Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson Road King

Earlier this week, we uncovered Australian certification documents revealing a new Nightster S model and Harley-Davidson‘s 2023 Softail lineup including 120th anniversary Fat Boy 114 and Heritage Classic 114 models. As we predicted, a similar document certifying Harley-Davidson’s 2023 touring models has now been released in Australia, confirming the models returning, as well as the Anniversary Edition Touring models, plus one possible addition to Harley’s Icon collection.

Harley-Davidson announced its returning touring lineup for 2021, with updated paint options and small updates to the three Special models. As we expected, all of the 2020 model are returning in the face of Harley-Davidson’s plans to streamline its product portfolio. That means the 2021 lineup consists of the Electra Glide Standard, Road Glide Limited, Road Glide Special, Road King, Road King Special, Street Glide, Street Glide Special, and Ultra Limited.

Along with the new FXDR 114 and 2019 Custom Vehicle Operations lineup revealed this week, Harley-Davidson announced it will upgrade several of its 2019 touring lineup to the Milwaukee-Eight 114 engine.

Harley’s new Street Rod was our excuse to go to Daytona last week, but while we were there we got to ride The MoCo’s new Road King Special too. Okay, so, yeah, the Street Rod was a bit underwhelming, but it would be fun to sit all the commenters heaping abuse upon H-D for that bike on one of its FLs for about a 10-minute ride. I think it would shut most of them right up. Well, actually it probably wouldn’t. I think we’ve all learned how hard it is to unseat deep-rooted preconceptions lately.

What has dropped 10 pounds, gained larger wheels, honed down its seat height, and wields a kick ass new engine? If you said the Harley-Davidson Road King Special, you’d be right. So, what makes this Road King special?

Peace, love and understanding is what we’re all about here at MO, man, and on this excellent junket to the great Midwest, we made some serious inroads. One dinner, after a day spent rolling along the east bank of the Mississippi through springtime Illinois and Wisconsin, Editorial Director Sean Alexander (who thinks the Aprilia Tuono is the perfect casual traveling bike) actually admitted that the bikes we were on were ideally suited to our ride. Well, hello. He also admitted it was his first time riding in “flyover country.”

In 2009, in the midst of the recession (or “economic downturn,” if you prefer), executives at Harley-Davidson Motor Company had an epiphany: Just because it’s not broken doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed.