Harley-Davidson Forty Eight

The Harley Davidson Forty-Eight has remained unchanged for quite a long time now, almost for a decade. However, even after that, the Forty-Eight still manages to look stylish with its half-cruiser, half-bobber appeal. It is this blend of two motorcycle styles, which makes the Harley Davidson Forty-Eight a truly special motorcycle belonging to a niche.

At the front, the Harley Davidson Forty-Eight looks fairly simple with a rounded halogen headlamp, present within a compact blacked-out casing. There are clamps present on the upper corners of the headlamp, which come attached with small rounded amber turn indicators. The rearview mirrors are also positioned at a unique place, below the handlebar levers. Like a traditional bobber, the Harley Davidson Forty-Eight gets a chopped-themed front fender and a fat-looking front tyre.

The Harley Davidson Forty-Eight has an iconic design on the side profile, which makes it instantly recognizable because this design has remained unchanged over all these years. The small 16-inch alloy wheels, front and rear fenders, and side body panels below the rider’s seat and engine are finished in a theme of black. At the same time, the heads of the engine and the exhaust pipes arranged vertically one over the other are finished in a theme of chrome, giving a perfect contrast. Only the peanut-style fuel tank with the tapering upper edge is painted in the body colour.

The Forty-Eight comes with a curved rider’s seat as standard, while the curved rear fender can be attached with an optional pillion seat. At the back, the curved rear fender of the motorcycle comes with rectangular clamps on either side, which come attached with rounded tail lamps that also serve as turn indicators.

The small and rounded instrument console of the Harley Davidson Forty-Eight is the only bit of the motorcycle which now has started to show its age. This unit has dated-looking fonts for the analogue speedometer, while a small LCD screen within this console has digital readouts for the odometer, trip meters and clock.

The Harley Davidson Forty-Eight gets a fairly simple chassis, with a suspension combination of conventional hydraulic telescopic forks at the front and dual-sided hydraulic coil springs at the back. The suspension setup is not tuned entirely on a plusher side but has a certain stiffness which is there to make this motorcycle feel a bit agile around corners, thus complementing its image as a bobber. The fat tyres – 130/90 B16 front and 150/80 B16 rear – are typical bobber tyres, which offer tremendous grip in all riding conditions. The Harley Davidson Forty-Eight also comes fitted with single disc brakes at both front and rear for halting duties.

The Harley Davidson Forty-Eight sources its power from a four-stroke, air-cooled, V-twin, Evolution series engine, which is one of the oldest engines from the family of Harley Davidson. Having a displacement of 1202cc, this engine is paired to a 6-speed gearbox and puts up 67 PS of maximum power and 99 Nm of maximum torque. While the outright power output might seem a bit low for a 1202cc engine, the engine feels torquey throughout its rev range, thus complementing its image as a mile muncher.

Except for a dual-channel ABS, the Harley Davidson Forty-Eight doesn’t get any other safety feature, which is a big miss in today’s world of new-age motorcycles with top-class electronics.

Even after all these years of existence, the Harley Davidson Forty-Eight still looks like a perfect charmer, which is a testimony to its appeal as a timeless classic-looking motorcycle. However, to withstand the tide of time, the motorcycle could have been a bit more feature-rich.