#StreetGlide

A couple of days ago, we were tipped off by Harley-Davidson blogger Dr. Dan Morel about photos of an alleged new CVO Road Glide and CVO Street Glide taken from the factory floor. Morel has since sent us another photo, offering a clear look at the CVO Road Glide’s right side, including evidence that the new 121ci engine uses variable valve timing.

Taking inspiration from its championship-winning King of the Baggers factory race bikes, Harley-Davidson introduces new, performance-focused ST versions of the Road Glide and Street Glide.

Today, Harley-Davidson announced its first batch of 2022 motorcycles, with models already arriving at dealerships across the U.S. These models return mostly unchanged from 2021, save for updated colors and, for some, new wheel designs. If you’re looking for any new models, CVO models, or motorcycles getting more significant changes, you’ll have to wait until Jan. 26, for Harley-Davidson’s “Further, Faster” world premiere event.

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.

Harley-Davidson is recalling 238,300 motorcycles worldwide (including 177,636 units in the U.S. alone) because of an issue that can prevent the clutch from disengaging. The recall affects all touring and trike models for 2017 and 2018 plus some 2017 Softails. Here’s the full list:

We convened in Minneapolis, MN (interesting choice) as Harley-Davidson introduced its 2019 touring line. I had the chance to spend two days swapping between models as we po-ta-toe, po-ta-toed our way from that other cruiser brand’s hometown to Harley-Davidson’s 115th-anniversary celebration in Milwaukee, joining thousands of die-hard H-D enthusiasts from all over the globe.

I should probably have broken this down into “Riders Over 50 with a History of Failed Relationships and Bad Decisions Without a Pot to Piss In,” and “Riders Over 50 With Healthy Portfolios and Dazzling Smiles”… but I didn’t. Because motorcycles are still relatively inexpensive, and because all us old guys seem to be drawn to the same ones whatever they cost. Besides, even wealthy motorcycle people mostly seem to be inherently cheap; otherwise they’d be car people, no? Consider this my personal cross-section of the bikes people like me covet most, and/or actually would (theoretically in my case) own.

The original plan was to be in Calico to shoot the wrap video for last week’s “Bagger Brawl” four-bike comparo tour (which should get posted next week, maybe…), but you know what they say about best-laid plans. That goes double for MOron plans. Instead of being an hour-and-a-half from the barn, we wound up running low on daylight and needing to roll tape while we were still in Death Valley, four hours north. Motorcycles tend to make you think things are a lot closer than they are, even if you were just there last year. By the time the cameras were packed back up and the Harley Street Glide, Victory Magnum, Moto Guzzi MGX-21 and Indian Chieftain were ready to roll, the sun was setting and the “mega moon” was rising over one of the most desolately beautiful places in North America.

Change comes slowly in the world of Harley-Davidson. The faithful will say that is a feature, not a bug. Still, change does come, and when any manufacturer introduces a new engine line, it’s a big deal. When Harley introduces a new engine and summarily whisks away the old engine in an entire category of its motorcycle models, it’s a sea change. You can almost feel the earth shifting on its axis. While we’d like to think that the performance of the new engine – which is impressive – could be the cause, the gravitational adjustment is most likely from the sheer number of motojournalists the Motor Company flew from locations around the globe to northwestern Washington state for the Milwaukee-Eight’s riding introduction.

Every year Harley-Davidson releases special models from its Custom Vehicle Operations skunkworks. These limited-edition factory customs are chosen to represent the best that Harley has to offer, which is usually based on the most popular models the manufacturer sells. This year, for our test of a 2017 CVO model, we chose the CVO Street Glide. We did this for two reasons. First, we’d get to do a true apples-to-apples comparison since we were also testing the standard Street Glide. This perspective would give us the opportunity to see what similarities and differences the Milwaukee-Eight 107 had with the Milwaukee-Eight 114 bruiser. Second, we last tested the CVO Street Glide in model year 2015, which would give us a good impression of how far the model has come in two model years.

Since Harley-Davidson has updated the engines of its entire touring model line, we thought we should check in with an example of each of the three variations of the Milwaukee-Eight. For years, the Street Glide has been Harley’s best-selling model – and a favorite here at MO – making it a natural choice for sampling the base-model Eight’s 107ci engine. Still, the engine isn’t the only news involving pistons on the 2017 touring models. In a normal year, the upgraded suspension components on the Street Glide would be big news, but with motorcyclists being power freaks, the new engines are stealing the suspension’s thunder.

Well, we’ve joked about Harley-Davidson’s upcoming Milwaukee-Eight engine. We’ve prognosticated from EPA documents about what the Milwaukee-Eight would be. However, until now, we haven’t had the straight scoop about the ninth generation of the Motor Company’s Big Twin engines. After submitting ourselves to a variety of invasive tests, signing our lives away to gain entry into the Harley Media Department’s “circle of trust,” and waiting for the appointed hour to arrive, we can now tell you exactly what H-D has up its cylinder sleeves. However, the biggest news isn’t the part hidden in the sleeves at all.

You likely didn’t need the title of this week’s Church feature to figure out what bike is the subject this week. One look at the main photo is all that’s needed for one of America’s iconic motorcycles. This week, we’re looking at the 2009 Harley-Davidson Street Glide, as told through the eyes of our own Pete Brissette, as he reacquaints himself with the new and improved Street Glide while riding up one of the country’s best motorcycling roads: California’s Highway 1, better known as Pacific Coast Highway. To see more of the 09 Street Glide, be sure to check out the  photo gallery.

Every model year Harley-Davidson Custom Vehicle Operations offers a limited selection of factory customs for what the motor company considers to be its most discriminating customers.Traditionally, these limited editions have been used as a proving ground for new components or finishing methods before being added to the extensive factory accessory catalog. With this much on the line, naturally, H-D would only choose models that it thinks represent the best motorcycle models in production for the year. The Street Glide’s status as the best selling motorcycle the manufacturer produces makes it an obvious choice for inclusion in the CVO line.