#FatBob

With the exception of the Road Glide Limited, none of the other Road Glide and Street Glide variants have been confirmed as yet. Considering the significant updates to the 2023 CVO Road Glide and CVO Street Glide (which earned them the runner-up nod for our Motorcycle of the Year MOBOs), it’s a no-brainer to expect some of those changes to trickle down to the non-CVO models. Indeed, Harley-Davidson released a teaser image for its Jan. 24 announcement, showing three models and the tagline “The Dawn of a New Era”. Two of the models are equipped with the new Road Glide and Street Glide fairings with the integrated lighting. The image of the Road Glide has relatively basic-looking mirrors compared to the CVO Road Glide, so very likely the teaser shows the non-CVO Street Glide and Road Glide.

Little did we know in 2006 how the motorcycle industry would come crashing down just a short time later with the global recession. But while the whole world was riding a financial high, it makes for an interesting time to take a look back at the state of Harley-Davidson. Or, at least the models in its lineup at the time. We're taking a particular interest in this story because of our recent Friday Forum Foraging post featuring a nicely-tuned VRSC-F. The V-Rod engine was a big departure for The Motor Company, and is a source of constant "what if" questions about what could have been.

Harley-Davidson turns 120 next year, which naturally means we’re getting some special Anniversary Edition models. Thanks to new vehicle certification data from Australia, we can confirm that the Heritage Classic 114 and the Fat Boy 114 will be receiving 120th Anniversary Editions.

A couple of weeks ago, we reported that a couple of Harley-Davidson Sportster models were missing from model year 2020 certification documents released by the California Air Resources Board. Today, we can confirm that the Harley-Davidson Superlow, 1200 Custom, and Forty-Eight Special were also omitted from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‘s latest 2020 certification data. And they’re not alone. Motorcycle.com can confirm that the Electra Glide Ultra Classic, Ultra Limited Low, Road Glide Ultra, and CVO Road Glide are among the models that were not re-certified for 2020. (UPDATE: shortly after this post was published, CARB released executive orders confirming the EPA’s information.)

Bruiser cruisers: the name pretty much says it all. These bikes combine the best performance that cruisers offer and wrap it in a package dripping with attitude to spare. For this comparison, we decided to stick with the V-Twin engine configuration. Why? Because the V-Twin is the just about the official engine configuration of cruiserdom – that and the fact that no Yamaha V-Max was available for testing. So, for this test we have the 2018 Ducati XDiavel facing off against the new for 2018 Harley-Davidson Fat Bob. Both of these bikes have eye-catching good looks that exude function as well as style.

The changes made in the 2018 Harley-Davidson Softail line were so numerous we couldn’t fit them in one article! To read about the hows and whys of the changes, check out “ Harley-Davidson Introduces All New 2018 Softail Line.” This article is strictly an adjunct to that text which is intended to let you know what happened to each individual member of the completely revamped Softail line. Strap on your helmet; this is gonna be quite a ride.

A wise man once said, “Speak softly and carry a big, fat stick.” Or something like that.