2017 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special and CVO Street Glide review

Like just about every other media outlet, Bikesales came away from the international launch of Harley-Davidson's 2017 Touring range mightily impressed. However, the relatively smooth highways of the US are one thing, and the bumpy backroads of Oz are another – so we were looking forward to subjecting the steeds to a local test under local conditions.

To do so, Bikesales Editor Mark 'Mav' Fattore and I grabbed a new Street Glide Special and an up-spec CVO (Custom Vehicle Operations) Street Glide. After packing the panniers and with our spouses along for the ride, we headed from Melbourne to Victoria's High Country, running through Mansfield and Whitfield on the way to our night's stay in Bright. The next day we'd head up nearby Mount Buffalo, before returning home via the Hume Highway.

MIGHTY MILWAUKEE-EIGHT
So what's new for 2017? The introduction of the ninth generation of Harley's Big Twin engine, for one, plus new suspension, a new pannier mounting system, new paint and a host of other, smaller, changes across the Touring family. While there's no official word as yet, history shows it's inevitable the upgrades will filter through to other Harley platforms in due course, where applicable.

The 45-degree Milwaukee-Eight engine is, as its name suggests, an eight-valve engine and it's available in three different guises: a 107 with either air/oil-cooling or liquid-cooling, and a liquid-cooled 114. The number refers to each engine's capacity in cubic inches, which translates to 1745cc for the 107 and 1868cc for the 114. The 107 is available across the standard Touring models with air/oil-cooling (and liquid-cooling for the Ultra Limited), while the liquid-cooled 114 is available on the CVO models.

Harley-Davidson says it's invested significant effort to improve thermal efficiency, reduce mechanical noise and eliminate vibration in the new platform, while boosting torque (by around 10 per cent) and enhancing acceleration.

THE DIFFERENCES
While these two machines may look similar from distance, there are plenty of differences to justify the $12,245 price gap ($36,750 ride away for the Street Glide Special versus $48,995 ride away for the CVO Street Glide).

For starters, the CVO Street Glide gets the Milwaukee-Eight 114 engine, with its extra 15Nm, plus an upgraded Boom! audio system with four high-output speakers. It also scores a hot two-tone paint scheme, LED lighting front and rear, tyre pressure monitoring system and a heap of blacked-out components – the forks, the engine cases, barrels and heads, the dash and more.

The CVO also scores central locking for the panniers, plus instruments with black faces and chrome bezels and a different seat – the latter with a markedly different pillion seat (more on that later).

While the basic dimensions of the two bikes remain relatively unchanged, the CVO version is 22kg heavier.

PACKING
Each of these bikes has two hard panniers and for 2017 the pannier mounting system has been updated – each case is mounted via two screws with easy-to-turn handles, instead of the more fiddly Dzus fasteners of old. A channel through the bottom of each case makes it easy to locate the pannier on each pannier frame rail.

Why would you take the panniers off? Ordinarily you wouldn't. As 'baggers' these bikes need the panniers to look their best, and there are no carry handles to turn them into portable suitcases, but you do need to remove them to access the rear shocks and the rear wheel.

While slim, each pannier is reasonably deep and can take a decent amount of gear, although the speakers built into the CVO pannier lids do cut into their capacity a bit and the associated wiring can get in the way.

Panniers aside, the only other storage is limited to a small glove box on the dash for the rider's phone – it's not a lockable compartment but it has a USB outlet for charging and hooking the phone up to the multimedia unit (although Bluetooth streaming is also available).

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
As we headed into the countryside, it didn't take long to gain an impression of the bikes' overall comfort. And here there were two distinct camps: riders and pillions.

For riders, the Street Glides are superb all-day tourers. The seats are nicely sculpted and the bullhorn-style bars are an easy stretch away, while the footboards and expansive 'batwing' front fairing and screen add to the comfort.

With a height of 172cm, Mav said the seating position was close enough to perfect for him, while at 188cm I found the amount of legroom adequate, if not exactly plentiful.

Those small screens are a help, but we still had to duck our heads a little to find that quiet spot where the wind is flipped cleanly over your head. We both experienced minimal buffeting – certainly nothing to worry about – which didn't seem to change much with the screen's venting open or shut.

Venting is also provided for the rider's legs; it's a welcome feature on hot days, as is the improved thermal efficiency. Even on a 38-degree and while wearing jeans the heat from the engine was entirely manageable, both on the liquid-cooled 114 and the air/oil-cooled 107.

Generally speaking, both Mav and I found both bikes to be exceptionally comfy, although sadly that sentiment wasn't shared by our pillions.

To be fair, you only need to take one look at the pillion appointments to see that back seaters get a pretty rough deal, especially on the Street Glide Special. While the seating is low, pillions still need to take care while negotiating the panniers when hopping on or off, and there's no grab rail or sissy bar to hang onto.

