Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1205265
2020 HARLEY-DAVIDSON LINEUP R I D E R E V I E W P84 HARLEY-DAVIDSON 2020 TOURING LINEUP NOMENCLATURE EVOLUTION Way, way back in the day, there was the Electra Glide. Originally that meant a Harley Big Twin that had an electric starter. Eventu- ally it came to mean a luxury tourer with a fork-mounted "Bat- wing" fairing. Then came the Ultra, which was just an upgrad- ed Electra Glide, with all the bells and whistles (not literally, those are still only an aftermarket option). The Ultra moniker eventu- ally also applied to the upgraded version of the Road Glide—Harley's fixed- fairing touring rig—which confused some people to no end, since Ultra had become synonymous with the Electra Glide. Harley's CVO (Custom Vehicle Operations, or in- house custom) division came about in the '90s, throw- ing (again, not literally) everything they could think of at a limited selection of models every year. Naturally this resonated with the touring crowd, to the point where all the current CVO models are touring, where they used to have some custom cruiser styles tossed in. While CVO models were (and are) thick with custom grips, wheels and other shinies, they are also big on the creature comforts like heated grips and the latest electronic en- hancements. The trickle down from this innovation to the rest of the product line meant they needed yet another label for this new level of equipment somewhere north of Ultra, and thus was born the Limited. A look at Harley-Davidson's current Touring lineup confuses these past definitions. Without writing it all down, there's now a model called the Ultra Limited. Both of these terms were previously modifiers for existing models, now those two words basically mean an Electra Glide with all the full-on stuff, which is very different from Harley's entry- level tourer, the Electra Glide Standard. Which brings us to the new Road Glide Lim- ited. The word Limited has apparently taken the place of Ultra in H-D's lexicon, meaning the one with all the touring stuff on it (regardless of fairing configuration). It's somewhat like how the word "literally" can now literally mean "figuratively." Just to confuse things, there's an Ultra/Electra Glide (whatever you want to call it) in the CVO lineup named the CVO Limited. Really?! I used to tell people confused by H-D's naming con- ventions, "Trust me, it makes sense," and now I can't. The new 2020 Road Glide Limited is not exactly a new model. The Tour Pak-equipped Road Glide has been around since the 2011 model year as the Road Glide Ultra. The Road Glide, with its frame-mounted fairing, is known as the "rider's bike" of Harley's touring family. Now that it's Limited, undoubtedly even more will flock to it. It now features darker finishes than the Road Glide Ultra did last year. Continuing the darker-is-better theme, the Heritage Classic now comes in a 114 version that retains its dark aura, as well as a 107 version that's more shiny chrome and retro goodness. (Left) The Road Glide Ultra is dead; long live the Road Glide Limited.