Harley-Davidson recently unveiled the Iron 883 as the latest addition to its phantom Dark Custom line. The Darks aren't a separate model line, but more like a sinister club or collection of single models culled from Harley's prolific arsenal of existing V-Twins: the Dynas, Sportsters and Softails.
The underpinning theme with a Dark is pared-down, no-nonsense styling, eschewing chrome and brightness in favor of muted, basic color schemes – namely black. And for a few of them there's a decidedly deliberate chopped and bobbed influence.
As a theme, Dark Custom didn't make an official appearance until the January 2008 introduction of a Softail Springer that received the chopped/bobbed/black-out treatment and the name Cross Bones. It was at this Hollywood premiere-style unveiling of the 'Bones that Willie G. Davidson and son Bill told the moto-world about the birth of this new shadow series of motorcycles.
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2009 Harley-Davidson Sportster Iron 883 Preview on Motorcycle.com