I’m the first to admit when I’m wrong, or when I haven’t done my due diligence. In this instance, the latter is more appropriate. Last week, I wrote about Harley-Davidson’s new ‘Solo Trim Package’ for the 2026 Street Bob, Heritage Softail, and Street Glide motorcycles. Offered at that minimalist trim level is only one colorway, though–gray.
I wondered why motorcycle manufacturers were following the Millennial Gray footpath toward a future free from color, and why a rider who wants a no-bullshit version of a bike had to settle for an achromatic color. In my defense, this was more of a hot-take on a trend that began in the 2010s, with post-college-aged Millennials gray-washing their homes.
The trend became so common it spilled out onto the streets, as hotel rooms were renovated in varying shades of gray, the local coffee shops cutting color from their club chairs and couches. Architectural Digest (AD) wrote about the trend, stating that “… (social media) posts about color disappearing from our lives have reached the tenor of a moral panic. It’s the most heated discussion around a single color in recent memory.”
There’s been pushback from the next generation, though. Gen Z has “trends like avant basic and dopamine decor, color-happy approaches for a generation that’s spent its entire life being overstimulated on social media,” according to AD. Apparently, pitchforks were shouldered, and a march was planned. Gray Must Go!
I guess I fell victim to the idea that the prolific use of the color gray is indefensible, and that those who chose to live their lives surrounded by it needed saving.
I concluded my piece with a kind of question: where have all the purple motorcycles gone? Well, as it turns out, not only is Harley-Davidson currently offering the Heritage Softail, Road Glide and Street Glide in a “Purple Abyss” picked from the Pantone, but they produced both a CVO Road Glide and CVO Street Glide last year in a colorway they called “Poison Berry,” what was essentially a two-tone royal purple meets vivid black color combination.
I shall feast on crow.
My thoughts on gray motorcycles centered around the cultural rejection of color. As I mentioned before, just take a look around your local shopping center parking lot. Gray, black, white, and burgundy cars are about all you’ll find.
The Torch Red Z06 Corvette in the corner of the parking lot will stand out like a strawberry in a sack of potatoes. Subtlety and understated shades of gray and “greige” have taken the place of bright red, blaze orange, banana yellow or, my preferred slice of the color pie, purple. And while I’ll admit gray looks good on some things, a motorcycle is not one of them, most of the time.
I also struggle with the idea that a rider who wants a low-frills, chrome-free, single-color sled must settle for subtle. Base models and low-level trim packages seem to always be offered in black, and more recently, gray. Want your ride to be Brilliant Red? Add $750 to the asking price. Prefer the Purple Abyss I mentioned above? That’ll be an additional $950 on the asking price of your 2026 Road Glide. But in a world where gray is a compromise, a color chosen to not disrupt or distract, providing a cost-effective way to make something look chic without spending a fortune, I wonder, again, is that what you want your motorcycle to say about you?
Me? Well, I’ve always wanted an FXDX Super Glide in Concord Purple - a color only offered in 2001 and 2002. My father had a promotional poster pulled from a Harley-Davidson catalog on the wall of his home gym, and the silhouette of a Super Glide burned itself into my mind. That’s what a “real” motorcycle looked like to me for many years, and when I came of riding age, the desire to bring it to life from the pages of that catalog grew stronger. The Concord Purple iteration was the icing on the proverbial cake, though. Not only was it a “real” motorcycle, but it was also finished in a color that would stand out in a crowd.
I never managed to achieve my Dyna Bro dreams, settling instead on fitting in with the Café Racer crowd that gathered at the monthly motorcycle meetups in Seattle. But in the back of my mind, a thundering V-twin with a deep purple paint scheme has lived on, and I’m glad to see that the Motor Co. is still making motorcycles that stand out, even if it’ll cost you a little extra.