The CVO Street Glide fares better with its broader and flatter pillion perch, while the Street Glide Special has a smaller pad that actually slopes to the rear of the bike – not really helpful for anyone trying to hang on.

The run from Eildon to Jamieson is 60km of serpentine bliss but my wife, Megs, was really suffering every time the CVO hit a decent bump. While I was largely cosseted from the impacts in the middle of the bike, she was copping them right on the base of her spine, so when we stopped in Mansfield it was time to investigate.

The culprit? The rear preload was backed off to zero – now didn't that discovery put some strain on marital relations! With the preload duly wound up to 15 (on a scale that goes to 20), the bike was immediately behaving as it should – and my wife wasn't threatening divorce…

So, the lowdown here is simple: if two-up tours are on the agenda, buy a pillion backrest and a more comfortable, long-distance seat – there are several options to choose from in the Harley-Davidson catalogue.

SMOOTH OPERATOR
Easily the most impressive aspect of these two bikes is the mechanical marvel beating at their heart: the new Milwaukee-Eight. Stabbing the starter sees the bikes fire up without hesitation before quickly settling down to that characteristic, lumpy Big Twin idle.

Pull in the heavy-ish hydraulic clutch, engage first gear, feed in some revs and the CVO Street Glide surges away – and the distinction between this engine and the older Twin Cam 103 is immediately obvious.

The Milwaukee-Eight 114 is far smoother than the old Twin Cam. There's still that Big Twin pulse, but Harley-Davidson has ironed out the annoying vibrations. Want proof? The bike's mirrors no longer blur – they remain distortion free throughout the rev range.

That goes for the Milwaukee-Eight 107 too, which might be 15Nm down on the 114 but still packs gobs of torque right where you need them. Both bikes have six-speed gearboxes and they shift cleanly and positively. Neither of us can report any missed gears but finding neutral at rest can be tricky – it's too easy to nudge past it to second.

Rolling down the open road is what these big behemoths do best, and to that end the CVO Street Glide is barely ticking over at 2250rpm, the Street Glide Special only a fraction more at 2300rpm. Opening the taps from this point produces plenty of urge and strong acceleration; there's good response throughout the rev range up until the 5500rpm revlimiter, not that there's any reason to push this big, relaxed donk past, say, 4000rpm.

It's so relaxed that pushing up the winding road to the summit of Mount Buffalo, both bikes were entirely happy to lug their way out of hairpin corners from 1500rpm or lower – there was no bogging down or complaint from the V-twin engines; they simply pulled away cleanly and smoothly.

As for a performance comparison between the pair, some roll-on acceleration runs (conducted at a nearby race track under closed conditions, of course) revealed there's actually not too much between them. The CVO Street Glide did pull away evenly if not dramatically from the Street Glide Special, which was making the most of its lighter weight.

SUSPENSION AND HANDLING
We really gave these bikes a workout with the route we'd chosen for our weekend gallop. The run from Eildon to Jamieson is 60 clicks of bends and bugger-all traffic. We backed this up with the road from Mansfield to Whitfield – another great run – and then, the following day, with our assault on Mount Buffalo.

In short, these are roads perhaps better suited to sportsbikes but the big Harleys acquitted themselves remarkably well.

A lot of that is down to the new suspension which, though relatively basic, does a thoroughly proficient job of taming both road imperfections and these steeds' not insignificant weight – 376kg wet for the Street Glide Special and 398kg for the CVO Street Glide.

That sort of bulk demands respect – go too hot into a corner and when the clearance runs out, that's it – it won't turn any harder. Fortunately both of these Touring models have impressive levels of ground clearance; we barely scraped a footboard all weekend, and I'd suggest that any owner who does so regularly is probably on the wrong style of bike.

Adjusting the suspension is simply a matter of turning the preload wheel at the top of the nearside rear shock. Anyone with large hands will find this tricky as it's quite recessed, but – as mentioned – it's worth getting right, especially for the sake of your pillion. The beefy 49mm fork on each bike is non-adjustable.

The CVO's extra weight requires a touch more muscle through the bends compared to the Street Glide Special, but really both these bikes were never meant to flick through chicanes like a MotoGP bike. They will, however, hold a rock-solid line through a corner, where they seem immune to the effects of bumps and potholes.

The brake setup comprises 320mm discs and four-piston calipers all round, with a twin-disc arrangement up front. As you'd expect in a bike of this geometry, the bulk of the braking power comes from the rear disc, but applying all stoppers simultaneously brings things to a halt surprisingly quickly. It's all backed up by ABS, and is thoroughly up to arresting the weight of these metal mountains.

FUEL ECONOMY
Given their weight, large batwing fairings and our often 'spirited' progress, our Touring Harleys returned some very healthy fuel figures. The entire trip saw the Street Gide Special achieve an average of 6.0L/100km, while the CVO Street Glide recorded 6.4L/100km.

