New 2024 Harley Davidson
Today Harley Davidson announced four new bikes for the 2024 model year, including a new Road Glide and Street Glide, as well as two new additions to their super premium CVO lineup. So we’ll go through all of the details with absolutely everything that you need to know.
ROAD/STREET GLIDE
Now first up, we’ve got the new Road Glide and Street Glide, a pair of bikes that are fundamentally pretty similar, but the key difference is that one has a frame mounted faring and that’s the Road Glide and the other has a fork mounted faring, and that’s the Street Glide for this year Both now get the 117 cubic inch version of their Milwaukee eight V twin.
And so that’s three cubic inches up on the 114 version that was found in last year’s model. Now a quick look at the specs and that 114 version makes 86 horsepower peak and 148 new toters of peak torque.
And while I have the specific figures for these exact 2024 Road and Street glides, other bikes that use the 117 engine like the low rider ST, for example, well with those you get 103 horsepower. New 2024 Harley Davidson
So that’s nearly 20 more and 169-newton meter of peak torque So that’s another 21. So that really is quite a significant step up for these bikes and I’m expecting them to feel a lot more punchy out on the road.
Now, apart from the extra capacity, one of the other things that they’ve done to achieve that is an improved cooling system and they say it increases intake and exhaust flow, but also it has a positive secondary effect on comfort in that it helps keep the rider cool.
CVO versions
Now, a lot of this stuff seems to trickle down from the CVO versions of these bikes from last year CVO, meaning for the uninitiated custom vehicle operations, which is effectively their performance division that offers the highest spec to the most luxuriously finished versions of their bikes.
Think the M division for BMW or TFC for Triumph. So look, another feature that they inherit is the riding modes. New 2024 Harley Davidson
They now get four, and so there’s road sport, rain and custom. And through that custom mode I’d imagine you’ll be able to define your own settings for things like throttle response or power and traction control.
Display
All of this is managed through a fantastic 12-inch TFT display, which uses their new Skyline operating system.
And I was actually lucky enough to test out one of the CVOs last year and I’ve got to say this new display in terms of how it affects the riding experience and the way that you interact with the bike.
You know, I think it’s one of the standout features. I mean mainly because it’s really pretty huge, so you’ve got so much screen space, but also it’s nicely laid out.
It’s easy to navigate and I think it gives a cool look to the cockpit of these bikes. The only dash that I can think of that’s even similar is the 10-inch display that you get on some BMWs like that R 18 Transcontinental or the R 1250 RT, but I think this dash from Harley Davidson even has the edge on those.
Now of course, it’s a full infotainment system, so there’s phone connectivity which you can hook up to handle phone Calls or your favorite music or even your favorite podcasts.
Now you can hook up a Bluetooth headset of course to listen to your favorite tunes or the full tank motorcycle podcast, but if you just wanna blast it out into the fresh air, then there’s a new 200 watt audio amp linked to a pair of fairy mounted speakers up in the cockpit. New 2024 Harley Davidson
Speaking of this fairing, actually that’s another thing that trickles down from the CVOs from last year.
And so there really is a very distinctive front end to these bikes with a much more modern aesthetic than the road and street glides of the past.
Personally, I quite like this new LED lighting, but also beyond the superficial stuff, they say that wind tunnel research has actually allowed them to reduce buffering by about 60%, so they should be much more comfortable if you’re doing a lot of motorway work.
On top of all that, there’s also more travel on the rear suspension, so it’s now up to 76 millimeters and you now get a one piece saddle with revised materials and padding inside. New 2024 Harley Davidson
And so both those things should contribute to making it a little more cushy and comfy than before. As for the colors, well, there’ll be a choice of base paint schemes as well as some premium options.
Price
And on top of that, you can choose from Chrome on the hardware or a black finish. And so the price is for the street glide range from 26,795 pounds to 29,095 pounds depending on which combination of finishes you choose. Whereas the road glide is a little more at 27295 pounds to 29590 pounds.
But despite that, I think it’s the one I’d go for just for the lighter steering owing to that frame-mounted Phin.
CVO Road Glide
Now, on top of these standard models, there’s also a new CVO edition of the Rogue Glide, and this time it gets an ST Suffix because it’s had a bit of a bump in performance. New 2024 Harley Davidson
You see, although it is the same 121 cubic inch version of the Milwaukee eight new for this year, they’ve developed an HO edition which stands for high output.
