Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

I e ICiockwise from top left) Twin headlights turned night into day as well as a single quartz halogen lamp. H.d to reach hand controls w .... a complaint of aU who rode the FLT. WIsconsin manufacturer's tag somehOw avoldecrstlcky fingers. BaD of foot. h'" operated "double" shifter confuses novices. No doo-dacls. Just ea.y to read tach and speedo. 50 fish out of water. At first we'd rev it up to 2,000 rpm at redlights, etc. rather than have the motor and the front wheel doing a St. Vitus dance. After "x" amount of miles we lear;ned to live with it. You don't shake at idle, so why worry about the motor flopping around. The only other aggravating vibes we got from the Tour Glide cam~ at the bemoanable national s~d limit .- 55 mph -- in fifth (feels like overdrive) gear. A few additional miles-per-hour and the throbbing vibration disappears, but while it's there (at 55) you feel like the fillings in your teeth might fall out. At all other mph/rpm only the torque and power impulses of the giant V-twin are felt and we rather liked that feeling. In fact we loved it! And we loved the seat/bars/floor -board operating position even more, We'd never ridden more than a handful of miles with floorboards before, but now we know why the Roger Hulls of motorcycling praise them. The Tour Glide provides an operating position that yells out "all day riding'" -- comfortably. While the seat isn't the best, the total positioning provided the operator is. Cheers for Willie G. and company. While we usually rate suspension in the handling department, we'll include it in this "comfort" section because the suspension is what knocked the overall "comfort" rating down. Smooth roads are no problem and you'll feel like you're sitting in your favorite chair. But watch out for even the smallest pothole or rough stretch of pavement. The forks and shocks hammer down when they meet such "obstacles" in a manner that is unacceptable. .BJl~ we must stress the point that the bike doesn't do anything OUt of the ordinary when it's being "hammered." It doesn't shake its head, but it does relay the shock. Longer legs? Quality 9 Here's where we rate such things as paint, chrome, engine tightness (gaskets, etc.) and such. And the only thing that prevented the Tour Glide .from getting a Bo Derek 10 was a bit of orange· peel appearing paint on the trunk (Tour Pak) and saddlebags. While not really the fault of the guy with the spray gun (you could see the criss-crossed fibers of the unit's fiberglass), the comment from everyone who noticed was "orange peel paint." The model we had was painted an eye-striking black with metallic charcoal highlights accented with red pinstriping. Gorgeousl ary a hint of oil, not even oil mist, was seen on the motor or bottom end. The powerplant's finish is excellent. A dull black finish is highlighted by chromed items such as the air clean r cover. All chrome is excellent. Maintenance 10 We put a little less than 1,000 miles on the bike which had almost exactly 1,000 miles on the clock when we picked it up. We did absolutely zero maintenance during that period. The totally enclosed chain, wlllch functions in an oil bath (6 oz. of 30 weight oil), stayed both out of sight and away from our "ready to adjust" hands. H-D claims the enclosed/oil bathed chain has a life of 16-20,000 miles. That's a lot of "on the road again" miles. Economy 8 Gas consumption willie traveling at a steady 55 to 60 mph down the highway pushes towards the 50 mpg mark. We never got above 45 mpg, but then we never were content to abide by Big Brother's speed limit or anything near it. Back and forth riding to work, a combination of interstate highway and stop-start two lanes dropped the milesper-gallon figure to the low 30s when we were playing Cal Rayborn and to the high 30s when we "took it easy." The Tour Glide certainly wasn't designed as a commuter vehicle so we've awarded an "S" for the highway figures. Gas consumption alone would have given the Tour Glide a "10," but when we remember that the bike would set us baCK $7,796 -- well, for the same amount of money you could get any one of several big Japanese "touring" bikes and a middleweight bike for commuting. Power 8 The SO cubic inch engine has enough torque to (sorry. but we have to say it) pull stumps. Response at any amount of rpm is instant. even in Lhe "overdrive" fifth gear. The mOlOr loafs along at low rpm and even when red· lined seems more than ready to keep on delivering more power. Top speed is not near what the multi·cylinder big bikes from the Japanese manufacturers produce and the acceleration can't be described as fast, ·but for all day operation in any traffic .::ondition, it does what just about anyone would require of it. Load capacity 8 We've mentioned the 450-plus pounds of load weight previously, so here we'll comment on several items that normally would appear under different h·eadings. Willie our passengers don't like to be thought of as part of the load, they are. And here we'lI mention that the only drawback for a passenger comes from the rather narrow space provided between the operator's back and the Classic's Tour Pak (trunk). The backrest is comfortable, as is the seat, but several passengers objected to the non· adjustable backrest .. "not enough space for even the a verge size Specifications Engine . . . . . . ,............. air-cooled. V·twin Bore x stroke. ................................. •.5 x 107.9Srnm Displacement 1.34Occ: Compression ratio 7.4:1 Starting system elecbic Ignition system electronic/microprocessor Lubrication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dry sump Dry weight 725 pounds Wheelbese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 10.63 inches Fuel tank capacity ~ 5.0 gallons Primary drive Double-row roller chain Final drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530 chain Tre..snUssion ' five ~I.d Seat height. . . . . . . . . ~ 30 inches Ground ell II _ICe .............•................... 5.875 inches ...... price •••..•......•.••..•..••..•.••........•...•••• • 7.111

• Cover