Test By: Nigel Paterson | Photos: Nigel Paterson & Phil James

The open road beckoned. With a Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special in the garage, the idea to fill the panniers and Head Out on the Highway Looking for Adventure was filling my head. Not that I have any guns to fire or felt like exploding into space, but at least the stereo on the Street Glide could play “Born to be Wild” pretty loud.

The Street Glide’s infotainment system can do more than just play the radio or connect to my phone, though; there’s built-in navigation and communications, too.

The Street Glide S is Harley’s bagger with style with its “slammed” rear end, 19-inch front wheel, batwing fairing and shorty screen. If you want more retro, Harley has the Road King and Heritage Classic. If you want a more comfortable and practical touring bike, the Electra Glide Classic or Ultra are for you.

If you want the combination of cruiser style with touring convenience, the Street Glide might be for you.

WHAT’S SPECIAL?

If you look at the front of a Street Glide, the fairing has a similar shape to a bat with its wings spread — hence the term batwing. Also used on the Ultra Classic and Electra Glide Standard, the batwing fairing is a Harley icon and is pretty effective at keeping the breeze and bugs at bay.

In keeping with the cruiser style of the bike, the Street Glide only features a short, blacked-out screen above the fairing itself, while the other two bikes feature taller, clear screens.

The Street Glide also features shorter-travel rear suspension and a thinner seat… if you’re looking at riding big distances, the Electra Glide (from $34,495) or Ultra (from $41,395) may offer a better ride. The Special, however, offers style that can’t be matched by the other two.

There’s definitely something cool about the tall front wheel, the way the panniers and pipes ride low at the back, the blacked-out motor and beautiful finish, which make the Street Glide a perennial favourite among Harley owners.

With Harley delaying its 2021 model announcements in the wake of COVID-19 and a new CEO, this bike is a 2020 model; I’d expect some updates for 2021, but it remains to be seen if there will be anything significant coming along for the Street Glide, and it’s pretty likely you’ll be able to still get this model when Australian Road Rider hits the newsstands, too.

POWER AND TECH

The Street Glide S gets the 114-cubic-inch Milwaukee Eight engine, the biggest standard powerplant from the Motor Company. Powerful, torquey and fun to rev, there’s plenty there to get the machine moving off the line faster than non-Harley riders think. Once you’re up to speed, it provides a relaxing V-twin thump as the bike eats the miles.

Like many modern Harleys, the Street Glide has the Reflex Defensive Rider Systems — cornering ABS, cornering linked braking, cornering traction control, Drag-Torque Slip Control (DSCS), Vehicle Hold Control and tyre pressure monitoring.

This is the first Harley big twin I’ve ridden with traction control. There’s on, wet and off… all controlled by a button on the left switchblock. Harley has some videos online explaining it all, with many of the benefits coming on loose surfaces… which is interesting because I can’t ever remember seeing a Harley tourer on a dirt road, and I didn’t ride this one on gravel.

So in dry conditions, the traction control never kicked in. In the wet, however — and boy, did I cop some rain — I switched to rain mode and the light on the dash indicating it was working flashed often, long before I could feel any slippage.

It gave me the confidence to push harder than I otherwise might in the wet, which was handy on a busy freeway when you’re trying to keep your distance from heavy vehicles.

In simple terms, the bike is equipped with technologies designed to keep the wheels turning when they should be, not breaking traction, slowing down safely, not going backwards when they shouldn’t be and making sure there’s enough air in the tyres. See the breakout block “RDRS” for more detail.

CONVENIENCE AND COMFORT

Sink into the thickly padded seat, stretch your legs out to highway pegs, grip the softly padded handgrips… oh, sorry, you can only do these things if you go through the accessory catalogue first.

The Street Glide is a custom tourer, so it sacrifices creature comforts for style. So the seat is actually pretty thin but it is nicely shaped. Highway pegs aren’t standard, although the standard footboards offer fore-after foot movement, which is a great aid to comfort. The standard grips are Harley’s way of saying “choose new ones to your preference”.

The forward-set footboards are set forward, but aren’t as radical as many forward controls can be, and they didn’t scrape nearly as much as I’ve experienced with some earlier models. Missing, however, was the heel shift; surprisingly, it’s conventional toe change only. The lowered rear end and skinny seat make getting your feet to the ground very easy though — shorter riders will love this.

What the Motor Company didn’t skimp on was the infotainment system, with its big touchscreen and speakers mounted in the fairing. Harley’s BoomBox infotainment system includes radio, Bluetooth, phone connectivity, intercom and navigation. Adjacent to the unit is a pocket for your smartphone, with USB power and connectivity to the system so you can play your own music. Harley’s also incorporated a communications system for rider to passenger, but I didn’t have the equipment or passenger to test it out.

It’s a fine system, doing what it says on the box. I especially liked its responsiveness — a full touchscreen that works with any gloves, wet or dry.

If you want to use Apple CarPlay you need to connect your phone to the bike via USB and leave it in the padded compartment next to the BoomBox. You also need an optional headset, so I wasn’t able to try this out, but I’m a big fan of CarPlay.

For the week I had the bike I used Bluetooth to connect my phone to the bike. I didn’t try to use the phone, because I didn’t have a compatible headset, but the speakers in the fairing were plenty loud enough up to freeway speeds.

Ergonomically I could ride the bike all day. The riding position is upright and the footboards are far enough forward for a relaxed riding position, and the handlebars are positioned comfortably. The standard cruise control is excellent — easy to use and works perfectly.

The non-adjustable screen height was inconvenient though; with much of the breeze hitting my helmet halfway up, buffeting was definitely an issue. Normally I’d reach for an open-face helmet with a peak to get around this (the airflow from many touring fairings over a peaked helmet can often result in incredible stability and vastly reduced wind noise) but I don’t currently have one… and the weather while the bike was in the possession of Australian Road Rider was wet, and I’d rather wear a full face in the rain.

