2016 Harley-Davidson Softail Slim S Gets An Upgrade to Harley's 110 Twin Cam

By David Booth in Skamania Landing, Oregon

You wouldn’t think that a bunch of middle-aged motorcycle journalists would constitute a “bad element,” but there we were being run out of town. No feathers nor tar was involved, no Buford T. Justice dispatched, but there was one very irate senior citizen parking his boat trailer across Skamania’s main street (OK, Skamania’s only street, ho hum) claiming we “undesirables” were disturbing his morning peruse of The Oregonian. Never having been run out of town — in fact, never even having been even remotely considered a bad element — I was mighty chuffed. Finally, at 57 years of age, my inner bad-ass was finally shining through.

Military Retro Spec Meets The Wild One

In fact, I suspect it was more about the new Harley I was riding, the 2016 Softail Slim S. Way badder than I could ever hope to be, the new Slim S was decked out in something that The Motor Company calls “Olive Gold Denim” but for all the world looks like the paint that adorned all those WLA Harleys that we see in war films. Added authenticity came from the military-spec star emblem that dominates the tank and the cross-braced blacked-out handlebar. Indeed, squint hard enough (and make me look more like Marlon Brando) and we could have been auditioning for extras on The Wild One.

Screamin' Eagle Performance 110ci (1801cc) Twin Cam

Of course, we were hardly rebelling and, indeed, though the Slim S is a convincing homage to WWI iron, beneath the surface resides one thoroughly modern motorcycle. A fairly fast one, too, for one of the major upgrades for the $21,499 Slim S (and the $22,899 Fat Boy S that shares much of its mechanicals if not its bodywork) is the 110 cubic inch Screamin’ Eagle Twin Cam that used to be the sole purview of Harley’s big-buck CVO models. In the relatively lightweight — only in the Harley lineup can 309 kilograms (682 pounds) be considered lightweight — Slim, its 109 of pound-feet of torque (Harley seldom publishes horsepower figures preferring to lead with its strength) scooting the big Softail along with something approaching alacrity. Seriously, a 110-inch Slim has about as much moxie as you can get in a cruiser short of opting for a power cruiser like Ducati’s Diavel or Suzuki’s M109R. A bit more “bark” does accompany its “bite”, however, which may have been what goaded Skamania’s volunteer morality squad into action.

Adding to the “chop job” motif, of course, is Harley’s hardtail-lookalike Softail frame. But, like all Milwaukee’s products, there’s dozens of details that add to its authenticity such as the combination stop/tail/turn-signals which allows the rear fender to be shorn of its bulbous stoplight, a side-mounted license plate holder and spoked wheels mated to glossed out black rims and front fork. It’s a pretty cool package, one that all we “undersireables” agreed was the best-looking Softail in quite some time.

Cruse Drive And ABS

The Slim, however, rides like a thoroughly modern motorcycle. Besides the upgraded motor, one can’t help but be impressed with Harley’s Cruise Drive transmission. Yes, it ker-clunks into first gear with a more than noticeable mating of dogs, but it shifts as smoothly as any Asian cruiser twin, able to handle clutch-less upshifts with ease. And though the Slim is the very epitome of retro, it does feature electronic cruise control and anti lock brakes. These last bear special mention. Harley somehow manages to disguise its ABS hardware so thoroughly that even an engineer like Yours Truly — whose graduating thesis was anti-lock brakes for motorcycles! — had to ask the Harley’s engineering staff if the Slim really was so equipped before I would jump on the brakes hard enough to test their anti-locking ability. Normally, such systems require a sizeable sensor and a fairly large gear ring built into the wheel to be able to monitor the braking. Harley manages to condense all of that into something the size of a wheel bearing housing, completely undetectable save for the one electrical wire running to the diminutive sensor. Critics deride Milwaukee as techno-phobic. One very high-tech ABS system begs to differ.

In the end, it is this melding of modern and maudlin that remains Harley’s charm, the Softail Slim S a shining example of how The Motor Company manages to a very modern motorcycle to look so authentically retro. It was obviously enough to fool at least one self-appointed sheriff.