Softail Deluxe FLSTN (2013): The First Year Harley's Hard Candy Custom Paint Movement Landed on the Deluxe
This exact 2013 model year introduced a genuinely new option across Harley's whole lineup: Hard Candy Custom paint, a large metal-flake finish drawing direct inspiration from the rebel styling of '70s custom bikes. Harley's own process behind it is genuinely labor-intensive — several passes of 200-micron flake laid over a silver base, cleared, hand-masked, then finished with the Candy color specifically to let that underlying flake shine through, followed by more clear coat and hand striping to a deep, smooth finish. On the Deluxe, this arrived in shades like Hard Candy Lucky Green Flake, offered alongside more conventional Vivid Black, Big Blue Pearl, and two-tone Birch White combinations.
Power comes from the rigid-mounted, counter-balanced Twin Cam 103B, an air-cooled V-twin displacing 1,690cc, a 98.4mm bore and 111.1mm stroke, and a 9.6:1 compression ratio, fed by Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI), delivering a claimed 98.7 lb-ft (132-134 Nm) of torque at 3,000 rpm and roughly 74 hp at 5,000 rpm through a chain primary drive (34/46 ratio) and 6-speed Cruise Drive transmission with belt final drive.
Styling stayed genuinely faithful to the Deluxe's classic 1950s-boulevard-cruiser formula: nostalgic wide whitewall tires on premium laced wheels, long-lined chrome fender tips, a two-piece "collapsing sides" Softail seat with a removable pillion, a tombstone taillight, an integrated chrome luggage rack, and the model's signature horseshoe oil tank.
Confirmed dimensions list a 2,400mm length, a genuinely low 670mm (26.4-inch) unladen seat height, 113mm of ground clearance, and a 32.1-degree rake with 147mm of trail. A 5-gallon (18.9-litre) fuel tank and 3.3 quarts of oil (with filter) round out the fluid capacities, with a shipped weight of 313kg (690 lbs) rising to 330kg (728 lbs) in running order. 2013 UK pricing ranged from £15,695 for Vivid Black up to £16,495 for a full custom color option, with the ABS Security Package available as a standalone upgrade.
This factory service manual covers the procedures, torque specs, and diagrams needed to keep a 2013 Softail Deluxe FLSTN running the way it was built to.
