HARLEY-DAVIDSON STREET GLIDE AND ROAD GLIDE
Price: Street Glide from £26,795. Road Glide from £27,295
Most Harleys are bought on PCP, for which the figures are: Street Glide: £5000 deposit, 36 monthly payments of £355.64. Road Glide: £5000 deposit, 36 monthly payments of £360.69 Engine: 1923cc V-twin, 8v, cylinder heads liquid-cooled
Power: 105bhp (78kW) at 4,600rpm Torque: 130lb-ft (176Nm) at 3250rpm Frame: Mild steel; tubular frame; two-piece stamped and welded backbone; cast and forged junctions; twin downtubes; bolt-on rear frame with forged fender supports; MIG-welded Wheelbase: 1625mm
Brakes: (F) Two 320mm discs, four piston Brembo calipers. (R) Single 300mm disc
Transmission: Six gears, belt final drive Suspension: (R) Showa shock adjustable for preload, 76mm travel. (F) Showa forks non-adjustable Wheels/Tyres: Solid cast aluminium, 19in front, 18in rear
Seat height: 715mm
Fuel capacity: 22.7 litres
MPG: Street Glide 47, Road Glide 44 Weight: Street Glide 351kg dry/368kg wet; Road Glide 364kg dry/380kg wet Warranty: 24 months, unlimited mileage Roadside assistance: Harley Assist is free when bought from an authorised dealer, including one year roadside assistance; home start; recovery and relay; a contribution to the cost of onward travel to your destination; overnight accommodation contribution if your bike cannot be repaired for onward travel; and repatriation of your bike back to your country of residence if the breakdown occurs abroad and the bike cannot be repaired for your return journey
Service intervals: First 1000 miles, every 5000 miles thereafter Contact: www.harley-davidson.com
even on the mountain twisties on the first day of the launch, helped by the twin safety blankets of cornering tractional control and cornering ABS, and those Brembo pistons and big twin discs on the front were more than adequate for hauling in the anchors, with reasonably progressive feel and bite on the rear brake for trailing into downhill corners, while a slipper clutch stops the back wheel locking under aggressive downshifting.
There’s a whopping 200-watt sound system so you can annoy the neighbours by setting off at dawn on a Saturday morning playing Born to be Wild at top volume, although I’ve never seen the point of speakers on a bike, since I’d rather listen to the voices in my head. You know, the ones telling me that Elvis, Lord Lucan and Shergar are still alive and living on the moon.
The only negative aspect of the bike was the suspension. On the previous
Street Glide and Street Glide ST, it bottomed out on bad roads, and although Harley claims that the rear suspension travel has been increased by 50% to 76mm, it was still very choppy on rough sections, so that by the end of the day it had reduced my height to 6ft 5ins.
Oh well, I suppose I can always join the little-known Irish Harley Chapter of Latterday Leprechauns.
Oh, and the only other negative thing was the Harley promotional video for this and the Road Glide, which claimed in sonorous tones that they’d make you feel like you’re “riding on the ragged edge of existence”.
As opposed to from
Milton Keynes,
I assume.