My first Harley-Davidson was a black 1993 Dyna Low Rider. Today I am the proud owner of the latest and perhaps the greatest old-school Harley-Davidson, the 2021 Low Rider S.

My years of riding Harleys include 13 on Low Riders and 15 on Tourers. To say I am happy to be back to my roots on a Low Rider is an understatement. So let me walk you through a brief history of all the Low Riders from its first incarnation to now, its finest hour and my Low Rider S.

1977 FXS LOW RIDER

At Daytona in 1977, the very first Harley named a Low Rider was Willie G Davidson’s FXS which was the first born son of the ill fated 1971 boat tail Super Glide. As Willie G said in his 100 Years of Harley-Davidson, “If the Super Glide was the seed of Harley-Davidson customs, the Low Rider was the flower.”

1980 FXB LOW RIDER

Then in 1980, the sons of the Low Rider were born with the black on black FXB Sturgis and FXWG Wide Glide.

1991 FXRS LOW RIDER

In 1982 the FXR was given the Low Glide name and then renamed in 1987 the FXLR Low Rider Custom. These Low Riders had a different mother in the form of the FXR design team of Mark Tuttle, Steve Pertsch, Bill Brown, Erik Buell, and Rit Booth as a young engineer.

1991 FXD STURGIS

The first of the new Dyna models design was led by Rit Booth from the FXR team. The 1991 FXDB Sturgis and 1992 Daytona were both Low Riders.

1993 FXDL LOW RIDER

In 1993 to 2008, the FXDL Dyna was given the name of Low Rider while the FXRS-SP Low Rider Sport continued into the ’90s.

2014 FXDL LOW RIDER

From 2009 to 2013 the name Low Rider was discontinued but returned in 2014 as the FXDL with a new look two into one exhaust and restyled air cleaner.

2016 FXDLS LOW RIDER S

Jump to 2016, and the last hurrah for the Dyna platform. The Motor Company knew, and in particular Harley-Davidson’s Lead Designer and Stylist, Dais “Dice” Nagao knew that this was the Dyna’s last chance to become the performance-based replacement for the legendary FXR. With the full support of Brad Richards, the Vice President of Styling and Design, they convinced the Board to build the 2016 FXDLS Dyna Low Rider S with the 110 Screamin’ Eagle engine. The Dyna Low Rider S continued thru 2017, until the new Milwaukee-Eight engine wrote done next to the Dyna frame with the new 2018 Softail frame.

In 2018 there was no Low Rider S but rather the base FXLR Low Rider with the newer 107ci M8 engine. Successful in its own right, there was still a huge hunger for the return of the performance of the Low Rider S.

2020 FXLRS LOW RIDER S

Dais and Brad had the sales numbers to back them up and in 2020, a whole new Softail FXLRS Low Rider S came out. This time with the 114ci M8 engine with a compression ratio of 10.5:1 that made it a torque monster straight from the factory. Not only that but it has the greatly improved handling with its 43mm inverted front forks with a 28 degree rake.

The Low Rider S has an increased lean angle on both sides of 30 degrees making it the true FXR replacement. The old timers know just what a great motorcycle the “S” is compared to the rest! As Dais says, the Low Rider S is the greatest handling motorcycle Harley-Davidson has ever made! It now has regained the cult status of the FXRs. It is the enthusiast’s Harley!

MIKE’S 2021 FXLRS LOW RIDER S

Which leads me to my 2021 FXLRS Low Rider S.

Last year for the 2020 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Harley-Davidson sponsored the Let’s Ride Sweepstakes with the first prize being a one-of-a-kind factory custom Low Rider S that paid homage to the original iconic 1980 FXB Sturgis.

From that I thought that the Motor Company would release an ‘Icon’ Sturgis in 2021 based on the Sweepstakes Low Rider S.

I was wrong, so I got together with Adelaide Harley-Davidson Bike Works and basing my new bike on Dais Nagao’s first sketches of the 2020 FXLRS, Bike Works came up with my bike with a chromed 2-into-1 S&S exhaust system and a larger Quarter Fairing complete with a Garmin Zuma XT infotainment GPS system. My version of a 1980 FXB Sturgis.

Read about it in the sidebar to Mick’s road test of the Low Rider S on page 92 in this issue.