There’s a new trend brewing with major motorcycle companies: flat black paint. Let’s face it, times are tough and these companies will do whatever it takes to get you in the door to buy a new bike. Chromed out motorcycles, once a big trend, seemingly have become passe.
Younger riders are looking for bikes that stand out in a crowd and look more badass. Having a custom built bike of your own ensures that it will get some attention. But some riders either don’t have the skill set to chop, customize and rattle-can their own rides or they are just plain lazy.
This is where those companies are hoping to cash in. A few years ago, when the “factory-custom” craze started, I wrote the post When is a custom motorcycle not a custom? Two years later and factory-custom designs have gone a step further by offering models with flat black paint jobs.
Let’s take a look at a few.
Harley-Davidson
In all fairness, I suppose we can blame credit H-D with being the first to start the flat black paint resurgence for the mass market. Two years ago when they introduced the Dark Custom line, the Iron 883 and the Crossbones were pretty cool looking. If you were going to customize your standard bike, you’d probably lower the frame, switch out the handlebars, change the seat, chop the fenders, etc. Well, instead of putting all that work in, H-D did it for you.
As H-D desperately tries to appeal to a younger demographic, they’ve added many new bikes to their Dark Custom line: Iron 883, Nightster, Forty-Eight, Street Bob, Fat Bob, Crossbones and most recently the Blackline (on which you probably won’t see Victoria Secret model, Marissa Miller posing on, but more likely a Suicide Girl-esque, tattooed model in fishnet stockings).
2011 Harley-Davidson Iron 883
2011 H-D Nightster
2011 H-D Fat Bob
2011 H-D Crossbones
2011 H-D Blackline
Victory
I feel like Victory has been struggling to find it’s mojo in the motorcycle market. Victory, while a much smaller American brand, seems to fashion themselves as the alternative to an H-D. Looking at the 8-ball Cruiser models, they seem to be Victory’s version of the Dark Custom line. And the newest creation, the 2012 High Ball, boasts a stripped-down throwback to the classic bobber style.
2011 Victory Vegas 8-Ball
2011 Victory Hammer 8-Ball
2011 Victory Kingpin 8-Ball
2012 Victory High Ball
Kawasaki
A surprise to me in the flat black group is this 2011 Vulcan 900 Custom Special Edition. If you’ve been a longtime reader of this blog then you know a few years back I had the opportunity to test ride a 2007 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom for about a month. I broke down the various features of the bike, took it on various rides from Cape Ann to Cape Cod until we ultimately said our sad goodbyes.
I thoroughly enjoyed my experience on that motorcycle and while I thought the shiny, candy red paint on the 2007 was pretty hot, I think this all black version is kick-ass!
2011 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Custom Cruiser
Honda
I’m gonna give an honorary mention to Honda’s “chopper,” the Fury. There are only three colors offered in the 2011 models (white, red and burgundy), but they offered flat black in their 2010 models.
2010 Honda Fury
Flat black paint jobs and the mass-market: yea or nay?
What do you think of this trend? Bad-assery or colossal lameness?