Motor

2008 FXSTSSE Screamin' Eagle Softail Springer

In its second year, this bike does a pretty darn good job of looking old skool in a new world. When I rode the Springer last year in our Godzilla Cruiser's shootout I was really impressed with just how nimble a bike with a 21-inch front wheel could be hustled through the turns. It suffered from ground clearance of course, but sometimes draggin' a peg is half the fun for me.

With the switch to an 18-inch wheel this year, handling has only gotten better. I half expected turn in to be slowed quite a bit from the wider tire. Thankfully I was wrong. The new wheel and tire combo have given the Springer more stability and better front end feel. That's a good thing to have when slinging a $25,000 bike around. This bike is best suited for cruising the strip and looking good... extended freeway time or excessive amounts of twisting roads really are outside of the scope of the Springer's design in the long run. But with all the torque and that kick ass air intake hanging out in front of you, why would you want to do anything but show the bike off on the boulevard.

Braking, like on the Dyna, has room for improvement. It would be nice to see the well-thought out ABS on the touring models trickle down into some of the other models in Harley's line-up.

New to the 2008 Screamin' Eagle Softail Springer is the following:

* 18 x 3.5-inch front wheel and 18-inch radial tire
* Widened front fender with restyled mounting bracket and strut
* The single front brake moves to the left side of the front wheel
* Reduced reach front brake lever
* New floating rear brake caliper (this as well as bolt-on frame tails and fender support covers, a new fuel pump, line and sender will carry over to '08 non-CVO Softails)
* "Heavy Breather" forward-facing air intake with exposed filter (includes rain cover) that gives the bike 5 more foot-pounds of torque from the previous model
* New horn cover

The 2008 Screamin' Eagle Softail Springer retails for $24,995 ($25,095 CA) and will only number 2,500 units (including 1,050 serialized 105th Anniversary models) worldwide. Add $495 for the anniversary edition.

For more info go to: http://www.harley-davidson.com/