Testors Lincoln Mint Ultra Metal Series 1/6 scale Harley-Davidson FLHRCI Road King Classic (No. 7222) By Vic Mattes

The History

Harley-Davidson is an American icon. Harleys are heavyweight cruising bikes with a very distinctive throaty exhaust sound. Harley today has several families of bikes for the public to choose from. Testor’s offering of the Lincoln Mint Ultra Metal Series Harley-Davidson FLHRCI Road King Classic is a member of the touring family. As an aside, decoding the FLHRCI designation is interesting. From what I can figure out, the ‘FLHR’ mean the bike is a Road King, the ‘C’ means Classic and the ‘I’ is for Injection. Another note of interest is the recent shift in ridership. Prior to 1987, over half the riders were under age 35. Over the next 20 years, the average age rose to the point that only 15% are under age 35 and the average age is over 46. Additionally, more women are becoming owners of Harleys. This age shift was recently played out in the 2006 comedy “Wild Hogs” starring Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Lacy in which the four take a hilarious middle-age road trip.

The Kit

Testor’s kit comes in a large, heavy black and silver box. It is adorned with a near real size picture of the motorcycle and eight what have to be optimized pictures of various parts of the bike. When the box is opened, it is filled with the sprues of chrome, silver, black, clear and white pieces. Each sprue is individually wrapped in plastic so any part that comes free is not lost or bouncing around the box. However, while those are a majority of the pieces, they are not all of them. Had a blonde moment before realizing that the part containing the sprues slid out of the box bottom to reveal the rest of the pieces. Duh! In segregated sections with cardboard covers are the metal pieces (gas tank, handle bars, forks, etc.), springs and screws, the tires and some of the ‘leather’ pieces. Don’t drop the gas tank – it will either damage the table or your foot. These are also packaged in plastic (there is a lot of plastic to remove and dispose of – not the most ‘green’ use of packaging).

The pieces are flash free and well shaped. I am not a Harley aficionado so I cannot speak to their accuracy. They do all have remnants of the molding process. On all but the chrome pieces, the marks are on the inside where they won’t be seen. Sadly it is not so for the chrome pieces. It is most glaringly obvious on the wheel hubs and the exhaust pipes. The marks on the hubs are so prevalent that they can be seen in the pictures of the parts in the instruction manual! Removing the seams on the exhaust or the marks on the hubs will be difficult as it will require touchup and there is no way the touchup paint will match the chrome finish. Pardon while I get on my soap box but with the finish products available today, I do wish the manufacturers would leave the ‘chrome’ pieces unfinished and allow the modeler to apply the chrome finish when ready. The finished product would be much nicer than that delivered today. The only other comment on the sprues would be that the white whitewalls for the tires appear to be rather thick and will require some degree of thinning before being used. The metal pieces are fabulously formed and finished. They will add a great degree of precision and feel to the kit.

The instructions come in a book-sized pamphlet. After the notional description of the bike and the page of Testors hints for modelers, there are 9 pages of photographs of the pieces on their sprues numbered to aid in identifying the pieces. This is good as the molded-on numbers are difficult to read. It is also a great way to ensure all the pieces are in the kit. The assembly is accomplished in 42 steps. Rather than use drawings as most do, Testors uses actual photographs of the assemblies to guide you. Very nicely done to include if an action is required on both sides, Testors uses an additional step for the ‘other’ side rather than inferring as most instructions do that the same happens on the other side. Nicely done instructions.

The assembly begins with the engine. The major engine parts are the cylinders, the crankcase and the oil pan. Assorted pieces and tubes including the ‘rubber’ drive belt are also added to create a fairly detailed assembly. The rear wheel is then assembled and trapped with the engine between the body frames. This could prove interesting as it does require trapping the drive belt on the rear wheel. An assortment of pieces are attached to the frame including a very realistic shock and the exhaust pipes. The front wheel and fork is assembled next with the final touches being the ‘cockpit’ area, the seat and detailed sidebags.

Conclusion

This is a nice kit. I think it will turn out fine once I solve the chrome issues. Any suggestions would be most welcome. I recommend you grab a copy of ‘Wild Hogs’ and enjoy it while also enjoying this kit! For a nice history of Harley-Davidson, I recommend Wikipedia (it is the source of most of the statistics and info in this article).

Thanks to Testors and the DLV Company for the review kit.