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After more than a century since its establishment, Harley-Davidson is once again amping up the intensity on yet another iconic motorcycle with the introduction of the limited-edition Low Rider® El Diablo model within its Icons Collection program. The El Diablo is a nod to the 1983 Harley-Davidson FXRT, reinterpreted with a contemporary revamp that combines lean performance and sport-touring versatility with a stunning panelled hand-applied paint scheme that celebrates the brand’s signature colours and design. Also notably, H-D is boasting its newly high-performance, factory-installed audio system powered by Rockford Fosgate®. But, more on that later.

The desirability of the Milwaukee-borned hogs sparks from its rich legacy and global community garnered throughout generations. Though the soulful Brand is recognised fondly for their chopper style bikes, the FXRT did sell reasonably well despite it being rather un-Harley right before the surge of demand for their other models arose in the 90s. So it seems clear that Harley-Davidson intends to reignite the success that the FXRT & SoCal styling saw in the 80s with the launch of the El Diablo model.

The Low Rider® El Diablo combines the touring capability of hard bags and a frame-mounted fairing inspired by the FXRT Sport Glide model fairing often favoured by West Coast customizers. This is paired with the taut handling performance of the Harley-Davidson Softail chassis with a powertrain featuring the Milwaukee-Eight® 117 V-Twin engine that offers precision oil/air cooling for maximum torque and displacement.

In practical terms, the El Diablo is essentially a friendly hog. Though the handling isn’t as ergo as one might expect, the 168 Nm of torque on a 319 kg bike provides for a pretty smooth glide. The 117 V-Twin engine tops out at 103 hp at 3750 rpm, powerful enough for the bike to be ramped up into the triple digits with no trouble whatsoever as it swoops through highways with the deep pops of the shotgun exhaust trailing right behind.

Now, the new detailed paint scheme of the El Diablo begins with a base of El Diablo Bright Red and a second pass of Bright Red Sunglo applied by Gunslinger Custom Paint. The red pinstripes are masked off and a layer of El Diablo Dark Red and Dark Red Pearl is faded around the panel shapes to add depth to the overall paintwork.

After masking, a layer of El Diablo Dark Red Metallic is applied surrounding the initial Bright Red base, with an added fade effect where the colours meet. When the masking is removed, the El Diablo Bright Red pinstripes are revealed on the saddlebags, tank sides, fenders and fairing. The scheme is then finished off with Pale Gold pinstriping hand-applied within the Bright Red panels, topped off with the El Diablo graphics theme featuring a custom Harley-Davidson script with ‘devil horns’ and ‘Icons’ collection graphic on the rear fender.

And as mentioned above, the Low Rider® El Diablo prominently features its advanced factory-installed audio system powered by Rockford Fosgate®. The amplifier with digital signal processing (DSP) technology jointly developed by H-D & Rockford Fosgate is engineered to perform even in the uproarious environments of motorcycling. The speakers include a pair of 5.25-inch woofers and two remote tweeters with a compact 250-watt amplifier mounted within the fairing, and it can be easily connected with Bluetooth 4.2 for a strong wireless connection to seamlessly deliver crisp and clear sound quality on the road.

Global production of the limited-edition marque is set to a one-time build of only 1,500 serialised bikes. Visit this link to learn more about the Harley-Davidson® Icons Collection & the Low Rider® El Diablo, or contact your nearest H-D dealer to find out more about product availability or other related information.

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