2014 Harley-Davidson Touring range

I get it now, I really do. Blasting down the winding interstate out of Denver en route to the boutique ski resort town of Beaver Creek, I was aboard Harley-Davidson’s 2014 model Electra Glide Ultra Classic, with the Boom! Box 4.3 infotainment system plying its trade and the cruise control set at 75mph. It was an incredibly satisfying experience, and the bike was just so natural and easy to ride, not to mention stable and comfortable. I was hooked.

That’s a routine journey for the thousands of H-D devotees who ride through the Colorado Rockies every year, but for me it was a breakthrough – a full appreciation of the irrepressibleness that makes Harley-Davidson such a revered marque, especially in its home country. And that appreciation for the brand multiplied when we moved onto Milwaukee a few days later for the company’s 110-year anniversary celebrations – where we were also privy to a scoop that the company will be releasing a learner’s bike
in the not-too-distant future. And as far as hosting a party, Harley-Davidson makes other manufacturers’ equivalents look like family picnics!

We were in Colorado to ride the 2014 Harley-Davison Touring range, which has been totally revamped under the ‘Project Rushmore’ moniker – all the changes of which will be impossible to cover fully in this forum. Not that I don’t want to, but with over 100 renovations to the range --- some requested by Harley owners, others just thrust upon them -- we’ll just be concentrating on the critical elements of the Rushmore equation such as the updated front suspension, the new fairing with slipstream venting, the high-tech linked brakes, remodelled panniers, the twin-cooled (ie water and air) High Output Twin Cam 103 engine, and the modern infotainment system. The H-D designers wanted more “continuity from front to the rear”, and they didn’t deviate from that master plan.

What’s with the name though? Well, there’s Mt Rushmore in South Dakota, which is iconic in America and synonymous with touring customers, and simply the concept of Rush – a “more for the customer” type mentality.

Four years in the making, Project Rushmore is all about design and functionality -- making the rider and passenger feel more comfortable, gaining more control over what they want to do, packing the bike with technology (infotainment, mainly) -- but at the same time still holding onto the signature visuals of the touring range.

The Batwing fairing is a major case-in-point. Harley-Davidson knew it was dealing with a powerful icon – it first appeared way back in 1969 -- so changing its DNA was always going to pose an interesting design challenge. The aim was to reduce buffeting while not completely isolating the rider in a pocket of dead air, and also while maintaining the airflow necessary to cool powertrain components.

After many prototypes were tested, those that showed the most promise made it to the wind tunnel at Wichita State University, where the Rushmore team logged more than 3000 test sessions, gathering both objective data and subjective input in the wind tunnel before real world testing began.

With the need to avoid a rebellion, the design team eventually decided to pull the fairing’s nose forward a little, tuck in the headlight, add a ‘bone’ line on the sides to emphasis the horizontal and “make it look a little more slammed” (as well as redirecting air flow beneath the fairing), and introduce the slipstream vent. There’s no doubt from a distance that we’re looking at a new bike, and the slipstream vent is a brilliant addition as it balances the air pressure and reduces turbulence and buffeting. Even with the slipstream vent closed (which you’d probably only do when it’s raining to keep water off the dash), the Batwing is an improvement over the old. The vent is basically designed to be left open all the time, but can be closed easily with a one-touch push button.

With less turbulence and associated noise, the 6.5 inch speakers on the infotainment systems – which are all handlebar controlled except for the power and mute buttons on the dash – provide a crisper and less distorted experience. The Boom! Box 4.3 infotainment system is standard on the 2014 Street Glide and Electra Glide Ultra Classic, while the Ultra-Limited and Tri-Glide Classic (only available in New Zealand) have the up-spec Boom! Box 6.5GT (G for GPS navigation and T for touchscreen).

The Batwing faring on the Ultra Classic and Ultra Limited has the new ‘Daymaker’ LED lighting and fog lamps, while dual halogen lighting is standard fare on the Road King Classic and Street Glide. There’s also a new, lower profile LED taillight, which “emphasises the horizontal lines and gives it some speed”.

