2019 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special review

When the great Willie G Davidson designs a bike himself, there’s a fair chance the brand is aiming for it to represent a big winner at the showroom.

Enter the Street Glide Special. Making its world debut in 2006, the bike has become the brand’s main showroom player for those looking for a tourer in the Land of the Free. Indeed, no-one goes broke delivering bold and brassy gear to a hungry American.

Since then the bike has pretty much maintained its look. But, there’s now more. Tough, low, with a stealthy fork-mounted fairing, micro-screen and big fat tank, the 2019 version has added a suite of good gear to that tried-and-true visage, along with the new 114 Milwaukee-Eight powerplant.

The engine represents the largest non-CVO offering from the good folk at Milwaukee, helping the bike maintain that ‘Special’ moniker.

The bike can lay claim to hitting the ‘bagger’ brief pretty squarely twixt the eyes. There’s a 19-inch front wheel, that cool little windshield and everything is blacked out like the inside of a dark cow. It all works in regard to defeating the elements. The styled fairing offers great protection.

In fact, you don’t get wet on the move when dark clouds gather, and the manner in which the mirrors hide neatly behind the outer wings continues the sinister and clean theme. Design. Willie G gets this stuff right.

To that end, the retro nature of the instruments exude an understated sophistication, again adding to the upmarket appeal and hitting the ‘Special’ mark. Four analogue clocks keep the rider in the know, along with a group of indicator lights and LEDs.

Now to the big deal on offer in regard to rider treats here. The new infotainment system.
Again, you’ll have to get used to the mouthful that is the Boom! Box GTS when you are showing off at the local malt shop.

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It unashamedly dominates the cockpit view with its 6.5-inch “Gorilla Glass” screen. Pinch, drag and swipe functions ease you through the music, weather, navigation, communications, and music possibilities, and it all operates with gloves on.

The suite of functions is extensive indeed. Harley reckons the resolution is 100 per cent better with four times the contrast of previous offerings. You can personalise the thing endlessly, it’s Apple Play compatible, there’s a very advanced navigation system loaded, and the whole deal can be operated by voice or indeed hand controls from the bars. Oh, and the downloadable app talks to the unit in numerous helpful ways. It’s a pretty damned good and a bunch of fun to muck about with.

Comfort is surprisingly good. The seat is a scooped out affair offering a nicely cupped arrangement for your backside (settle), and your butt will be a user friendly 690mm from terra firma. I liked that.

At 178cm, well, I’m no monster, but not a jockey either. The fact I could get both feet flatly placed on the deck was a big bonus and there is enough room on the footboards to allow for a bit of a stretch. I reckon big people might find it all a little bit tight and cloistered, but you’ll need to be big, and that ain’t The Motor Company’s fault.

It’s up to you to drop the Krispy Kremes. Seriously, that snug feel is the compromise for that low seat height, but the Glide navigates the give-and-take there as well as any, and sportsbike riders make far greater sacrifices in the name of function. And street cred.

Related: 2017 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special/CVO Street Glide: video review

Pillions will not find you an appealing transport option for long, so get your lovemaking done early in the ride. You see, the taper in the passenger seat is such that I reckon shorter stints will be the order of the day. You’ll be looking hard into the Harley-Davidson catalogue of goodies on that front I reckon, so pencil that into the equation if two-up running or betrothal is high on your agenda.

The touring brief sees a pair of hard bags provide a total of 71 litres of useable space. They are more than just a place to keep your jocks, delivering the nuance to warrant the ‘bagger’ tag as well. Of course, they are heavily styled and the stretched-and-dropped trailing corners add a classy look. It’s all subjective, but I love the general stance of the bike.

She’s a big long sled at 2425mm and cornering clearance is nothing to write home about, so the stability offered by all that length is probably a good thing. The double-cradle frame supports the engine while the upfront numbers of 26 degrees of rake and 173mm of trail confirm the lazy steering characteristics.

You’ll be chamfering metal like a boilermaker on amphetamines if you get too willing, with just 32 degrees of lean available on the right-hand side and a lesser 31 on the left. Fact is, if you are looking to give your mate on his CBR1000 what for, well, turn the page. You won’t have your knee down on this thing, after all, there’s 362kg of it, and new footboards won’t be cheap.