There’s a vent below the screen that directs a blast of wind upwards behind the screen — it’s designed to get airflow over the rider’s head, but at 185cm I’m a bit tall for that.

We should have an adjustable powered screen by now. Being able to set a screen height to suit different rider heights and different conditions really improves rider comfort, but I guess Harley hasn’t come up with a design which it believes will resonate with buyers.

Or maybe it’s a cost thing — but this is a $40K motorcycle and the powered screen is just one of numerous missing creature comforts that are found on the competition — things like heated and cooled seats, heated grips and air ducts.

PERFORMANCE AND HANDLING

The Street Glide S has the 114-cubic-inch Milwaukee 8 engine, the best performing of Harley’s standard motors. It makes the bike feel nicer to ride than the 107-equipped bikes, the extra power and torque noticeable when you ride similar bikes back-to-back.

The big motor is pushing a lot of weight though, so the Street Glide doesn’t tear away from traffic lights… that’s not what it’s about. This bike is designed for the open road, cruising at highway speeds for hours and hours at a time.

Relaxing riding where you can forget about what’s going on in your life and live in the moment, enjoying the scenery, the breeze, the throb of the V-twin and sounds from the stereo. There’s 163Nm of torque available at 3000rpm, so it’s one of the best Harley tourers ever when it comes to overtaking.

The Street Glide is built for American highways, which range from multi-lane freeways to the long, narrow roads criss-crossing the USA. Transplanted to Australia, that means the Street Glide is at home on the roads connecting our major towns and cities, its size and design working best on roads with speed limits between 80km/h and 110km/h. It swings through sweeping corners nicely, but you’ll feel the weight in tighter stuff. It’s comfortable, but the short travel suspension struggles on anything rough.

I removed the left pannier and wound up the rear suspension preload via the hand adjuster to cope better with my 95kg weight and the harshness of the Wisemans Ferry Road. I was rewarded with suspension that used its available stroke better, although the bike felt harsher over potholes.

Harley claims more than 30 degrees of lean angle on each side… I found I didn’t scrape this bike nearly as much as previous models, or as much as I expected.

Slowing the big machine are three discs, linked together, but you might not even notice that if you just rode the bike. The rear brake is excellent, offering great feel and power, but the front discs are lacking in 2021 — they are trying to pull up a lot… over half a ton of motorcycle, rider, passenger and luggage in some cases.

TOURING

With a protective fairing and standard panniers, you’d expect the Street Glide to be a good touring bike, but there are issues. For a start, the panniers are long and thin, making it difficult to pack many items, and there’s no standard rack to strap on anything.

You can’t effectively use a tankbag either, so if it doesn’t fit in the panniers, grab the Harley accessory catalogue because there are racks and boxes to let you take more on tour.

Unlike the Ultra, there’s no lower leg protection, and the screen is shorter too. The Ultra also has more seat padding, longer travel suspension and that huge trunk at the back.

If your #1 priority is touring, the Ultra will probably suit you better, but that doesn’t make the Street Glide bad. If you travel solo, don’t feel the need to carry heaps of gear and the weather protection of the Street Glide is sufficient. It’s a comfortable bike that can be easily ridden all day and has that unique Harley cruiser style in a touring package.

SPECIFICATIONS

2020 HARLEY-DAVIDSON STREET GLIDE SPECIAL

ENGINE

Type: Milwaukee-Eight 114 — 1868cc air-cooled V-twin with 4 valves per cylinder

Capacity: 1,868cc

Bore x Stroke: 102 x 114mm

Compression Ratio: 10.5:1

Engine management: Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI)

PERFORMANCE

Claimed maximum power: Not stated

Claimed maximum torque: 163Nm @ 3000rpm

TRANSMISSION

Type: 6 speed

Final Drive: Toothed belt

Clutch: Wet

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR

Chassis: High-tensile steel diamond

Front Suspension: Conventional telescopic forks, 130mm travel Rear Suspension: Single rear shock with adjustable preload and rebound damping, 1300mm of wheel travel

Front Brakes: Dual discs with 4-piston calipers — ABS

Rear Brake: Single disc with 4-piston caliper — ABS

Tyres, F/R: Cast light alloy 3.50″ x 17″

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES

Rake: 26°

Trail: 173mm

Wheelbase: 1,625mm (1405mm)

Seat Height: 690mm (815mm)

Fuel Capacity: 12.7L

Claimed Wet Weight: 375kg (186kg)

ELECTRONICS

High beam, running lights, directional lights, low oil pressure, neutral, engine diagnostics, battery, cruise control, speakers, accessory, security system, gear indication, low fuel warning, ABS, miles to empty display, fog/aux lamp indicator

Infotainment system: BoomBox GTS — full-colour TFT touchscreen display, 2 x 6.5-inch speakers, USB and Bluetooth connectivity

Safety: Reflex Defensive Rider Systems — ABS, C-ABS, ELB (Electronic Linked Braking), C-ELB (Cornering Enhanced Electronic Linked Braking), C-TCS (Cornering Enhanced Traction Control), DSCS (Drag-Torque Slip Control), Vehicle Hold Control, tyre pressure monitoring

ETCETERA

Price (Ride Away): $39,250 (Vivid Black), $39,645 (Colours), $41,425 (Custom Two-Tone)

Colours: Vivid Black, River Rock Gray Denim, Billiard Burgundy, Stone-Washed White Pearl, Performance Orange, Scorched Orange/Silver Flux, Zephyr Blue/Black Sunglo

Test bike supplied by: Yamaha Motor Australia

Website: https://bit.ly/3nlqNFI

Warranty: 2 years, unlimited kilometres