M8 SUPERGLIDE

Hello, pleased to meet you …

Since the November/December issue went on sale, we’ve been busy. One of the things that has kept us busy was the arrival of our 2020 Harley-Davidson FXST Softail Standard.

From the first time he saw one, Mick had decided that we needed to add one to the editorial shed on a permanent basis. Even before he’d ridden one! His decision was based on what he described as the look and the lack.

The look of the Superglide with skinny tyres, narrow glide front-end, clean and simple fuel tank combined with the lack of gauge pod, lack of fat tyres, lack of Fat Bob rear guard or anything else that isn’t really necessary.

The Motor Company promoted it as a bare canvas and we agreed. There are parts that will be added, and others that will be replaced but we’re not going to be stripping it raw and starting again. The raw bones are there and now it’s up to us to flesh them out.

START FROM THE FEET

Long before we bought this ex-demo fleet bike, plans and ideas were kicked around the virtual editorial lunch table. Referring back to Issue 171, Mick said that he was less than impressed with the mid-mount footpegs or that rear brake. They had to be gone.

Even before picking up our little black Softail, he chose to replace them with a set of Fat Boy footboards. A move that he reckons allows him to move his feet around while being more comfortable than either the mid-mounts or forward controls.

With the way that the M8 Softails are put together, the basic foot controls are the same for footboards or forwards. They’re simple and work well. A set of Genuine H-D pillion pegs and brackets are on a shelf but that’s as close as they’ve gotten.

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