Harley-Davidson’s Seventy-Two Revives the Old

In 1972, Atari launched the first generation of video games with Pong, Bobby Fischer was king, Volkswagen Beetle topped the Ford Model T, President Nixon’s Watergate scandal shook the nation, and the Apollo 17 landed on the moon. Within the mix of things during that historical leap year, the California low-rider culture was shaping form, as candy-colored custom choppers began to cruise down Whittier Boulevard, turning pedestrian heads with each twist of a throttle. It’s this era that has inspired Harley-Davidson to design and release its new Seventy-Two bike. A laid-back Sportster with sparkling metal flake paint, ape handlebars, throwback peanut tank –which holds only 2.1 gallons of gas– and narrow whitewall tires, the Seventy-Two pays homage to a timeless moment in history. Life + Times caught up with Frank Savage, Manager of Industrial Design at Harley-Davidson, to take a trip down memory lane and to chop it up about attitude and style.
Life+Times: Harley-Davidson rolled back the clock with the Seventy-Two. What made Harley pinpoint that year?Frank Savage: We always had inspiration coming from the late ‘60s and ‘70s on this bike, and really stripped down old school choppers, that was narrow and had this smoky, candied sprayed paint from that era. So, in the investigation for the Seventy-Two we were looking for that historic relevancy. In California, they used to cruise down Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles, which was Route 72 back in the day. It has a nice ring to it and a historical reference to it. That’s the story. The old school funky psychedelic paint jobs, with big bling flakes, and really nice, stripped down styling. Guys were basically swapping the tank, adding a lot of chrome, and just jamming..........

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