#ProjectRushmore

Harley-Davidson cognoscenti are familiar with the hole in the Motor Company’s touring line up. Well, after two years absence, the Road Glide Ultra returns as a 2016 model. The vacation appears to have been good to the Ultra, which rejoins the model line tanned, rested, and with a new body to show off.

As this article goes live,  Harley-Davidson is utilizing social media to reveal its 2016 model line up via a choreographed round-the-world event, taking place live in seven cities across the globe. This 30-minute global event will be simulcast on Periscope, Twitter’s new live-streaming app, and then uploaded later to the Harley-Davidson YouTube feed. Beginning with coverage in Portland, OR, where MO staffer, Evans Brasfield, is one of the moto-press attending the event, the live-stream will jump around the continents to Sydney, Tokyo, Barcelona, Toronto, Mexico City, and Las Vegas before returning to Portland to wrap up the event.

When it comes to liking the cut of one’s jib, no motorcycle owns a profile quite like the Road Glide’s. Not only is the Road Glide unique in Harley-Davidson’s line-up, but also in the realm of cruiserdom. Others emulate the fork-mounted, batwing fairing of Street Glides and Ultras, but the Road Glide’s frame-mounted fairing and its distinctive styling sets it apart from the crowd.

If you’re at the Sturgis Rally in South Dakota or the National Bikers Roundup in Tulsa, Oklahoma, you’re in luck! If not, you’re probably reading this and wishing you were at one of these two rallies. Why? Because Harley-Davidson is revealing, and offering test rides on, the new 2015 Road Glide and Road Glide Special at each rally weeks in advance of announcing the company’s complete 2015 model lineup.

Longtime Harley heads will surely be familiar with the Low Rider name. First introduced in 1977, the Low Rider was a rugged bike for the rugged rider. For 2014, after a five-year hiatus, Harley-Davidson is bringing the Low Rider name back. Now with a host of upgrades to ensure riders of all sizes will feel at home. Pricing starts at $14,199 for Vivid Black, jumping to $14,929 for the Brilliant Silver/Vivid Black or Amber Whiskey/Vivid Black two-tone color schemes. 

You can’t get much more of an American icon than Harley-Davidson. Ranked among the most recognizable brands in the world, along with the likes of Coca-Cola and Apple, the manufacturer has overcome its fair share of ups and downs over the years but is still here to tell the tale. Needless to say it has certainly earned the right to celebrate a century and a decade of building two-wheeled freedom machines exclusively in the U S of A.

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.