An overhaul of the hand controls on the touring bikes has also been introduced, including five-way thumb-operated toggles on both handlebar clusters. It’s a system which doesn’t take long to learn, and soon became second nature on the way to Beaver Creek, where we had plenty of time to ‘play’ on the i70 interstate. And we were climbing the whole way – up to about 12,200 feet, where both the bikes and personnel were losing breath. I was knackered just hauling my luggage to my room...

Harley-Davidson has also moved the cruise control button for the right handlebar cluster to the left, which means less fumbling around with the throttle hand to activate the system. And while we’re at the dash, Harley-Davidson has reduced the number of gauges from six to four, which makes for a more uncluttered look and allows for the fitment of bigger speakers. The gauges are for fuel, rpm, speed and voltage, while another switch allows the rider to check oil pressure and ambient temperature.

The new Jukebox compartment on the fairing dash features a USB port for charging and connecting to mobile phones and other electronic devices. The Jukebox compartment features a cushioned bottom and water-resistant foam seal around the one-touch door.

Five open panel switches are prewired on the dash for installation of accessories such as heated seats, etc.

Still up front, all the Rushmore models except the Road King Classic have a new hydraulic clutch, which has stronger clutch springs fitted – but the same amount of effort required at the lever. The clutch isn’t supple by any means, but at least there’s consistent engagement.

The Ultra Classic, like the Ultra Limited, has the new Twin-Cooled High Output Twin Cam 103ci (1687cc) engine, which is a combination of air-cooled and “precision” liquid-cooling. It’s a neat system, in both form and function. The ‘plumbing’ is near invisible, and the radiators are housed in reshaped lower fairings – taking away storage space, which is made up elsewhere. Harley-Davidson claims 10.7 per cent more torque and 10.6 per cent more power than the standard Twin Cam 103 engine. It also has a higher compression ratio of 10.1:1. Meanwhile, all the 103 engines also have a new camshaft and high-flow airbox.

Harley engineers wanted more oomph when it came to passing prowess, and on that score they have achieved a good result with the Twin-Cooled design. But, in all honesty, to me there’s not a huge difference between the old and new, but the critical ingredient with the Twin-Cooled power pack is that it will be able to maintain consistent performance under the most demanding conditions, including the dreaded stop-and-go traffic in searing heat.

Understandably, the 103 engine – still the air-cooled version -- feels most willing in the lighter Road King Classic and Street Glide models, but there’s still plenty of grunt in the Ultra Classic and Ultra Limited when it’s simply a matter of getting up to speed on a highway then settling in for the ride. Of course, under hard hit-the-stops acceleration there’s no discernible top end to speak of – and the soft rev limiter is never far away – but that sort of balls-out intensity is not what the Touring range is all about. The 103 engine sits on 2400rpm at 110km/h, and redline is 5500rpm.

We were let ‘loose’ for about 20 miles on day two to set out own pace, and I was on the Street Glide at the time – perfect rotation! It was a sublime piece of bitumen – you should put a ride through the Rockies on your bucket list, and there’s a Harley dealership in Denver where you can hire bikes – with punchy straights and sweeping corners, and the Street Glide came to the party. Other than the Road King Classic, it feels more tactile and planted than the other Rushmore models, partly because it has lower and stiffer suspension (straight out of the CVO bike) which gives it more cornering flair.

Other than the suspension, the Street Glide differs from the Ultra Classic and Ultra Limited in that it has passenger footpegs rather than footboards, a smaller screen, the mirrors are integrated into the Batwing fairing, it doesn’t have spotlights, and there’s keyless entry into the fuel cap. For all-round useability – the ability to be ‘thrashed’ and pussy foot, with everything in between -- the Street Glide is the pick of the bunch for me.

