Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson cultivates the “performance bagger” build within its Grand American Touring ranks with its new-for-2022 Road Glide ST. This is the fixed-fairing sibling of the Street Glide ST, and it rocks much of the same yummygoodness with the powerful Milwaukee-Eight 117 to push it all down the road. Infotainment and luggage come stock, but the factory holds its cornering-sensitive rider aids in reserve as part of the optional gear package.

Harley-Davidson adds some much-needed vim, vigor, and vitality to its Grand American Touring lineup with the new-for-2022 Street Glide ST model. This is a bagger based on the large tourbike frame with the classic Batwing fairing up front and lots of long distance-comfort items on board. Best of all, it comes with a performance bent due to the Milwaukee-Eight 117 powerplant and optional electronic engine-management goodies.

Harley-Davidson looks both forward and back on its newest addition to the new Sportster lineup, the Nightster. The basic Sportster silhouette remains intact, but everything else was subject to the MoCo’s efforts to remain competitive in a progressively high-tech market. A new powerplant and high-end ride-quality electronics put this newest Sportster far beyond the previous models with the same name.

When Harley-Davidson makes changes to the Iron 883, they stay faithful to at least one important aspect – performance. While XL models have never been known as ’fast’ bikes, they certainly have a well-deserved reputation as ’quick’ bikes. Nothing in the Harley world comes out of the hole like a Sporty, or handles the corners like one, and the Iron 883 maintains that tradition with aplomb. Bikes like this show how the XL line has not only survived, but also thrived in the entry-level and sport-minded American markets.

Harley-Davidson expands the Sportster family with the new-in-2018 Iron 1200. Retro is in, so the ’70s-esque paint and custom touches drawn from that era give the Iron 1200 plenty of nostalgic value. Power comes from the venerable Evolution engine to the tune of 73 pound-feet of torque to give this ride modern performance that belies the dated veneer. A classic dish with custom spices, the new Iron 1200 raises the Iron stable’s displacement ceiling to draw new customers from a market that has been in decline for over a decade.

Harley-Davidson’s CVO Road Glide is a bona fide showroom showstopper with lots of chrome and a trio of new paint packages. Powered by a top-shelf Milwaukee-Eight 117 engine – the largest production engine from the MoCo to date – this machine rolls with stock ride safety-control features that keep all that power under control. Stock bags and fairings complete the bagger ensemble to make this a viable bike for performance-minded riders looking to tour, cruise, or just boulevard bruise.

The Forty-Eight from Harley-Davidson’s Sportster stable has that signature bulldog stance with beefy front forks and fat tires on a narrow frame. The 1,202 cc Evo engine comes blacked out with chrome blings, fed by a ’peanut tank’ that appeared on Sporty’s throughout its history. Low, low seat height and Dark Custom attitude give the Forty-Eight that low-slung, lean, mean look.

Harley-Davidson kicked the Road Glide Ultra to the curb from its touring lineup ahead of MY2020 in favor of its new FLTRK Road Glide Limited. The Road Glide Limited takes touring comfort and safety up a notch with a host of new electronic features to go with its already-fabulous Infotainment system, and it all comes wrapped in a premium paint along with special bits of bling to finish off the package. Best of all, Harley powers the Road Glide Limited with its second largest production engine, the 1,868 cc Milwaukee-Eight 114 that brings over 100 pounds o’ grunt to the table for your touring enjoyment.

Harley-Davidson brought together two of its best subcategories – the Limited line – to field the 2022 CVO Road Glide Limited. This machine sits at the tippity-top of the food chain with the best of just about everything the MoCo has to offer as far as touring goodies go along with the largest production Big Twin to date. As always, the King Of Paint has some sizzlin’ hot combinations on the palette to set it even further apart from the pack.

When I first heard about the Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250, I was slightly scared of how an ADV bike, from a company that specializes in low-slung cruisers, would fare on tricky terrain and under low-grip conditions. And having never ridden a full-sized ADV, this sure was not my cup of tea.

However, I recently got a chance to swing a leg over the Pan Am 1250 and I’m happy to report that the bike felt like Bruce Banner rather than an angry Hulk waiting to Hulk-smash the life outta you.