Non-adjustable front suspension is on the softer side of plush, but is well suited to loping operation. Weight transfer is dealt with at a leisurely pace with minimal front-end dive and, that makes sense – the hardware is made by Showa and it certainly knows its stuff.

At the rear an emulsion shock comes with a knob that allows for easy preload adjustments to set the thing up for different weights and loads. Nicely user-friendly there. Of course, all that low comes at the cost of suspension travel and there is only 54.6mm available at the stern of the S. Methinks there will be some bottoming in nasty going, but I didn’t experience it in normal day-to-day operations.

Cast-aluminium Talon wheels hold the 19-inch front and 18-inch rear tyres and twin front calipers pull things up nicely with ABS standard fitment.

Rubber is reasonably substantial at 130/60 up front and 180/55 to the south, and it all looks in keeping with the bike’s classy, masculine stance. In regard to grip, I gave the thing the berries on a few occasions, dumping it deep into corners at a slick clip. No drama, slides or white knuckles.

It all works pretty well, and you can have a decent dip as long as you remember the lack of clearance and its inarguable influence.

Now to that donk. This is, in my opinion, the brand’s finest engine. It’s smooth, looks brilliant, pulls from the very bottom and thrums with the sort of competent power delivery that a bike with this pricetag and reputation deserves. It’s a lovely powerplant. Simple as that.

A pair of four-valve heads sit happily atop the 102mm bores with a 114mm stroke to give the engine a total displacement of a substantial 1868cc with a compression ratio of 10.5:1. It has a presence and the neddies to cash the cheques it writes. And then some.

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There’s plenty of nice torque to be explored, at 163Nm and it all chimes in at a neatly low 3000rpm. Nail the thing from lights and watch the Camrys become tiny in those clever mirrors. You’ll be doing it all the time, if you are anything like me. Is this bike quick? On paper? No. In the real world, the answer to that is a resounding ‘yes’. Where do you live?

All this mathematical blurb hits the tarmac via a chain-drive primary, a standard clutch and a six-speed transmission, arriving at the rear wheel by way of belt drive.

The 2019 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special makes a solid statement. It ain’t cheap, there’s no getting around that and there are more technologically advanced things out there for that quid.

But…The Street Glide Special is a ‘pure’ bagger. The 2019 incarnation is the real deal with just about the finest highway munching engine in the business. The 114 Milwaukee-Eight is a blinder. Try not to smile when you ride a bike equipped with the new engine. The thing looks the duck’s guts, is made beautifully and has street cred dripping from every shiny component.

It could do with some rider aids like traction control, heated grips and the like for that price point for mine. A few niceties and it’s the whole package. Easy.

It handles, goes like stink in point-to-point going and has that nice TFT infotainment setup. And, I reckon it is very pretty indeed. And, who doesn’t like a life partner to be attractive and sharp? Hmmm?

ENGINE
Type: Milwaukee-Eight® 114 four valves per cylinder V-Twin
Capacity: 1868cc
Bore x stroke: 102mm x 114mm
Compression ratio: 10.5:1
Engine management: Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI)

PERFORMANCE
Claimed maximum torque: 163Nm at 3000rpm

TRANSMISSION
Type: Six speed
Final drive: Belt
Clutch: Wet, multiplate, slipper assist

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Frame: Double steel cradle
Front suspension: 49 mm Dual Bending Valve non-adjustable fork, 117mm travel
Rear suspension: Emulsion shock with adjustable preload, 54.6mm travel
Front brake: Dual 300mm floating rotors, 32 mm, four-piston fixed calipers
Rear brake: Single 300mm fixed rotor, four-piston fixed caliper
Wheels: Black, Talon Cast Aluminium, 3.5 x19 front, 5 x 18 rear
Tyres: 130/60-19 front, 180/55-18 rear

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Trail: 173mm
Rake: 26 degrees
Claimed dry weight: 362kg
Seat height: 690mm
Wheelbase: 1625mm
Fuel capacity: 22.7 litres

OTHER STUFF
Price: $38,750 plus on-road costs
Test bike supplied by: Harley-Davidson Australia
Warranty: 24 months, unlimited kilometres