New generation's credo, customisation, is Harley-Davidson's legacy

The American motorcycle maker's strategy to appeal to young riders trades on its long-standing tradition of custom bikes.

The Harley-Davidson Seventy-Two. Courtesy of Harley-Davidson

To the casual observer it's just another fashion shoot as the cool blonde in close-fitting black leathers throws a leg over the motorcycle, leans over the teardrop-shaped tank, grasps the handlebars and shoots a dazzling smile at the photographer in the midday sun.

But this is no ordinary model, no ordinary bike - and it's certainly no ordinary location.

The lady in black is Karen Davidson. She is the creative director of general merchandise with the company, and it was her great-grandfather William who - aged 22 in 1903, in a wooden shed measuring 3m by 4.5m - built the very first Harley-Davidson together with his two brothers, Arthur and Walter, and his 23-year-old friend, William S Harley.

And today's bike, glinting in the tropical haze, its tall, skinny front wheel and raked forks somehow reminiscent of the famous Easy Rider machine? It's the ultra-cool, brand new Seventy-Two.

Lightly customised with Candy Big Red Flake paint, ape handlebars and narrow whitewall tyres, its job is to champion Harley-Davidson's "Art of Custom" campaign that includes a global competition encouraging riders to create their own customised fuel tanks. Crucially, the bike is also tasked with driving down the average age of the firm's greying customer base from 35- to 75-year-olds to something more youthful.

It's no accident that Harley-Davidson chose Miami's world-famous Wynwood street-art district, either. It's here that, if someone with sufficient talent spray-paints their creative urges across a warehouse wall, the side of a cafe or even a motorcycle tank, it's instantly celebrated as art, drawing millions of visitors to the area each year.

Harley reckoned that the youthful, edgy vibe of this hip quarter was the perfect fit with the rule-breaking image its bikes have traded on for years - an image it now seeks to take to a much wider audience.

The process actually began when Harley launched its youth-orientated Black Label motorcycle clothing line three years ago, followed by the retro-cool Forty-Eight model, which was priced at half of its larger touring machines.

It sparked a surge of interest among younger riders and now, in the heat of Miami, Art of Custom is Harley's way of driving this concept to the next level. Traditionalists needn't worry: Harley-Davidson will resolutely play on its heritage, adopting styling cues from its bikes of the 1940s and 1950s for selected models, simultaneously giving them a bold, modern twist.

Backing the Seventy-Two and the Forty-Eight in their quest for a fresh audience is the Softail Slim, a new, stripped-down bike with a crisp, retro look, both rugged and simple.

Between them, Harley-Davidson says, the two machines dramatically symbolise what, to those in the know, the marque has always been about: customisation.

"It's in our DNA, part of what makes Harley-Davidson so individual," says Karen Davidson as she unveils the campaign at the Wynwood studios of legendary guitar firm Gibson, brand partners with the bike firm. "It's why there are no two Harley-Davidsons alike, anywhere in the world; as soon as their owners buy them they make them stand out from the crowd. It's expressionism, just like the art in Wynwood. Now we want more people to know about it."

Customising is at the heart of a three-pronged worldwide marketing push by Harley-Davidson that, like other motorcycle manufacturers, must face the fact that, in many markets, the motorcycle-buying population is an ageing one, with too few new recruits picking up a motorcycle licence.

Spearheading the Art of Custom campaign is the Tank Wall project, which encourages customers worldwide to create their very own fuel tank, online. The company said at the Florida event that, as of March 1, anyone can visit Harley-Davidson's US website (www.harley-davidson.com), select a blank "virtual" tank and create a unique design.

The best, voted by the public, will go to an expert judging panel and be whittled down to just three top designs. The winners will be flown to the firm's Milwaukee, Wisconsin headquarters to see their creations become reality, with the finished tanks going on display in Harley's own museum.

Simultaneously, Harley-Davidson will be publicising its parts and accessories division, which allows customers to choose from more than 9,000 mods ranging from specially styled foot-pegs and handlebars to customised seats, lights, badges, wheels, mirrors and other embellishments in a further bid to entice the young - and creative - at heart, in that elusive 18- to 35-year-old market.

The firm, which sold 235,188 motorcycles worldwide last year, up nearly six per cent on 2010, will also be promoting its custom vehicle operation wing. Each year it selects four models to receive the attention of its own in-house customising team, which produces around 3,500 limited-edition specials, carrying a price premium of around 40 per cent. Most are snapped up long before going anywhere near a showroom, with affluent younger buyers increasingly dipping their toes into this market.

Undoubtedly the star turn at the Art of Custom launch, however, is one of America's leading street artists, Lebo, there to demonstrate just what can be achieved with a blank tank - and a wild imagination. His highly eccentric, dramatic work adorns the walls not only of the Gibson studio on canvas and paper but also leaps out from buildings around Wynwood, where he has created crowd-pulling wall murals.

His fuel tank designs, on show at Gibson, are breathtaking, ranging from Heavy Metal Thunder, a tribute to the Steppenwolf song Born to Be Wild, to Good and Evel, a tribute to stunt motorcyclist Evel Knievel.

Executives are now deciding whether to make Lebo's designs accessible to Harley customers, too, but for now his fans can admire his work on the Tank Wall, drawing inspiration for their own creations.

As any Harley-Davidson buff will tell you, this is history repeating itself. The firm introduced its first custom tank in 1909, followed by gold-flake paint in 1922 at a time when such treatment was highly radical - and when HD was still the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer.

This was followed by the Art Deco eagle motif on its tanks in 1933 and the legendary FX1200 bike in 1971, making customising as much a part of the brand as its iconic teardrop-shaped tank and chunky V-twin engine.

"It's all about being different, standing out from the crowd," says Harley-Davidson spokesman Matt Knott. "What makes us unique is that, when people style their motorcycles, it becomes just as much an art form as what you see in Wynwood."

Astride the Seventy-Two, Davidson agrees. "We've always produced our own designs but we've followed what our customers want, too. We know that younger customers like our customising because it makes them feel connected to an underground scene. There are no rules - you just do whatever you want. That's what Harley-Davidson in 2012 is all about."

Here in the UAE, the Seventy-Two starts at Dh49,900, while the Softail Slim starts at Dh86,900.