Harley-Davidson’s design team pulled out all the stops for its “Special” version of the new Pan America 1250 platform, and it shows throughout the details. Electronic suspension controls join with a TPMS and high-output, adaptive headlight that responds to changes in lean angle as you stoop to a corner. The addition of heated hand grips and brush guards increase the Special’s cold-weather and off-road utility, plus it rolls with a center stand that helps ease the pain of trail-side stops. To enhance its adventure worthiness, the engine has a variable valve-timing feature that broadens the tractable power band, and the suspension sports an optional Adaptive Ride Height feature in an industry first. The Special is a more appropriate machine for riders who are more likely to head off-road than its more street-centric base model sibling, the Pan America 1250.

Harley-Davidson ditched the Milwaukee-Eight 107 and repowered its Street Bob platform ahead of MY2021 with the powerful Mil-8 114 to give it a performance boost over its predecessor. This made it the least expensive stoplight burner in the 2021 lineup, as well as the lightest Big-Twin to carry the up-sized Milwaukee engine. The homejob-custom look is a carryover from last year but the graphics package is unique to this year-model setting it apart from its peers.

Heavily bobbed and blacked-out, the Harley-Davidson Fat Bob came with a choice of engine — the 107-inch Milwaukee-Eight or the 114-inch version – up until 2020 when only the 114 was carried forward. These grunty powerplants, along with a (relatively) sporty new suspension system from the redesign in 2018 give the Fat Bob an aggressive bent meant to appeal to a younger generation of rider. The Fat Bob saw a complete do-over in 2018, so if you rode it before and weren’t impressed, know that you haven’t ridden this Fat Bob.

After a revamp for the 2018 model year, Softail underpinnings are all radically different than the originals, but the overall classic look of the Heritage Classic remains largely unchanged for the requisite historical tie-in. Harley-Davidson put a new emphasis on the Softail lineup with plenty of performance-driven custom designs for the fiery-eyed pegdraggers out there, but for someone looking for an old-school cruiser and tour bike, the Heritage Classic is your Huckleberry.

Harley-Davidson updated its sharknosed Road Glide in 2017 and replaced the little-loved Twin Cam engine with its new Milwaukee-Eight powerplant, a combination that persists into model-year 2022. There were a handful of aesthetic adjustments made over that span, but the model remains pretty much as it was when it hit the showroom floors in MY17. On the current-year model, top-shelf infotainment capabilities join with a plush suspension system and premium paint packages to deliver the comfort and style H-D riders expect, and the Mil-8 107 engine turns out the torque that we demand.

Harley-Davidson gives us a glimpse of the near future of the Sportster lineup with the release of its all-new Sportster S model. The MoCo breaks with 35 years of tradition by moving away from the powerplant and base design that first rolled back in ’86 in favor of a new, from-the-ground-up re-imagination that bears little resemblance to its predecessor. Modern chassis design and high-performance V-Twin power set the tone for the newest Sportster addition as the factory looks to become more competitive in its sub Big-Twin range.

Harley-Davidson repowered its Low Rider S model ahead of MY2022 with its biggest production Mil-8 engine to date. Overall looks remain the same with that West Coast/club vibe in full effect from the front end arrangement. Blackout paint completes the package to lend the “S” even more of a sinister undertone and homemade look.

Harley-Davidson continues to expand its Softail cruiser family with the MY2022 Low Rider ST sport-tourer. It borrows from an ’80s design for a classic look, but the underpinnings are all modern with the new Softail chassis, and 117 cubic-engine to push it all down the road for a nice balance of features.

Traffic-carving performance wasn’t the first thing I thought of when hearing the name Harley-Davidson, but the MoCo started changing that perception with the new-in-2017 Street Rod 750. While it is, in fact, based on the Street 750, multiple changes in the setup and equipment turn it into another animal entirely. Shorter steering geometry, a more aggressive rider triangle and a more powerful engine come together in H-D’s decisive push into the sport-standard market.

Harley-Davidson rebrands its tourbike line under the “Grand American Touring” banner in 2021, and the American marque marks the occasion with the all-new Electra Glide Revival. This bike is a bona fide rolling tribute that brings classic design elements together with top-shelf electronics and a large powerful engine, all of a more recent vintage to make this a thoroughly modern ride.

Often called the most famous motorcycle in the world, no-one really knows where the original Captain America, from the Easy Rider movie, is. But that doesn’t matter when you can have one built for yourself and re-create the American Dream.

Harley Davidson is busy reinventing itself, helped by the Revolution Max liquid-cooled engine. But where does the company go next? Could we see a sports bike some time in the future?