Sometimes all you need is to hear the sound and that will do it. I guess the marketing team had this in mind when they decided to roll out the 2020 Harley Davidson Softail Standard video ad.
The cinematic look of the video, combined with the sound of the drums in the background for a higher impact and the sound of the engine does the job for me (huge fan since childhood), however, I think that the design department should have gone a bit further.
From my point of view, it makes no sense in keeping the price low for marketing purposes only. Yes, it’s true that it's one thing when an ad sounds like: This model is starting from 13.599$ and it’s another when you advertise the same picture or video with a 14.599$ starting price - because in most cases you cannot tell the differences between a baseline model and an upgraded one just by looking at the advertisement.
Some other “flaws” I see in the design, is that it looks just like a Street Bob (nothing wrong with the Bob) but this one, compared to the Bob has a different suspension, Also, the engine is painted an uglier black and the exhaust is chromed, not black, as it is on the Street Bob.
Engine: The engine is something I would expect on a Softail and the 107 is a really nice engine! Great performance overall, nice looking classic HD style... They just painted an ugly color.
The thin and slick tires… There are HD models that do not require thick tires, but the Softail is definitely not one of them.
Rims: Not a fan of the spoke rims they chose... Did they use these because it's just a Standard model?
Exhaust: It's as long as two Pinocchio figurines laying side by side and lying to one another.
The rear fender looks like every other stock rear fender you can get on the market.
Ape hanger… It just doesn’t go with the lines of the bike. What happened to the classic wide bar? Not to mention that it’s cheaper than the ape, since lower price would be the way to go anyway.
One thing as a plus, I think this is the first HD model that is sexier from the left side than from the right side. In 99,9% of the cases it’s the other way around.
I understand that this is the base model and you just upgrade what you can on it, it’s mentioned even in the video description and you can tell that it’s the model’s tagline… Standard… It's even marketed this way! But it’s like they are saying: Expect a bit, but not too much…
Further stating the question: How would you customize the standard? Come on… It’s a Harley-Davidson and I would estimate that 95% of the buyers will upgrade at least one thing on any bike they buy (probably not on the Breakout CVO) but on all other models, upgrading from the stock option is just “standard” for almost every Harley Davidson owner, including myself.
In order to prove my point a bit, I quickly (with not too much attention to details) photoshoped the Standard Softail – Lowered the rear fender, put a Low Rider design engine, shortened the exhaust pipes, extended the fuel tank a bit and got rid of the ape…
Standard
Photo: Harley-Davidson
Photoshoped
Photo: Autor
All in all, I believe that the Softail is and should remain a top line in the Harley-Davidson stable. I just wish they would care a bit more. Be more realistic. Raise the price by 1.000$ but sell me something I expect to have, like standard ABS as example! I’ll wait for the selling numbers to prove me wrong.
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