More Leaked Photos of the New Harley-Davidson CVO Street Glide

Dennis Chung
by Dennis Chung

Official images appear in Australian certification filings

Last month, we published photos of what were believed to be a new Harley-Davidson CVO Street Glide and CVO Road Glide, allegedly taken from the factory floor. At the time, we believed the photos to be real, revealing some juicy details such as new fairings, inverted forks, and a 121ci engine. Shortly after, we received further images of the CVO Road Glide that suggested the new engine was a Milwaukee-Eight 121 with variable valve timing.


This month, two new photos of the CVO Street Glide briefly appeared in certification filings in Australia submitted by Harley-Davidson. The images were quickly taken down after they were discovered, but it was too late, as it is now clear that the leaked CVO photos were indeed genuine.


The full file contained data for Harley-Davidson's touring motorcycles, including the already announced 2023 models, but though images of the new CVO Street Glide were added, the data still referred to the 2022 model. Both the CVO Street Glide (FLHXSE) and the CVO Road Glide (FLTRXSE) are listed as having the existing 1923cc (or 117ci) engine, with the engine numbers PXHN123456 and TCPN123456, respectively. For those unfamiliar with Harley-Davidson vehicle identification numbers, the CVO Street Glide's VIN uses "PX" as the vehicle code while the CVO Road Glide uses the code "TC". The letter just ahead of the numbers represents the model year, with "N" being the industry standard code for 2022. Other models in the file, such as the CVO Road Glide Limited Anniversary Edition, is listed with the engine number TJHP123456, with the "P" indicating the 2023 model year.

So, the technical details in the filing won't apply to the new model, leaving us to glean what we can from the images. alone. The two photos show the new CVO Street Glide from a three-quarters angle from the front left and from the rear right. We pulled up photos of the 2022 model from the closest angles we could find, and overlaid them in the image juxtapositions below. The angles weren't exactly the same, so we had to approximate the scaling and positioning the best we could to provide a good comparison.

Starting with the fairing, we can see the differences in the design. As we previously reported, the headlight has a new shape, with a main light within a horseshoe-shaped LED. Instead of turn signal stalks, the new CVO Street Glide has light strips integrated into the fairing itself that will serve as forward indicators. The fairing does not have the same cutout shape behind the headlight as the 2022 model, instead offering a broader front. The bottom of the fairing also juts out below the headlight, which should have an effect on the aerodynamics.


The old fairing had a vent and a fixed windscreen but the new fairing has what appears to be an adjustable screen, with a gap at the front replacing the vent design. Moving down, we see the inverted forks and radial-mount Brembo-branded brake calipers we saw from earlier photos. From this angle, we can see a significantly bulkier oil cooler with what might be a radiator behind the frame partially obscuring the front cylinder head.

Moving farther back, past the blacked out engine, and we spot what appears to be a dial between the passenger peg and the left side case. It's hard to tell for certain from this resolution, but from it's placement, it certainly looks like a rear suspension adjuster.


Switching to the rear angle, we once again notice the large intake with the "121" label indicating the larger displacement. Below that, we spy a new camshaft cover with, as we previously noted new mounting bolts above and below the Bar and Shield logo, while the old design had the bolts to either side. In one of the earlier photos of the CVO Road Glide, we noted what appears to be the letters "VVT" on it, and the new cover design would further suggest a significant change to the internals.


The routing of the header pipes appears to be the same as the 2022 model, but the dual exhausts appears to be a new design. As we also previously noted, the transmission casing in the curve of the rear header pipe is significantly larger, hinting at changes to the gearbox, potentially including a reverse gear.

Behind the fairing, our eyes are drawn to the large display screen that replaces the previous analog dials. We can't tell for certain, but it looks to be at least as large as the 10.25-inch Bosch TFT display BMW debuted on the R 1250 RT. The switchgear on the left handlebar includes a directional pad similar to the one on the Pan America 1250, hinting at new electronic systems that go with the digital display.


Despite the slightly different angles, we can still notice a new shape for the fuel tank. The new tank appears taller at the front, and the fuel filler is no longer is no longer offset on the right side of console. The seat appears to be new as well, with the front of the saddle sitting closer to the end of the tank. Both the rider and passenger seat appear to be a single unit, unlike the two-piece seat on the 2022 CVO Street Glide. The side cases continue to house speakers but the new design has a slightly different shape, particularly at the bottom of the rear where they align with the similarly bevelled rear lights.

What remains to be determined is when the new CVO Street Glide and CVO Road Glide will be announced, and whether they will be considered 2023 or 2024 models. In the last few years, Harley-Davidson has been spreading its product announcements instead of introducing them all at once. The 2022 Low Rider El Diablo, for example, was announced on Sept. 1, 2022, when in previous years, that would have been when Harley-Davidson would have held the following model year announcement.


So far, Harley-Davidson has announced a single 2023 CVO model, the CVO Road Glide Limited Anniversary Edition. It seems unlikely to us that Harley-Davidson would have just one CVO model, especially on an anniversary year. We suspect Harley-Davidson will officially announce both new CVO models sooner rather than later as 2023 models. We can also expect some of the changes will be carried over to the rest of Harley-Davidson's touring lineup for 2024.


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Dennis Chung
Dennis Chung

Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.

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