Out of the three Ford trucks I have reviewed (2011 & 2012 Raptors, 2011 F150 and the Super Duty) the Harley Davison Truck is by far my favorite.  It has all the benefits of a truck, with the refinement of a vehicle.  If your family ‘needs’ a truck (I use that term loosely ladies as I know there are a lot of guys out there that claim they do, but really don’t!) this is an amazing vehicle.  It was a pleasure to drive, had lots of power and the interior was gorgeous.

The 2012 Harley Truck is the 15^th model that Ford and Harley Davidson Motorcycles have collaborated on.  Over the years, there have been a variety of engines (super charged, turbo charged diesels etc) but the 2012 model uses a special high performance V8.  As you know – my reviews are more about the look, feel and drive of the vehicle – more from a woman’s perspective and I don’t generally go onto major engine detail.  Just for the guys and uber interested ladies – here it is, directly from Ford. Ford says that the latest Harley-Davidson F-150 is the most powerful and most capable model in the history of the collaboration, packing a 6.2-liter V8 with 411 horsepower, 434 lb-ft of torque and up to 9,300 lbs of towing capacity. This engine returns 13/18 mpg with rear wheel drive, while 4WD units are rated at just 12/16 mpg. Okay, enough of that – onto the good stuff!

At first glance, the Harley is a really great looking truck.  The front of the truck is awesome looking with a six-bar billet-style satin chrome grille.  The headlights and taillights look edgier as the housing has been tinted a darker color on this model as well.  You also get the badging (that of course, you are paying extra for!) on the Harley with “Harley Davidson” in stain chrome marked down the side of the bed as well as the Harley Crest (which can also be found inside the truck in several places)  The door handles, mirrors and fender flares are all monochrome and you will notice a really unique feature when you pull on the door handle of any of the 4 doors to get in.  The Harley Truck (as with the F150) has an automatic running board that comes down to make getting in easier (a GREAT per if you have kids getting in and out of the back seat, or for small people to get into the cab easier.)  My husband didn’t like this feature – as someone who is 6’4” he can easily step right into the truck and the running boards stick out far enough that it would either hit him in the shin getting into the truck, or be in his way when getting our daughter into the car seat.  As a woman who is 5’8” – I loved them!  Once you were used to a 1-2 second delay hopping into the truck, the running boards were a great feature.  The wheels were definitely one of the best parts the exterior.  22-inch “Euroflange” forged wheels with a polished centre cap and low-pro tires.  One thing I didn’t like was the graphics on the side of the truck.  Ford says the graphics were intended to be reminiscent of the "speed scallops" used on hot rods.  I am just not into decals, pinstripes or graphics on cars or trucks.

The interior is most impressive, and if you love having a loaded vehicle with tons of options, bypass the regular F150 and go with the Harley edition.  In addition to upping the power quotient, the latest F-150 HD edition also gains some serious standard features, such as voice-activated navigation, a 4.2-inch productivity screen built into the gauge cluster, rear-view camera, fancy ambient lighting, first and second-row heated seats, sunroof and remote start.  The voice-activated navigation worked great – sometimes I find the voice recognition to be lacking, but I had no problems in this vehicle.  I really like the ‘productivity screen’ that Ford is incorporating into all of their vehicles – with the exception of the Fiesta, I believe) It is really easy to see fuel economy, km’s to empty etc.  The best part of the interior has to be the leather.  It is EVERYWHERE.  Leather covers pretty much the entire interior, with exception to the headliner (which was black and looked amazing – I am surprised more vehicles don’t have the black headliner!).  The refined Harley theme is definitely incorporated as the leather has that rough ‘aged’ look.  It really added to the refinement of the truck.  I didn’t like having that same leather on the steering wheel.  I feel funny admitting this, but the inside of my thumbs felt sore after driving it for longer periods of time from rubbing on the steering wheel.  Maybe a man’s rough hands wouldn’t have felt this, but I did!

The back seat has room for 3 car seats across and tons of extra floor space.  If you pull a trailer and have to pack kids into the truck when heading to your vacation destination – this is a perfect truck.  We had 2 car seats in the back and there was still plenty of room for me to sit between them when my daughter and I had a quick snack before school in the back seat.  The car seat installation was also very easy and the headrest didn’t need to be removed for either Britax carseat.  You could definitely even do a diaper change on the floor of the truck with plenty of room to move around.  The backseat floor board is also totally flat, so that makes it even roomier.

The ride overall was very comfortable.  Warm, soft heated seats (or cooled in the summer) a smooth ride and tons of room.  I could hardly find a single thing wrong with this vehicle.  If you are in the market for a truck that has all the conveniences a family could want – check out the F150 Harley Davison Edition!

Cost: $64,699 (as shown)

Key Competitors Note:
In case you are interested, the F-150 Harley Davidson Edition squares off against top-tier pickups like the GMC Sierra 1500 Denali and the Ram Laramie Limited.