More on the windshield: it’s been shortened by nearly 51mm on the Rushmore models, and there’s no adjustment – but there’s always an accessory screen for taller riders.

The front suspension is a major improvement on the Rushmore models, with Harley-Davidson increasing the fork diameter from 43.1 to 49mm, as well as changing other components such as the triple clamps. The spring rate has now been reduced, and the damping has made a quantum leap – it’s still a plush ride but it’s now much more responsive and reacts quicker. That in turn makes the bikes feel less ‘lardy’ and more agile.

The Batwing models also feature new 10-spoke Impeller cast aluminium wheels, which are designed to be lighter and stiffer than previous wheel styles. Meanwhile, the Road King Classic is fitted with laced aluminium wheels.

The impeller wheel is driven by handling considerations – balancing mass, inertia and stiffness. Harley-Davidson says it’s “an example of styling and function working together”. To show off the wheel, 19mm has been trimmed off the fender along the bottom edge, which has already been done before on a few CVO models.

There are also – and this is no surprise with such a wide-ranging renovation of the touring models – new brakes for 2014. They are still Brembo, but are now ABS linked in a system that Harley-Davidson calls Reflex. Linked braking is activated when the bikes reach above 25mph (40km/h), and if braking is initiated under that speed the front and rear brakes work independently – which is how it should be to make u-turns, slow cornering, etc as easy as possible.

Harley-Davidson knows its customers well – or to be more precise it knows that some of its customers lack braking finesse. Some only apply the rear brake all the time, which isn’t ideal for precision braking. It’s those riders who will benefit most from the intuitive linked system, while those who already have a sound grasp of retardation can still continue to ply their trade without any undue interference.

The Reflex linked brakes with ABS are original equipment on the Ultra Classic, Ultra Limited, Road King Classic and Street Glide.

Riders with a touring background will appreciate that passengers – especially in America, where two-up riding is such an active pursuit – hold a huge amount of currency, so that’s why Harley-Davidson has made the passenger seats 25mm deeper and wider, and the rear speaker pods are shifted outboard by 22mm on each side. The back and arm rests have been altered as well: the former for more comfort and lumbar support, and the latter to stop the passenger’s arms moving forward. And on it goes: the saddlebag guards are moved down and back to create more legroom (all touring models have the new saddlebag guards). Passenger audio controls are to the right, while the passenger headset connection is now located on the left speaker pod.

The only passenger among the Australian media posse reported back good things about the changes, while I simply enjoyed the superb lumbar support on the Batwing models.

Harley-Davidson has worked hard on producing “slammed” Tour-Pak (top case) look on the Ultra Classic and Ultra Limited, but it’s actually 10 per cent bigger than the old one – and more than compensates for the storage lost in the Twin-Cooled bikes with the addition of the radiators. The Tour-Pak also has a retractable tether to make sure the cable is out of the way, and also allows opening and closing with one hand. The Tour-Pak can also be moved back and forth an inch to reposition the passenger backrest, and there’s also a new liner material.

The Tour-Pak, hard saddlebags, Jukebox compartment in fairing, lower storage compartments, and fuel tank door permits are all activated by a schmick one-touch design, which is especially a boon on the saddlebags. At the lights and need to get something? Just turn around and hit the hinge, which can be opened with one hand. The new saddlebag supports are made of cast aluminium and are lighter, comprise fewer parts, and also accommodate easier installation of accessory docking kits for backrests and racks.

I told you so! Project Rushmore is a feast, and if the goal is to bring functionality and usability to a new level, then Harley-Davidson has succeeded. The combination of improvements is vast – some obvious and some concealed – which not only enhance all the Rushmore models, but adds a contemporary edge to the Milwaukee iron, while also respecting the brand and its heritage. Harley-Davidson CEO Keith Wandell said at the recent 110-year celebrations that the company’s mission was always to “develop great products and win”. On that score, Rushmore could just be the golden ticket to ride.