Tony - I own a 04 orange and black european model, the specs that the guys have in america are not quite the same as the ones in the uk there are a few differences
1. No smoked turn signals
A good day to you sir!
It is good to know that there is a fellow Englishman.
I know a little about radios and can tell you that DTI governs radio spectrum in the UK. All countries use different bands for different communications. So in order that we don't accidently launch any remote control burjurmeeflips you have to get things approved and it is a pain in the posterior.
The smoked screen, smaller mirrors and grey lenses all sound like safety issues. Our local after-market builder has to strip bikes back down to fit sensible pipes, indicators and mirrors to get a new custom through the single vehicle approval (SVA). I suspect when HD come knocking with a new bike that the beurocrats can be more stringent with them.
Maybe all this Europe nonsense dictates similar over caution in the rest of Europe and HD therefore just produce one over-engineered bike. Or maybe if it has same mirrors and lights it can get through on Ultra Classic approval number.
Or maybe I am just typing bollocks <g>