American bigwig and popular motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson has gone ahead and introduced two touring bikes in USA, namely Road Glide and Road Glide Special. This launch has marked the return of this moniker after it had been excluded from the 2014 line-up by the firm. The Harley-Davidson Road Glide and Road Glide Special are priced at $20899 (INR 12.75 lakh) and $23199 (INR 14.15 lakh), respectively. Launch of these models took place at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which is currently going on in South Dakota, USA.
Talking about the design of this bike first, both the models, Harley-Davidson Road Glide and Road Glide Special feature a front dominated by Daymaker LED headlights with dual reflectors. As has been seen in a number of Harley-Davidson bikes, Road Glide Special and Road Glide models have a lot of chrome on several parts, such as engine, cast aluminium wheels and exhaust. The fairing of the Road Glide Special boasts of a triple splitstream, which helps in decreasing the drag coefficient.
Along with this, the fairing features an infotainment system with touch screen and assistance in the form of GPS navigation. What is interesting is that the system can be controlled by the rider using joysticks, which are placed on the handlebars. Other highlights of this model include ergonomic handlebars, silver-faced gauges, two-up sport seat, streamliner rider footboards, and low profile front fender.
Some of the modern-day and technologically features present in the Harley-Davidson Road Glide include saddlebags, Anti –lock Braking System and air-ride rear suspension. It is being said that these models will arrive at dealerships across United States of America around 25th August and the colour schemes available are going to be vivid black, mysterious red sunglow (Road Glide only), superior blue (Road Glide Special) and amber whiskey.
The main features that set apart Harley-Davidson Road Glide Special from the base model are Boom! Box 6.5GT audio system with 25-watt per channel amplifier featuring two speakers, Hand-Adjustable Low Profile Air Ride rear suspension, factory pin striping and painted inner fairing.
The mechanical configuration of these models is superb and helps them to render excellent power and torque figures. Powered by an air-cooled high output twin cam 103 engine with oil cooler that has a capacity of 1690 cc, Harley-Davidson Road Glide features a 6-speed cruise drive gearbox. This engine develops a maximum torque level of 142 Nm.
Matt Levatich, President and Chief Operating Officer at, Harley-Davidson spoke about the new launch and the popularity of the model. “Road Glide has always had an incredibly passionate following, which is why its return to the model line-up is exciting for our customers and our company. We’re delivering an improved ride for the Road Glide faithful,” he said.
“With Project Rushmore technology, intuitive features and great new styling, we’re delivering an improved ride for the Road Glide faithful and the many others looking for more cool Project Rushmore motorcycle options,” he added.
