

dynalowrider2The new Low Rider 4 key features are: 1- a two-position seat moving the rider 1.5 inches forward 2- an adjustable handlebar riser offering 2.4 inches of adjustment, which can each be easily adjusted by the dealer using simple hand tools 3-footpegs that are relocated two inches forward of the previous Dyna mid-mount position to offer most riders from 5’ 1” to 6’ 1” in height the more critical comfort zones 4- and of course a low seat height at just 25.4 inches. Harley-Davidson kept touchstone elements from the Low Rider model: a polished headlamp visor, wrinkle black trim and split five-spoke aluminum wheels finished in wrinkle black with diamond cut highlights.

dynalowrider3Thrust is provided by the HD Twin Cam 103™ powertrain rated at 99 ft. lbs. of torque at 3500 rpm. The engine is equipped with Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI) and Automatic Compression Release (ACR), and is mated to a 6-speed Cruise Drive® transmission. The powertrain is finished in wrinkle black powder coat with chrome-plated covers. Other key features include: 49mm polished front forks and coil-over rear shocks, both with tri-rate springs;chrome. A 2-into-1 exhaust with the same throaty sound of the original Low Rider. Dual disc front brakes. Wrinkle black console holding an analog speedometer and analog tachometer with indicator lights integrated into the tachometer. Michelin® Scorcher™ tires. Etc. Ample Genuine Motor Accessories offer endless possibilities for self-expression…

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41 Responses to “The New Reborn Harley-Davidson FXDL Low Rider®”


  1. 1 Woody Apr 2nd, 2014 at 9:59 am

    Good looking bike. If I didn’t already have a Dyna, I’d be considering that one.

  2. 2 Rodent Apr 2nd, 2014 at 10:03 am

    When is the FXR going to be reinvented?

  3. 3 LenNY BARNETT'S HD Apr 2nd, 2014 at 11:19 am

    Looks great this is a winner for Harley-Davidson and will be a great seller.

  4. 4 Bruce Reynard Apr 2nd, 2014 at 11:26 am

    Fewer comments than when Cyril publishes about Indian or Victory. So, I guess less passion about the Harley brand?

  5. 5 Zen Apr 2nd, 2014 at 11:58 am

    That is a good marketing strategy I’ll admit; kind of like they have done with the Switchback. They are building versatility into their products.

    Harley would do well to build bikes comfortable for those 6′ tall and over. Please bring back an FXR or Dyna Super Glide Sport in little larger frame with the speedo and tach on the bars. Increase the ground clearance to six inches and put good shocks on it and they will sell; at least to taller Customers. You can put better shocks on a dyna, tall boy seat, and forward controls but still look, feel and know that the frame is too small for your size. That is all I am saying.

  6. 6 18Bravo Apr 2nd, 2014 at 1:07 pm

    Bruce, does it look like any passion went into it?

  7. 7 James just another crazy Kiwi Apr 2nd, 2014 at 2:40 pm

    The Fat Bob is comfortable for the larger frame I can tell you that from personal experience.

    It just happens to look really ugly now.I was going to trade my 08 in on a 14 . That will now never happen.
    I will be buying something second had or build up a project bike…Fxr or early Evo in the 4 speed frame.
    Dam them for ruining a perfectly good motorcycle.
    I have had a Evo and Shovel low Rider but I prefer the style and comfort of the Fat Bob.
    I know I say this often but I just hope some one is listening. Hopefully the sales numbers will drop and they will revaluate.

  8. 8 Lone Rider Apr 2nd, 2014 at 5:00 pm

    Yaaaaaawwwwwnnnnnnn – Thats it?

  9. 9 LenNY BARNETT'S HD Apr 2nd, 2014 at 5:23 pm

    This motorcycle on the dealer floor is getting a huge amount of attention and positive comments. Nice bike ……

  10. 10 Mr Dick Apr 2nd, 2014 at 5:25 pm

    Checked it out today. Even with the seat doo-dad off, I kinda felt cramped, and I’m 6 foot. The Switchback seemed just right though.

  11. 11 Zipper Apr 2nd, 2014 at 5:37 pm

    Man! I think lone rider said it all. ..Z

  12. 12 domino Apr 2nd, 2014 at 5:52 pm

    I am going to order mine with the FXR frame option …..

    Domino Dave

  13. 13 Iron Horse Apr 2nd, 2014 at 7:33 pm

    Gotta agree with Zen on this. Harley needs to build a bike that better fits those over 6ft. tall. In my personal opinion, the tall boy seat is just a bandaid on the problem and really changes the fit of the bike for the worse as it makes you feel like you’re sitting ‘on’ the bike, not ‘in’ the bike.

    Not sure how tall the crazy Kiwi is, but at 6′ 05″, none of Harley’s offerings are all that comfortable for me. I own both a RoadGlide and Fatbob and my ’03 Chief fits me way better than either…not that I’d give up either just because of that though.

