Heavy Metal Thunder
ThIs Is defInItIVe amerICan heaVY metal. thundering down the highway, Kid rock’s american Badass blasting on the Boom! Box audio, it’s a whole situation-based mood, don’t @ me. I confess, I spent good time the previous night making a playlist with everything from Kid rock and ZZ top to Lamb of god and Cannibal Corpse. It’s all there! the road glide, then. a 2021 successor to the 1980s’ tour glide, the road glide is a big, heavy, luxurious example of american grand touring and it’s the pinnacle of the range in India; sitting only below the CVO 117s, trikes, and crate screamin’ eagle 131s internationally. this is the fLtrXs road glide special and, yes, this one has six letters in its model code and you need to know it to order parts, among other things. the “Xs” here, is evident. the darth Vader fairing has twin, piercing daymaker Led headlamps and a vent outside and, inside, the touchscreen, info dials, two speakers, and twin closing storage units, one of which has a UsB 2.0 charger unit. those, the big 114-ci engine, Prodigy wheels, panniers, and the wide saddle with stubby pillion seat make the road glide feel extra special. and it weighs 12 kilograms more than the others. h-d say it’s 387 kg ready to ride. feels a bit over 400 to my feet in their positively puny size-12 boots, if I do say so myself.
On the open road, nothing comes close. the 1,868-cc milwaukee-eight rumbles along effortlessly. fourth gear and 2,000 rpm? enough to cruise at the highway speed limit. second gear and 4,000 rpm? more than enough to blast past lumbering giants and make them tiny specs in the rear-view mirrors. the road glide has the biggest, widest, and easiest-reach bars of the lot. Little wonder I got comfortable far sooner than I did with the others. I usually do cars and, since the ed assigned me the story,
I imagine this, on two wheels, is akin to a Pontiac gtO. there’s tremendous power and instant torque and it is everywhere across the rev-range and in any gear. the ease of getting a move on is absolutely startling at first and thoroughly enjoyable and confidenceinspiring a while later. for a 400-kg dark fortress, it sure can throw its weight around in all the right places. Yet, big fairing, dual panniers, radio antenna and all, it can thunder through gaps in traffic and come out to sweet freedom on the other side with relative ease. If the pair is throbbing enough with a mix of adrenaline and testosterone, it can even be flung into corners with conviction. Lean angles are 31° left and 32° right, so, while one can’t Bagnaia it into bends, it can handle a fair share of lean-in. they even race these in the Us of a, with raised pipes and different rubber, of course.
I stuck with the road glide post the shoot and on the way back to the office. It’s big and burly and while it looks like darth Vader, it feels more like King Kong — enormous, yes, but big-hearted and friendly; even approachable, eventually. at rs 35 lakh (ex-showroom), it costs as much as a premium german sedan, but there’s good reason for it. It looks, and feels, unlike anything on the road. It turns every ride into a hefty celebration and, for those interested — and I know many will be — it makes one hell of a statement.
The sunlight bouncing off the chrome on an open road with beautiful surroundings is one sure way to feel good about the world