The Low Rider S arrived for the 2016 model year as a more aggressive, factory-custom take on Harley-Davidson’s Dyna-era cruiser formula. It built on the established Low Rider nameplate by adding a darker, leaner visual treatment and a stronger performance focus, positioning itself as the sportier sibling in the Dyna lineup rather than a conventional chrome-heavy cruiser. The model carried the FXDLS designation and was sold only during the final two years of the Dyna family’s production run.
Harley-Davidson’s Low Rider lineage dates back to the 1970s, but the Low Rider S name specifically represented a modernized interpretation aimed at riders who wanted a stripped-down, high-attitude machine straight from the factory. Its release fit Harley-Davidson’s broader push in the mid-2010s toward performance-oriented cruiser variants with less ornamentation and more aggressive stance and styling. The bike’s blacked-out treatment, low profile, and focus on handling and torque-oriented road character made it stand out from the standard Dyna Low Rider.
The Dyna Low Rider S was discontinued after the 2017 model year when Harley-Davidson ended the Dyna platform. The Low Rider S name would later return on the company’s newer Softail architecture under a different model code, but the FXDLS itself remained a distinct, short-lived Dyna-era chapter in the Low Rider story. For enthusiasts, that brief run helps make it one of the more recognizable late Dyna Harley-Davidsons, bridging the classic Dyna feel with the more performance-minded factory-custom direction that followed.