Two new motorcycles were unveiled by Harley-Davidson Motor Co. for the 2012 model year this week: 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. Both bikes are on display this weekend in Minneapolis.

"It helps to bring a sense of excitement around the brand and to bring people into the dealerships to see the new bikes," said Harley-Davidson media relations manager Jennifer Hoyer.

The Seventy-Two and Softail Slim  are Harley-Davidson's latest bikes, on display at the Minneapolis Motorcycle Show this weekend. The lowrider-inspired Seventy-Two, with its metal flake paint, whitewall tires, and the '50s-style Softail Slim, with its chopped fenders, large 103-cubic-inch V-twin, have both excited fans at the show.

In developing its Seventy-Two, Harley looked into its rearview mirror and scavenged from its past, but it also peeked into the garages of modern-day custom shops in France, Japan and Germany, where its designers were dazzled with metal flake finishes and "raw, simplified looks," Hoyer said.

(Some of the information in this article came from a Los Angeles Times piece by Susan Carpenter)