  14. 14 Martin@Bagger Apr 2nd, 2014 at 8:58 pm

    Let’s hurry, cut the neck of this bike, put a 32″ front wheel, add a turbo and put some bags on it. Then let’s drop this cool FXR 2″ to the ground, and put a glow-in-the-dark paintjob on it. Done. New trend.

  15. 15 courtney Apr 2nd, 2014 at 11:44 pm

    Nice. Gonna go check it out.

  16. 16 Terence Tory Apr 3rd, 2014 at 12:20 am

    Well,it’s got mag wheels,real triple disc brakes and a functional riding position for actually riding:all good.The added bonus of this bike is when you pull up at a country store,you won’t look like a fool,but a genuine enthusiast,and a real rider.

    I think the wheel sizes,combined with the undesirable 30 1/2° rake and the rearward canted cylinders make the bike look ungainly in proportions to the original Shovelhead Low Rider.To be fair,it may well look much better in the flesh than in photos.

    When it’s all said and done,I would not buy this TC 103 and Dyna framed bike.I’d prefer a FXR with a grenaded Evo engine and fit a complete 96 inch motor-trans from a crashed bagger.

    The current Sportsters are too plastic and weak looking,and the FX Big Twins don’t handle well enough for high speed riding IMHO:
    I’d rather have a new Star Bolt than either.

    People want FXR chassis dynamics, but the Mo Co goes for the cheaper to assemble Dyna option.

  17. 17 BobS Apr 3rd, 2014 at 7:42 am

    Terence, wether you look like an enthusiast or a fool in front of people you’ll never see again at a country store does not depend on the bike you ride up on. It depends on if you’re dressed in a costume covered with logos. But that’s just looks, on the surface. The only way to really tell the difference between an enthusiast and a fool is to find out if they care what strangers at a country store think about them when they ride up on a motorcycle.

  18. 18 SIGFREED Apr 3rd, 2014 at 7:59 am

    HD deserves credit and most of the comments have obliged. SMART MOVE – PERIOD.

    The Low Rider is the kind of ESSENTIAL BASICS that both the HIPSTER CROWD (ie a powerful consumer sub-group – eg one that the ‘TEEN-GLIDE”s market is NOT – IMHO) and the RED-NECKS like.

    You can pull up with a black HD Low Rider anywhere from Silver Lake to Wicker Park, to Williamsburg, to the Mission District, from Portlandia to Austin and you will not be frowned upon by the biological extensions of the iPones and MacBook Pros.

    Then you can rip the sleeves of your fake cowboy-checked-shirt, urinate on your boots, wear your pistol/holster exposed, mount exactly the same bike, go down to the nearest Red-Neck-Racoon-water-hole and you will not have those exposed arms ripped off and beaten half to death with them.

    WIDE APPEAL – very smart.

    BUT…!!!!

    HD will have to improve the frame of the Dyna and at the same time the Sportster.

    With modern manufacturing methods, the accounting equations that killed the FXR, now are no longer relevant.

    If HD wants to stay in the game it started then (now) it has two options

    A. Major revised STIFF/RIGID- and LIGHT RUBBER-MOUNT FRAME (for the Dyna and a scaled derivative for the Sportster).

    B. ALTERNATIVELY – used balanced engines only with light/rigid sub-frames, but I can hear the traditionalists beating the war-drums already.., I may in fact be one of them… 

  19. 19 Terence Tory Apr 3rd, 2014 at 8:04 am

    BobS,turn up at country store on a big wheel bagger and see how people view you regardless of costume.Is the circus in town?,they will ask themselves in hushed tones.

    I personally am a no-logo kind of guy,and don’t really care what the jury at the shoppe determines later.I just don’t want laugher as I motor down.This bike avoids that embarrassing consequence.

    Being an genuine enthusiast does not require a dress code or even studious ignorance towards the civilian’s response.

  20. 20 richard Apr 3rd, 2014 at 10:15 am

    The “it’s what you wear” comments don’t wash. I know people who favor any and every kind of dress mode. Some from each are true enthusiasts (live and breathe motorcycles) and some from each are true pretenders. It’s shallow to make assumptions about people from their appearances.

  21. 21 Dave Blevins Apr 3rd, 2014 at 11:39 am

    @ Richard,
    I agree with your comment. And Terence only comments here to try to rile people, because he likely has no friends to talk to in the real world. He just stated in his comment that he prefers a Star to a Dyna or Sportster anyway, so his comments about the Harley brand in general don’t wash with folks that have chosen the Harley brand for whatever their reasons.

  22. 22 BobS Apr 3rd, 2014 at 12:00 pm

    Richard it may be shallow but like it or not that’s what strangers, non-bikers, at a country store are going to look at.

  23. 23 Terence Tory Apr 3rd, 2014 at 12:36 pm

    It probably shows how enthralling Harley-Davidson’s latest efforts are when people discuss at length what goes on in the minds of country people at a store.

  24. 24 Cris Sommer Simmons Apr 3rd, 2014 at 12:39 pm

    I like it….