And so whereas the regular 121 makes 115 horsepower peak and 189 millimeters a torque, this HO version makes 127 horsepower. So that’s 12 more and also 193 newton meters of peak torque.
Now, they actually say that this is the most power and torque ever from a factory installed Harley-Davidson engine, although I think they must be forgetting their own revolution max that they use in the Panamerica for example, because that makes about 150 horsepower.
Still I think they’re probably right on the torque because 193 new to meters is pretty monstrous and not that far off. New 2024 Harley Davidson
The most torkey engine available on the market, which is the Triumph Rocket three that makes 221 nude to meters from its 2.5 liter inline triple still If that extra punch wasn’t enough already, then they’ve also fitted a lower final drive ratio, so you should get a little bit more
Snap under acceleration and they’ve actually managed to shed quite a bit of weight, which will only further increase its power to weight ratio.
So it’s now down to 363 kilograms dry, which admittedly is still a lot of heft for a motorcycle as is typical of this style bike from Harley, but it is 12 kilograms down on the previous CVO Road Glide and they’ve done that with all sorts of changes.
So there’s a titanium exhaust with a carbon end cap, carbon body work on the mud guard, on the seat cow and the tank console, a lighter oil pan, lighter wheels and wavy diss as well, which they say help.
And so I guess it’s the sum of a lot of little different changes. And 12 kilograms to be fair, isn’t to be sniffed at. New 2024 Harley Davidson
Now the chassis on these CVO models is a little bit more sporty versus those standard bikes, and so you get a show, a fully adjustable upside down fork up front, which is nice and chunky.
And also there’s a fully adjustable remote reservoir shock at the rear two, which is also provided by Showa. Braking comes from Brembo with a pair of full piston radially mounted calipers up front.
And so there should be plenty of stopping power and like the standard models, you get a bunch of different riding modes, but this time there’s a difference.
You see, you get a track under track plus mode and also I think a couple more custom slots.
Now, it might not seem like a bite that you’d first think of when you’re imagining yourself out on a track day, especially when you consider the price, which we’ll get onto in a moment. New 2024 Harley Davidson
But thing is, it’s influenced by the King of the Baggers Race series, which has grown increasingly popular or at least visible over recent years.
And so I think that inspires these sort of sporty features on quite an unlikely behemoth like this.
In the cockpit, we’ve also got the same entertainment system, which I like so much, but this time the audio amp is 500 watts, so you can really people off and that’s hooked up to a pair of Rockford Fosgate design speakers, which should give you a little bit more audio quality.
As for the paint jobs, well, we’re looking at Golden White Pearl or Raven Metallic and both get a king of the baggers inspired Screaming Eagle logo on the side as well as a CVO 25th anniversary logo too.
Price
Now, the price, as I say, is somewhat steep. It’s 38,995 pounds in the UK and look, well, that is a heck of a lot of money.
It’s actually not dissimilar from the CVO bikes of last year. And so given that there are quite a lot of enhancements for 2024 relative to what came before it, it doesn’t look too bad, although relative to like any other bike, it does look pretty spendy.
CVO Pan America
But look, on top of all that, we’ve also got a brand new addition to the CVO liner, and that comes in the form of their pan america adventure bike.
Now with CVO, they often get a little bit of a performance boost as well as some extra tech, so sometimes it’ll be a better TFT display or infotainment system like the speakers that we just talked about and the amplifier, and sometimes it’ll be things like an inertial measurement unit that sends lean angle into the rider array to give you even more advanced Safety features.
The thing is with the Pan America, it already had a lot of this stuff as standard, and so this bike is really more of a paint job and fully accessorized version than any fundamental changes under the hood, so to speak.
They say the CVO Pan America model is outfitted with a whole host of rugged accessories selected to enhance the journey, including adaptive ride height suspension, rugged aluminum, top and side cases, a screaming Eagle, quick shifter, tubeless laced wheels, auxiliary, LED, forward lighting, and an aluminum skid plate providing excellent value to the adventure rider who wants it all and more.
Price
The price for this one comes in at 23,495 pounds, and while they do claim that it is gonna be good value for money and sort of package up some of those features, it seems to me like quite a big premium over the 16 or 17 K that you’ll pay for a standard Pan America or the Pan America special.
So look, it might be tempting just to buy one of those bikes and use the cash difference to spec it up exactly how you want. New 2024 Harley Davidson
Although it has to be said that striking new paint job on the CVO version does make it stand apart from those other two Pan Americas, which are generally a lot more muted in terms of the paint options.