I've got my eye on this bike, not sure whether I'll sell my Road King and buy this one, my Road King is a real pleasure to ride, but I love the styling on this one...we'll see what happens. The raw aggressive styling of the Cross Bones is no mistake. Harley is exposing a fresh, mainstream side of the venerable Motor Company. Harley looked to its knuckles and pans of yesterday for styling cues on the latest motorcycle in its Dark Custom line. The Cross Bones has the "retro look of a Springer front end and other post-war era bobber styling cues like a sprung solo seat, half-round rider footboards, Gloss Black round air cleaner cover and chopped front fender." Harley has done its homework because these styling cues are reflected in current trends in the custom building scene. The X-Bones is a heavy weight contender that appeals to the retro fanatic while delivering 21th century performance, I happen to be one of them... Available in Dark Blue Pearl, Dark Blue Denim, Vivid Black, Olive Pearl and Pewter Denim. Black starts at $16,795, while color runs $17,140. Key features include: * An air-cooled, 1,584cc Twin Cam 96B powerplant that produces 87.9 ft-lbs of torque at 2,750 rpm * A six-speed Cruise Drive transmission * An adjustable sprung solo seat that sits as low as 26.6 inches * Straight shot exhaust with chrome slash-cut mufflers * A 200mm rear tire * Gloss Black cat-eye tank console with a new speedometer face Weighing 737 lbs in "running order," the Harley-Davidson Softail Cross Bones won't be the nimblest of motorcycles, but its bobber styling cues and retro details effectively reinforce the nostalgic style that typifies the Harley-Davidson brand.

The VRSC (V-Twin Racing Street Custom) family was introduced in 2001 in a single model called the V-Rod. The V-Rod was developed as Harley-Davidson first "Power Cruiser", designed to compete against Japanese and American muscle bikes. The "V-Rod" made use of the Revolution engine, developed jointly with Porsche that, for the first time in Harley history, incorporates fuel injection, overhead cams, and liquid cooling. The V-Rod is visually distinct from other Harley-Davidson motorcycles. It can be easily identified by the 60-degree V-Twin engine, the radiator and the hydroformed frame members that support the round-topped air cleaner cover. A distinct difference between the V-Rod and all other Harley production motorcycles, is the location of the fuel tank. The fuel tank on the V-Rod is located underneath the seat, placing the driver on top of it, rather than the usual frontal placement, the "tank" in this place is simple dressing, hiding the frame. Loosely based on the VR-1000 superbike, it continues to be a platform around which Harley-Davidson builds drag-racing competition machines. In 2008, Harley added anti-lock braking systems as a factory installed option on all VRSC models.[citation needed] Harley also increased the displacement of the stock engine from 1.1 L (1130 cc, 69 cu in) to 1.3 L (1250 cc, 76 cu in), which had only been previously available from Screamin' Eagle, added a slipper clutch as standard equipment and offered anti-lock brakes as an option for the first time.