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 New Motorcycle Review: 2012 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Classic |
Nov 28, 2011 - 9:17 PM - by CrimsonShadow
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I cannot believe I am writing down these words but here goes: Harley Davidson saved my vacation. There are several wonderful things about taking an impromptu holiday, thorough planning is not among them. As luck would have it the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation summit was happening in Honolulu the very week we would be in Hawaii. Although not occurring on the Big Island where we would be the ripple effect of having every rental car from the entire state shipped to Honolulu was felt throughout the land. There were quite simply no rental vehicles on the entire island. Although this does not seem like a problem on an island it is when there is literally zero public transport and you want to see more than your hotel balcony. Luckily we were clever enough to realize that two-wheeled vehicles would be less likely to be rented out. After a few calls we were fortunate enough to get ahold of Big Island Harley Davidson who worked out a deal for us to use one of their 2012 bikes for a bargain. How good was the offer? Good enough to get a Ducati nut to swing a leg over.
Our steed for four crazy days was the Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Classic. It sports a massive 103 cubic inch (1687.867ccs for people who are smart) air-cooled V-Twin with fuel injection and a 6-speed transmission. It comes standard with some studded leather saddlebags, leather trim (yes, leather trim), a windscreen with auxillary lighting and big footboards.
For most of the week we punished the fat American bike with whatever we could throw at it. Immediately after taking delivery we blasted down the steep and curvy roads from sea level up to the 4000’ elevation at Volcanoes National Park. We jammed two sets of snorkel equipment in the saddle bags and took it snorkeling, we cruised the coast, we survived a wicked wind assault and monsoon downpours. Even when we took a wrong turn and ended up in a field full of bee hives the bike still soldiered on. In the end we racked up over 400 miles on an island that is approximately 90 miles wide at the widest point. So it is with some certainty that I can make the following likes and dislikes.
Likes: The large rear brake pedal is great for steep hill starts and essential for a bike of this size. I was also pleasantly surprised to see a gear indicator and anti-lock brakes equipped. The saddlebags although as cliche as they could possibly look were spacious enough for all of our gear and kept it dry. Comfort for both riders was very good for mile after mile. Even in stop-and-go driving the clutch pull was easy keeping hand fatigue in check. The extra lighting was a blessing on the black rural roads in the rain.
Dislikes: WEIGHT. At over 760 pounds without riders you better hope you never have to do anything fast. This includes stopping because with just a single disc stopping this huge machine you better think ahead. Harley makes a big deal about the new 103 engine however I challenge you to find the horsepower rating on their website. It is mysteriously absent which is likely a bad sign. The combination of the silly footboards and the useless double-sided shifter assembly make for a dangerous accidental tip recipe. Speaking of tipping you will get very used to catching the bike when the side stand folds up as you get off of it. When you finally get the side stand to keep the bike up it will reward you with staying up as you ride away as there is no failsafe to cut the engine when the side stand is down and the bike is in gear. The idiotic rear shift mechanism catches on any kind of pant cuff and either pops it into gear from neutral or keeps your foot from reaching the ground at stop. Pegs and a simple gear shift are lighter, safer and cheaper. Finding neutral is a roll of the dice and shifting gears makes a noise not unlike hitting a trash can with a baseball bat.
Despite my preconceived notions about HD, the bike performed well over our brief ownership period. More importantly Big Island Harley Davidson was awesome to work with and even picked us up at our hotel. We felt so good after riding our Harley that we went out and got tattoos after we turned it in, seriously. Ok, maybe we were planning to do that anyway but this makes for a better ending.
If I’m honest the bike is just not for me and certainly not at the $17k+ price point. All the bits that make it “Harley” are the parts I did not care for. However if you were to be interested in a similar Harley I would push you more to the Blackline which is lighter, nicer looking, cheaper and simpler.
For more information on the 2012 Heritage Softail Classic vist: http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US...l-classic.html
If you plan on visiting Hawaii look up Big Island Harley Davidson: http://www.bigislandh-d.com/
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4 Replies | 168 Views
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New Car Review: 2012 Chevy Cruze Eco |
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Dec 21, 2011 - 6:43 PM - by KAbezon
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INTRODUCING THE 2012 CHEVY CRUZE ECO---NOT YOUR AVERAGE 40+ SEDAN part 1
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Originally Posted by Jeff Sabatini; AutoBlog.com
On paper, it sounds like an enthusiast's dream. Start by trimming almost 100 pounds from the curb weight of the base Chevrolet Cruze. Then drop the optional turbocharged engine underhood, bolted to a six-speed manual transmission. Lower the suspension and mount some lightweight, forged alloy wheels. Finish it off by sticking a little spoiler on the decklid, along with a special badge.
