Softail

The term softail refers to motorcycles and bicycles that feature a moveable rear suspension system with springs or shock absorbers to absorb bumps. On motorcycles, the shock absorbers or springs are hidden underneath out of view to give the appearance of a hard-tail or rigid frame. The word softail is a registered trademark of Harley-Davidson motorcycles coined with the release of the FXST Softail in 1984. Since then, the word has expanded to include other motorcycles with hidden rear suspensions as well as bicycles incorporating a rear suspension.

Harley-Davidson Softail

In Harley-Davidson motorcycles, the softail frame is designed to look like the hardtail bikes of the past, while still offering the comfort of rear suspension. The shock absorbers are positioned along the axis of the motorcycle, tucked away under the transmission.

There are several Harley-Davidson models with the Softail frame, including the Softail Standard, Custom, Springer Softail, Heritage Softail, Heritage Springer, Night Train, Deluxe, Deuce, and Fatboy. These motorcycles have the same engine, transmission and frame with the exception of the Deuce, which has a 2" backbone stretch, but differ in the choice of fork, wheels and accessories.

Front forks

The Softail range is the only range of Harley-Davidson motorcycle that offers a choice of front suspensions within the range. The Sportster and Dyna models use the thin X-type telescopic forks, the VRSC models use a fork unique to the VRSC line, and the Touring models use the fat FL-type telescopic forks. Softails models may use either the X-type or the FL-type, or may use the Springer leading link forks that have only been used on Softail models so far. The FXST designation is used when the X-type fork is used or when the Springer fork is used with a 21" wheel, while the FLST designation is used when the FL-type fork is used or when the Springer fork is used with a 16" wheel.

Engines

The Softail models do not have rubber-mounted engines. This led to more vibration in Evolution-engined Softails than in rubber-mounted Touring or Dyna models with Evolution engines. To compensate for this, current Softail models use a counterbalanced version of the Twin Cam engine instead of the regular Twin Cam engine used in the Touring and Dyna models.

Other softails

Other motorcycles with softail rear suspension include:
*Honda VT600C, a.k.a. Honda Shadow VLX
*Kawasaki Vulcan 800 and 900
*Yamaha DragStar 650
*Victory Vegas

ee also

* Motorcycle Suspension
* Bicycle Suspension
* Orange County Choppers
* West Coast Choppers
* Indian Larry

External links

* [http://www.vondutchkustomcycles.com/von-dutch-choppers/Cruelworld-Softail/index.html Cruelworld Softail] at Von Dutch Kustom Cycles.