Anybody who has survived a war will tell you it sharpens your focus to the bare essentials. So it was with the GI's who came back from the Second World War.
Far too restless to settle down in middle-class America, they stripped old motorcycles, notably ex-military Harley-Davidsons, of every component not directly related to propulsion, chopped everything that was left to the bare minimum and got out there to find themselves.
Along the way they invented a new type of motorcycle, the chopper, and a whole new counter-culture. The advent of the eight-litre "peanut" fuel tank, originally intended for flat-track racing, in 1948, and the 883cc Sportster in 1957, accelerated the trend.
In 1971 Willie G Davidson, grandson of one of the Motor Company's founders, put together the FX Super Glide, the first "factory custom", and the chopper cult went mainstream.
But hard-core riders never forgot how the chopper got its name, or the restless spirits that gave it birth, and 60 years later Harley-Davidson paid homage to those GI's with a bike they would have understood and appreciated.
It has a flat-track style peanut tank, which is why it's called the Forty-Eight, above a 1202cc, fuel-injected Sportster engine (not the base 883cc lump - a righteous motorcycle has to have some guts), a shovel-shaped single seat bolted directly to the frame only 710mm off the ground, a Nightster rear mudguard (no tail light required), a chunky 16" tyre at each end, reminiscent of the universal rubber on military Harleys, and that's about it.
There's just enough chrome and polished aluminium to offset the all-black finish (the Forty-Eight is also available in silver or the signature orange of the factory racing team but I don't think they'll sell many like that) and, of course, forward-mounted footpegs.
I could never understand the reasoning behind that slightly unnatural seating position until a custom bike-builder pointed out that if you junked the footboards off an old Flathead and simply screwed a long bolt into the threaded hole in the frame where the bracket used to be, that's exactly what you got.
Bare essentials, remember.
The Forty-Eight I rode at Africa Bike Week had less than 50km on its odometer when I collected it so I didn't subject it to any serious performance testing. That's not what this motorcycle is about, anyway.
It's strictly a short-range missile, built for scooting around town, blasting away from the lights and leaving the GTI Joes in its wake, trickling through the gridlock at walking pace and grabbing every gap before the four-wheeled lemmings even know it's there.
And that it does very well indeed; Harley's electronic sequential-port fuel-injection system is one of the most responsive on the market despite having the most inefficient intake geometry of any current engine.
LONG SECOND GEAR
There's a tiny flat spot just off idle and ham-handed clutch-work will stall the Forty-Eight but the big semi-dry clutch takes up very smoothly once you learn where the take-up point is (you can't feel it).
Once you've got it moving, the long second gear will rocket you away from the traffic hard enough to stress your stomach muscles and hip joints. Then you hit third and the national speed limit comes up fast enough to catch you unawares - all in two city blocks! - and you have to back off anyway.
The maker claims 98Nm at 3200rpm, which is difficult to quantify since there's no rev-counter, but that's no problem in everyday riding since you can feel the power curve begin to tail off long before you hit the rev limiter and there's simply no point in punishing the venerable long-stroke V-twin - you won't even get any more noise.
And yet you can cruise at 20km/h in second, as I did in the mass ride on the Sunday, give it a handful and the Forty-Eight will pick-up without missing a beat, power-thudding a little until it gets into its stride but pulling like four-cylinder crotch rockets wish they could.
SNATCH-FREE TRANSMISSION
Like all Sportsters the Forty-Eight has a five-speed transmission with a positive if somewhat vocal shift but four would be quite enough. The relatively long top gear seems mostly intended for relaxed cruising - although how much of that you are going to do on only eight litres of fuel I don't know.
Part of the credit for the smooth power take-up and snatch-free transmission must go to the belt final drive, a technology with which other makers have experimented but only Harley has adopted across its range.
They could do worse; the Kevlar and aramid-reinforced, toothed polyurethane belt has natural shock-absorbing properties that make cush drives unnecessary, runs clean because it doesn't need lubrication and, properly tensioned and aligned, will often outlast a chain.
On most bikes a chunky 16" front tyre (at 130mm it's only 20mm narrower than the rear) would induce, vague, heavy steering but Harley-Davidson has kicked out the Forty-Eight's front wheel a couple of degrees, pushing its wheelbase to 1520mm (10mm longer than the Nightster) and giving it more than adequate stability.
Wide, low handlebars give plenty of leverage to make the bike go exactly where you point it and stiff, well-damped suspension provides reassuring mid-corner stability - on good surfaces, anyway.
KEEP ACCELERATING GENTLY
The limiting factors, as with most cruisers are ground clearance (the first things to touch down are your boot heels - most disconcerting) and bumpy corners, which can cause the rear end in particular to lose its composure under stress.
But I soon found that if you keep accelerating gently the Forty-Eight will hold its line with no more than a little headshake expressing its displeasure at such ham-handed treatment.
A jaundiced look and a prod at that thinly-padded seat when I first saw the bike had me convinced that it would have me squirming after an hour but it is in fact perfectly shaped and I spent a whole afternoon in the saddle with no ill-effects.
Probably the Forty-Eight's most distinctive features, however, are its mirrors - they're under the handlebars, keeping the lines of the bike low and sleek.
It takes a while to get used to looking under your hands rather than over them to see what's happening behind you (as it does on certain big touring BMW's) but I got more than just the close-up views of my knees that I was expecting and by the end of the weekend it no longer felt strange.
TO THE POINT
Harley-Davidson's marketing mavens have to some degree hijacked the whole project by presenting it as a blank canvas, a basis on which to build your own unique blingmobile using the Motor Company's vast catalogue of aftermarket add-ons.
It can be but that's not the point. The Forty-Eight is what it is, a bare-bones riding machine that recalls a generation of sad-eyed youngsters who chopped down their bikes not to make them look different but to make them go.
Price:
R119 000.
HARLEY-DAVIDSON XL1200X SPECIFICATIONS
ENGINE
Cylinders:
Two.
Capacity:
1202cc.
Bore x stroke:
88.9 x 96.8mm.
Compression ratio:
9.7:1.
Valvegear:
Pushrod with two overhead valves per cylinder.
Torque:
98Nm at 3200.
Induction:
Electronic sequential-port fuel-injection.
Ignition:
Digital electronic.
Starting:
Electric.
TRANSMISSION
Clutch:
Cable-operated multiplate wet clutch.
Transmission:
Five-speed constant-mesh gearbox with final drive by belt.
SUSPENSION
Front:
Conventional cartridge forks.
Rear:
Dual hydraulic shock absorbers adjustable for preload.
BRAKES
Front:
292mm disc with twin-piston floating calliper.
Rear:
292mm disc with single-piston floating calliper.
TYRES
Front:
130/90 - 16 tube type.
Rear:
150/85 - 16 tube type.
DIMENSIONS/WEIGHT
Wheelbase:
1520mm.
Seat height:
710mm.
Dry weight:
251kg.
FUEL TANK/CONSUMPTION
7.95 litres, 4.8 litres/100km (claimed).
MANUFACTURER SUPPORT
Two years unlimited distance warranty.
SERVICE INTERVALS
8000km.
PRICE
R119 000.