Harley-Davidson Motorcycle reviews

Harley-Davidson makes some progress on its “100 new bikes” promise with the mid-year release of the new Softail Standard. The Standard presents a combination of old-school and custom features over a rather minimalist design, and that has the effect of keeping the price down to make this the least expensive Big Twin the MoCo has to offer. It also makes for a great starting point for you would-be bike customizers out there who are looking for a suitable platform.

Harley-Davidson marks three decades of production for one of its most-iconic families with the release of the 2020 Fat Boy 114 30th Anniversary model. This machine proudly displays DNA from H-D’s immediate post-WWII era all the way down to the old-school frame geometry that mimics the rigid rear ends from way back in the day. Harley powers it with its largest production engine and wraps the whole project in a unique graphics package complete with a limited-edition serial number and 2,500-unit limited production run for an extra bit of exclusivity.

Sometimes a motorcycle tells a story, and the Rikuo RT2 spins a tale of cooperation and national interdependency that preceded a period of strife with connections that contemporary readers may find surprising. It takes us back to the Great Depression, when the Harley-Davidson Motor Company struck a deal with Japanese manufacturer, the Sankyo Seiyako Corporation, and sold them the plans and tooling to produce their VL model in-country. The rest, as they say, is history, and this machine was named by The Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan as one of the 240 landmark machines of the Japanese Automotive Technology. It also has the distinction of having served armies on both sides of the Pacific theater during World War II.

Harley-Davidson goes to the top shelf for the goodies on its 2020 Road Glide Special. The Milwaukee-Eight 114 powerplant carries over from the previous year, as does the well-rounded infotainment system and ABS protection. Harley’s Reflex™ Defensive Rider System (RDRS) is available as optional equipment, but if you like your paint to be a little on the wild side, the Special Edition model carries it as part of the standard equipment.

Becoming a part of the Softail range in 2018, the Fat Boy received a massive upgrade on the reinvented Softail chassis, powered by the Milwaukee-Eight engines. Celebrating 30 years of this monster, the 2020 model gets a blacked-out theme, converting the satin-chrome outlook to a sinful looking “Vivid-Black” theme. And running this evil hooligan is the thumping Milwaukee-Eight 114 V-twin engine.

The venerable Road Glide Special has been one of HD’s iconic tourers ever since it was launched back in 2017. The bike takes the touring must-haves and wraps them in a no-apologies style, making it the motorcycle of choice for the high-mileage road warrior. It is sophisticated and technologically packed while keeping the core values of its predecessors intact.

For 2020, the Bar & Shield Company continues rolling with the Road Glide Special, now with a new Eagle Eye Special Edition Paint Option giving the customers “an attainable custom paint option that eliminates the need to either re-paint the original components or install an accessory paint set that leaves take-off painted parts on the shop floor.”

Also running under the hood this time is the brilliant Milwaukee-Eight 114, an upgrade from the 107 that ran point all this while, delivering power and reliability unlike any time before. Harley will also let you enjoy the optional Reflex Defensive Rider Systems that help give you confidence and control in less-than-ideal situations.

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 2020. 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 a half-dozen 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 makes progress on its 100-new-bikes promise with the mid-year release of the updated CVO Road Glide. Built with a bagger-tastic bent, the revamped custom Road Glide carries the largest production Big Twin the MoCo has built to date. Under the hood you’ll find H-D’s new safety and ride-quality electronics along with the usual top-shelf infotainment goodies, and it all comes wrapped in bodywork that makes a solid connection to the current popular custom culture.

At the 2019 EICMA show in Milan, the Bar & Shield brand pulled the curtains off their brand-new, strategically developed machines that will bring them a new bunch of riders, ones who’ve never looked inside its shops before. Behold the “Bronx” and the “Pan-America.”

Paving the company into the Streetfighter and the ADV touring category, the Bronx and the Pan-America are the first babies of Harley’s “More Roads to Harley-Davidson” growth plan through 2022, though it all started with the launch of its first electric, no-clutch “twist and go” LiveWire.

These new motorcycles will be powered by the company’s new 60-degree V-twin Revolution Max engine that is supposed to be like nothing seen on a Harley before. The Milwaukee brand hasn’t divulged much information, but enough to just keep us excited through to their launch sometime towards the end of 2020. We’ve gathered them around here for a pre-production review of the Pan-America 1250 Adventure Tourer.

2020 is the year the Bar & Shield brand will be aggressively trying on new markets, and the first leg is already underway with the launch of its first electric, no-clutch “twist and go” LiveWire. As part of its “More Roads to Harley-Davidson” growth plan through 2022, this year’s EICMA witnessed Harley-Davidson unpacking their first-ever models, paving the company into the Streetfighter and the ADV category.

Rightly called the “Bronx” and the “Pan-America,” these new babies will be powered by the company’s new Revolution Max engine. Harley hasn’t divulged much information, but enough to just keep us excited through to their launch sometime towards the end of 2020. We’ve gathered them around here for a pre-production review of the Bronx. The Pan-America will follow suit.

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.

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’s Custom Vehicle Operations division was at it again with a revised CVO Street Glide model in 2019. The newest “SG” sports a new Boom! Box infotainment system with some serious speaker packages. Power comes from the Milwaukee-Eight 117 and brings its “guns” to the table with oodles of torque and a new color band as a model-year identifier.

Harley-Davidson revamped its Street Glide Special yet again for the 2019 model year in an effort to keep it “special.” First, the factory stuffed the largest non-CVO engine into the frame. Then it boosted the infotainment potential with the new Boom! Box GTS system. Color choices span the spectrum so there should be something for everyone on the palette.

Harley-Davidson kicked its 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’s Tri Glide has always been a top-shelf machine, but the MoCo takes it to the Nth degree with its CVO treatment. The Custom Vehicle Operations division is where bikes, and in this case trikes, go to be elevated to greatness, and the 2020 CVO Tri Glide is a better example than usual as Harley uses it as a platform for all its all new electronic goodies. H-D joins the 21st century with its Reflex Defensive Rider Systems that counters the inherent issues with the traditional two-in-back trike layout to make this a machine that can compete with the burgeoning Delta-trike sector. Best of all, H-D powers the CVO Tri Glide with its largest production engine to date, the Milwaukee-Eight 117 Twin-Cooled Engine that churns out well over 100 pound-feet of torque with not one but two generous contact patches to put the power to the pavement.

Harley-Davidson’s cruiser line isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind for a performance-oriented street machine, but that changes with its newly refurbished Softail Low Rider S model. The steering geometry is sharpened for the sake of agility, and as for power, the torque-rich, Milwaukee-Eight 114 engine delivers the goods with well over 100 pounds o’ grunt ready to be unleashed on the public roads. Harley gives the Low Rider S with coastal-style design touches that sets it apart from the pack and begs for customization.