Seventy Two

In 1972, the Brady Bunch ruled TV, the Eagles dominated radio, and Atari launched a video game revolution with Pong. But California pop culture was playing out a bit differently on two wheels, with candy-colored customs thundering down the boulevard, clearing away traffic and turning heads. It's this era that Harley-Davidson distills in its new Seventy-Two, a laid-back Sportster with sparkling metal flake paint introduced Wednesday. The vibe of this bike isn't menacing so much as playful, with its mini ape hangers, skinny white walls and throwback “peanut” tank, which holds only 2.1 gallons of gas but, for Harley's increasingly young and urban buyers, is more than enough to get them to the corner bar. In developing the Seventy-Two, Harley-Davidson looked into its rear view and scavenged from its past, per usual, but it also peeked into the garages of custom shops in France, Japan and Germany, where its designers were dazzled with metal flake finishes and “raw, simplified looks,” said Harley-Davidson media relations manager Jennifer Hoyer.

Cook's Corner, in Orange County, has long been a haven for area motorcyclists. But the legendary Trabuco Canyon roadhouse was more jammed than usual Wednesday. Scores of bikers had gathered to get a glimpse of two new motorcycles unveiled by Harley-Davidson Motor Co. for the 2012 model year: a laid-back Sportster called the Seventy-Two and a Softail Slim retro bobber. Harley-Davidson typically introduces all of its new models and updates at a single event in the summer. But with the market still soft in a tough economy, the Milwaukee manufacturer has in recent years wheeled out new bikes in the off-season.

Cook's Corner, in Orange County, has long been a haven for area motorcyclists. But the legendary Trabuco Canyon roadhouse was more jammed than usual Wednesday. Scores of bikers had gathered to get a glimpse of two new motorcycles unveiled by Harley-Davidson Motor Co. for the 2012 model year: a laid-back Sportster called the Seventy-Two and a Softail Slim retro bobber. Harley-Davidson typically introduces all of its new models and updates at a single event in the summer. But with the market still soft in a tough economy, the Milwaukee manufacturer has in recent years wheeled out new bikes in the off-season.

In 1972, the Brady Bunch ruled TV, the Eagles dominated radio, and Atari launched a video game revolution with Pong. But California pop culture was playing out a bit differently on two wheels, with candy-colored customs thundering down the boulevard, clearing away traffic and turning heads. It's this era that Harley-Davidson distills in its new Seventy-Two, a laid-back Sportster with sparkling metal flake paint introduced Wednesday. The vibe of this bike isn't menacing so much as playful, with its mini ape hangers, skinny white walls and throwback “peanut” tank, which holds only 2.1 gallons of gas but, for Harley's increasingly young and urban buyers, is more than enough to get them to the corner bar. In developing the Seventy-Two, Harley-Davidson looked into its rear view and scavenged from its past, per usual, but it also peeked into the garages of custom shops in France, Japan and Germany, where its designers were dazzled with metal flake finishes and “raw, simplified looks,” said Harley-Davidson media relations manager Jennifer Hoyer.

Los Angeles area residents intending to go to the post office today may be in for a surprise as postal officials, seeking to cut $160 million from this year's operating budget, have closed down 21 offices on Saturdays and shortened weekday hours at more than 110 others. Mail delivery will still continue on Saturdays. However, there will no longer be Sunday pickup or processing, adding a one-day delay to mail delivery during the week.

It was rare for Louis Leithold to miss a day at Malibu High School, where he taught Advanced Placement calculus for the past several years. He had been pounding theorems and proofs into the heads of his teenage charges for eight months straight. He had humored them into a homework load -- two hours a night -- that could incite rebellion in most other classrooms. He made them memorize and recite complicated rules of calculus until the theorems ruled their brains.

Seventy-two British soccer fans were arrested early Wednesday in Norway after they went on a rampage in an Oslo pub, destroying furniture and fixtures, police said.

Seventy-two people died and another 72 were seriously injured in Spain's worst weekend for traffic accidents this year, the Interior Ministry said Monday.

Seventy-two amateur and non-seeded professional surfers advanced on the first day of the Op Pro Surfing Championship Tuesday at Huntington Beach. Local surfers who advanced Tuesday include Colby Outlaw, Kirk Tice, Mark Austin and Bud Llamas, all of Huntington Beach. Tuesday's winners advance to today's qualifying heat semifinals of the nation's largest professional surfing competition. Today's winners earn a spot in the professional competition that begins Thursday.

Seventy-two Canadian potash miners walked away from an underground fire and toxic smoke after staying overnight inside locked airtight chambers packed with enough oxygen, food and water for several days. "I'm almost getting choked up thinking about how well this team worked together," said Marshall Hamilton, a spokesman for Mosaic Co., the Minneapolis-based owner of the mine.

Seventy-two members of Congress urged President Reagan and other world leaders to intervene on behalf of South Africa's "Sharpeville Six." The six are scheduled to be executed July 19 for the murder of a local black township official who was killed when a mass 1886547828years ago.

Seventy-two percent of Swiss voters endorsed legislation making it easier for a woman to get an abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Swiss lawmakers last year passed the measure, decriminalizing some abortions by easing the legal requirements on women and their doctors. The new law takes effect Oct. 1. Switzerland's current abortion law is one of the strictest in Europe, yet it is rarely enforced.