Automotive Trends

A Harley For Home Depot     

     At first sight the Ford Harley-Davidson F-150 demands respect and shows authority. What grabs your attention first is the outstanding two-tone paint job; black over silver metallic clear coat separated by inscribed Harley-Davidson tape. After that, your eyes have a multitude of features for which to fall upon. The massive chromed wheels demand attention, while huge Harley/Ford 100 year insignia plaques surface into sight. The new front fascia/grille/headlamps also require a closer inspection. Not only does the Harley talk the talk, but she walks the walk as well. More on that later.
     A good vehicle can never be judged solely by its look, but it is a good place to start. As mentioned before, the two-tone paint really gets this truck a lot of looks. However, the objects of our eyes’ affection are the 20″ chromed wheels. Though thoroughly hard to keep clean, especially with all the brake dust Ford’s brakes create, the sight of them rolling down the road is worth the extra elbow grease. Upfront the modifications give it a little more character and attitude as far as differing the Harley from a standard F-150. Ford designers have found great success, in our humble opinion, with this truck’s styling. Another noticeable feature is that the truck has been lowered an inch all around. She isn’t slammed, but she does crouch. And of course, it can’t be a Harley without chrome pipes. The pipes under the cockpit sweeten the image for sure, though don’t be fooled, they are not steps. Unfortunately, one will likely be spending some time polishing these pipes to keep them looking good, as the tires like to pick up loose gravel and create a noisy ping, ping, ping melody. Of course, the chrome pipes that matter the most are the ones extending back to exit behind rear tires. Through 3 ½ slash-cut twin pipes the Harley F-150 announces its arrival with a low burbling rumble. You would be hard pressed to find a truck with this tone of melodious harmony.
     The exhaust note isn’t the only music to our ears. Underhood lies a detuned SVT Lightning engine ready for action. Rated at 340 horsepower, this supercharged 5.4L 16-valve V8 reinforces the attitude the look of the truck suggests. With 425 lbs of torque backing that up you can imagine how the Harley launches. As one logbook quote exclaimed, “There’s enough twist under there to shear off the lugnuts!” Ease into the throttle, and the burble chimes in about 1750 rpms. Beyond that things quiet down for a split second and the supercharger starts to spool up. Mash the go pedal, and the truck sits back on her rear haunches as the supercharger kicks to life with a whine that will surely bring smiles to the faces of all in attendance. This power plant was truly a gem. Hit the throttle at idle, and you had acceleration. Hit the throttle at speed, and the gears kicked down just right and woke up the supercharger. It didn’t matter where you were in the rev band, she always had power to spare. To sum it up, this truck moved–and moved quickly.
     How was the handling you may ask? Well, surprisingly, for a truck of this size, it held the road pretty well. The lowered suspension seems to have done the trick with eliminating the excessive body roll felt in most pickups. That, and the 275/60R-20 tires may have had something to do with it. Even during hard acceleration, the rear meats maintained their contact and hardly ever broke loose.
     Inside the Harley was just as pleasing to look at as the outside. Harley-Davidson badges are found all around on the center consoles, steering wheel, and seats. The base color is black with accents of chrome. The seats were wrapped in a two-tone leather of black and silver. While supportive, the seat cushions were a tad bit hard to our backsides. The chromed door handles found welcome in the palms of our hands. The Harley-Davidson gauges are stylish and look as though they were lifted right off of a bike. The power moonroof is exceptionally large and is wonderful for gazing at the stars and letting more of that wonderfully sweet exhaust note filter into the cabin. Though like most moonroofs, headroom suffers in the rear seat. Assistant Editor Vloet realized that the laws of physics do apply here, such that two objects of matter (his head and the ceiling) cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Other than that, the interior is a comfortable place for 4 adults out cruising the town.
     Why do you need a truck like this? Well, if that is your question after all this, then this truck is not for you. The Harley Davidson edition F-150 may not be the most practical pickup, but it is probably one of the most fun. So if your heart started to race while reading any of this, and you happen to have $39,295 lying around, you are probably a good match for this vehicle. With that, I put my stamp of approval on the Harley as one heck of a fun truck.

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