Where do we sign up?
But the car we've described isn't the stuff of boy racer fantasies; it's not even a performance car at all. No, the 2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco is not meant to run circles around the competition on an autocross course as much as it is designed to pirouette its way around the Environmental Protection Agency's fuel economy test. It's the greenest machine to wear a Bowtie this side of the Volt, boasting a highway fuel economy of 42 miles per gallon. But that heady figure is accomplished without the benefit of any advanced hybrid powertrain technology. The Cruze Eco is an impressive package that proves GM's smarts and gives the company further green bragging rights. That said, we're not entirely sure it's the Cruze we'd park in our driveway.
General Motors rolled out the Eco for the 2011 model year, building on the fuel-sipper program it pioneered with the 37-mpg Chevrolet Cobalt SFE. But with the Cruze, GM engineers went to greater lengths to improve fuel economy, and they've made some further changes for 2012.
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Quote:
We'll get into an analysis of the tricks that makes the Cruze Eco special, but first let's emphasize what GM didn't do to punch up the Eco's mileage. This is a car without any hybrid technology, not even a mild hybrid system like the eAssist system GM deployed on the Buick LaCrosse and has planned for the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Eco. There's no start-stop system to aid Cruze Eco's 28 miles per gallon city fuel economy rating. In fact, the Cruze Eco's turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder doesn't even use direct injection to make its 138 horsepower and 148 lb-ft of torque.
So what did GM really do? Three smart things. First, those clever engineers put the Cruze on a good old fashioned diet. They trimmed an easy 21 pounds by virtue of an attractive set of polished alloy wheels and another 26 by replacing the spare tire and jack with a 12-volt electric tire pump. The fuel tank was shrunk by three gallons and the rear suspension design was simplified, eliminating even more weight. The icing on the cake is that GM says it was able to reduce the sheet metal gauge thickness in some areas of the body-in-white, while reducing the length of some of the weld flanges to pare even more mass. This last change has now been deployed throughout the Cruze lineup, with the lighter body structure being adopted as a running change during the first model year.
The second key to the Eco's thrifty nature are some aerodynamic improvements that start with lowering the vehicle by 10mm. Even more importantly, the Cruze Eco gets some special kit, like underbody panels and an "active" front fascia, which can close up airflow passages to cut drag. (This means you can't tow with a Cruze Eco, which isn't a big deal.) Low rolling resistance tires also find a home on the Eco, which GM says has a 0.298 coefficient of drag – not far off the 0.287 of the Volt.
Finally, we come to the most important of the Eco's singularities: A six-speed manual transmission with not one, not two, but three overdrive gears. Here is where things begin to get complicated, because you can also get a Cruze Eco with the same six-speed automatic used in other Cruze trims. It doesn't perform as well on the EPA cycle, achieving a still-commendable 26/39 rating and leading GM to retain the normal-sized fuel tank. This contributes to a curb weight of 3,102 pounds; 91 pounds heavier than the Eco manual. Fuel economy in the automatic is actually an improvement over the 2011 model's 26/37, a change attributable to a taller final drive in the 2012 model year automatic. Said gearing revision has been applied to automatics across the board for 2012, on all trim levels, which is significant.
Before we go further, and in the interest of clarity, understand that the Cruze is offered in three distinct trim levels besides Eco. The base car, powered by a naturally aspirated 1.8-liter four, is designated "LS." In the middle, there are two "LT" models, and at the top-of-the-line is the "LTZ." In two model years, GM has offered nine different powertrain combinations on the Cruze, including four different transmissions – you'll need a scorecard to keep up.
Parsing all the possible powertrain combinations on the Cruze is necessary because, as attractive as that 42 mpg number is, most people like automatics. That GM has to deploy a manual to hit that number is something of a problem, given that the Ford Focus and Hyundai Elantra nail 40 EPA-rated miles per gallon with automatics. (Ford has its own problem on this score: A less-than-smooth-shifting dual-clutch gearbox.) Even if you prefer rowing your own gears, the Eco's manual transmission can be frustrating. The special tranny has a "normal" first gear (the same as the manual in the LS and LT), so its initial acceleration is quite good, brisk even, as the little four-cylinder's turbo spools up. Second is useable too. But with further gear changes at normal shift points, the engine keeps dropping out of its sweet spot on the power curve. If we had a dollar for every time we found ourselves lugging the engine, waiting for the turbo to catch up to our right foot, we would have had enough cash on hand after a week to have sprung for the automatic – which might just be a better option anyway.
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