Later highway runs saw these bikes drop down into the fives. In any case, count on a safe 330km per tank – and a fair bit more with restrained riding and no pillion.

ODDS 'N' ENDS
The Boom! audio systems were appreciated, especially the four-speaker setup (and extra power) of the CVO's system. It's hooked up to the multimedia unit, which has an AM/FM radio, sat-nav, and a screen that shows additional info like ambient temperature and (on the CVO) tyre pressures. A mobile phone can be hooked up via Bluetooth or the USB port in the small compartment on the dash.

While this Harley setup works well, its operation via the handlebar-mounted controls is not exactly intuitive, and we found the sat-nav to be a little off in some of its route selections. I suspect it just takes more time to familiarise yourself with the whole system's ins and outs.

Other gripes? Only that the small LCD display below the tacho – which shows gear selection, tyre pressures (on the CVO), range to empty and the trip meter/odometer – was difficult to read in some light, especially when wearing polarising sunglasses. It seemed odd that the trip computer doesn't provide fuel economy figures.

CONCLUSION
At the international launch last year, Harley-Davidson Chief Engineer, Alex 'Boz' Bozmoski, said work had commenced on the Milwaukee-Eight when the Twin Cam 103 was released, back in 2010. The extensive work that's gone into it in the years since has sure been worth it – the Milwaukee-Eight, in either 107 or 114-cube guise, is a big leap forward for the Motor Co, and an eminently worthy successor to the Twin Cam 103.

Add to that the suspension improvements while retaining all the street cred and mile-munching prowess for which the Touring family is renowned, and you've got a recipe for success as Harley-Davidson rolls into the future. And with bikes like these Street Glides, what a promising future that is…

SPECS: 2017 HARLEY-DAVIDSON STREET GLIDE SPECIAL
ENGINE
Type: Air/oil-cooled, four-stroke, SOHC, eight-valve, 45-degree V-twin
Capacity: 1745cc
Bore x stroke: 100mm x 111.1mm
Compression ratio: 10.0:1
Engine management: Electronic fuel injection

PERFORMANCE
Claimed maximum power: N/A
Claimed maximum torque: 150Nm at 3250rpm

TRANSMISSION
Type: Six-speed
Final drive: Belt
Clutch: Hydraulic

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Frame: Tubular steel twin cradle
Front suspension: 49mm fork, non-adjustable
Rear suspension: Twin emulsion-style shocks, adjustable for preload
Front brakes: Dual 320mm discs with four-piston calipers, ABS equipped
Rear brake: Single 320mm disc with four-piston caliper, ABS equipped
Wheels: 'Enforcer' cast aluminium
Tyres: Dunlop D407, front 130/60-19, rear 180/65-16

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Rake: 26 degrees
Trail: 173mm
Claimed wet weight: 376kg
Seat height: 685mm
Wheelbase: 1625mm
Fuel capacity: 22.7 litres

OTHER STUFF
Price: $36,750 ride away
Colour: Laguna Orange, Crushed Ice Pearl, Hard Candy Black Gold Flake, Hard Candy Hot Rod Red Flake, Hard Candy Mystic Purple Flake, Velocity Red Sunglo, Charcoal Denim, Black Denim, Superior Blue, or Vivid Black.
Test bike supplied by: Harley-Davidson Australia, www.harley-davidson.com.au
Warranty: 24 months, unlimited kilometres

SPECS: 2017 HARLEY-DAVIDSON CVO STREET GLIDE
ENGINE
Type: Liquid-cooled, four-stroke, SOHC, eight-valve, 45-degree V-twin
Capacity: 1868cc
Bore x stroke: 102mm x 114.3mm
Compression ratio: 10.5:1
Engine management: Electronic fuel injection

PERFORMANCE
Claimed maximum power: N/A
Claimed maximum torque: 165Nm at 3250rpm

TRANSMISSION
Type: Six-speed
Final drive: Belt
Clutch: Hydraulic

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Frame: Tubular steel twin cradle
Front suspension: 49mm fork, non-adjustable
Rear suspension: Twin emulsion-style shocks, adjustable for preload
Front brakes: Dual 320mm discs with four-piston calipers, ABS equipped
Rear brake: Single 320mm disc with four-piston caliper, ABS equipped
Wheels: Mirror Chrome 'Aggressor' cast aluminium
Tyres: Dunlop D407, front 130/60-19, rear 180/55-18

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Rake: 26 degrees
Trail: 170mm
Claimed wet weight: 398kg
Seat height: 690mm
Wheelbase: 1625mm
Fuel capacity: 22.7 litres

OTHER STUFF
Price: $48,995 ride away
Colour: Starfire Black/Atomic Red, Dark Slate Candy/Arctic Black, Sunburst Orange/Starfire Black, or Candy Cobalt/Indigo Black
Test bike supplied by: Harley-Davidson Australia, www.harley-davidson.com.au
Warranty: 24 months, unlimited kilometres