  25. 25 richard Apr 3rd, 2014 at 12:55 pm

    Bob, I get that point. Also, I don’t care a lick about what the non-bikers, (or other bikers) opinions of me based on what I’m wearing…

  26. 26 Rodent Apr 3rd, 2014 at 6:26 pm

    It seems that the redskin invasion gave the MoCo a kick in the buttocks, to be polite.

  27. 27 Jusmecuz Apr 3rd, 2014 at 6:50 pm

    Who gives a rip what some jackdick at a country store, or any store thinks or says..

  28. 28 Steve Carr Apr 4th, 2014 at 4:50 am

    The problem here is what goes on in the Ball End’s Head.

    Simply a waste of internet ink and paper….

    Steve Carr

  29. 29 Terence Tory Apr 4th, 2014 at 5:00 am

    Steve Carr,who would have thort tit? The internets in Alabama gots ink ern paper? Paper beets rocks?

  30. 30 Doc Robinson Apr 4th, 2014 at 7:48 am

    Steve, not much goes on in Ball Ends’ head. Not that makes sense anyway. As he demonstrates almost daily.

  31. 31 Mike Apr 4th, 2014 at 10:47 am

    This is a good looking bike, and a smart move by Harley.

    I’ll let the Hipster crowd worry about the half-wits who talk to themselves “in hushed tones”.

  32. 32 Terence Tory Apr 4th, 2014 at 11:43 am

    Dave Blevins, I’m like plenty of guys who visit this blog and comment on H-D’s latest efforts, amongst the other brands. Quite a few would like a real performance H-D Big Twin with a chassis as strong,and as stable at speed as the old FXR one. Like the bike Doc Robinson says he’s building,and John Reed’s opinion of FXR design and dynamics concurs.

    Dave, I’d love a modern FLH that works well out of the box, or an XL that doesn’t look like it was dipped in plastic chocolate to cover the bad detailing, or a modern FX that can be improved without the inner primary giving up the ghost because the chassis is cheap and the driveline under engineered. Maybe even a FXDF before it got hit by the ugly stick.

    The Star Bolt does not need much more than a high flowing muffler and a professional dyno tune, by my reckoning. Very much like the new Indians. I just prefer to buy a bike and ride it,without upgrading 20% of the bike that should be working well,straight out of the crate.

  33. 33 Woody Apr 4th, 2014 at 2:07 pm

    Still a good looking bike. It’ll sell, and that’s what mfrs. aim for.

  34. 34 Larry Lamonaco Apr 4th, 2014 at 9:14 pm

    TT, “I’m like plenty of guys who visit this blog and comment on H-D’s latest efforts”
    No you’re not, you stated you are a motorcycle designer and builder but you have no photos of m/c’s built or designed by you. We see no one else telling these lies, so don’t compare yourself to anyone else posting here.

  35. 35 Terence Tory Apr 5th, 2014 at 12:15 am

    Larry Lamonaco. LL,It’s good to see you stepping up to the plate and piping up for the little guy, and everybody else and yourself.
    I didn’t know that the bike game required photo I.D. I guess I’ll have to become like the next boring guy who is primed to jump at innocent passersby with abandon,and flip out the iPhone to show the latest wonder on wheels. Old men with digital frame bubblegum cards is our brave new post post modern world right about now soul brother, TT.

    I’d prefer to collect sound bytes.Like “wow that’s an interesting and great looking bike”,etc. Sally forth with hidden phone,I guess.

    P.S. The trick is to say you can’t see %$#t without glasses,but that only works with the vision,but not the plugging of the ears.

  36. 36 Larry Lamonaco Apr 5th, 2014 at 1:47 pm

    TT, you are such a F ing LIAR. There are also no sound bites, remarks, kudos, etc, of any one seeing, hearing, or talking about a m/c designed or built by you.

  37. 37 BCinSoCal Apr 7th, 2014 at 11:42 am

    Personally, I think it is a great looking straight forward motorcycle. Not a rolling clown car (big wheel bagger) or a rolling electronics store ( new bagger with DVD player colour TV and every digital gadget on the market.) Think I can speak to all the yapping on this subject and raving about FXRs. Yes, a great bike, I still ride one, a ’93, and have ridden one since the first Shovelhead model. How many of you own and ride one?! If you all love them so much get out there and find a nice one, getting hard to do, and buy it.

  38. 38 Monster Fairings Apr 8th, 2014 at 12:33 pm

    I like the bike. Looks really nice

  39. 39 Steve H Apr 8th, 2014 at 8:47 pm

    Very interesting design for a harley, looks great. I want one

  40. 40 Woody Apr 10th, 2014 at 9:30 am

    @James jac Kiwi; What peg position does your ’08 have? I’m 5’8″ and my ’08 has the “mid” controls which are perfect (for me) but a lot of tall folks would be cramped. I hear a lot of varied comments from folks on the FBob and I suspect it has a lot to do with the different peg positions depending on the year. I rode a 2012 one with forwards and hated it so I’m sure it’s the same in reverse for others.

  41. 41 Axel Apr 24th, 2014 at 1:44 pm

    I like it fine, but wonder why they ever dropped it in the first place?

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Cyril Huze