Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

NEWS/KES (Left) Har ley- Davidson's 1998 FLTR Road Glide continu es the company's traditional approach to Its new model off erings. Built for the "custom touri ng" category, the mach ine Is bas ed on the FL platform but features B wel come return In the form of a Tour Glide·l nsplred frame-mounted fairing. (Bel ow) W ith its leather sadd lebags, laced wheels with whttewBII tires, and. electronic fu el injection, Harley'S spin off FLH RCI Road King Class ic pe rsonifies Its attit ude of tradition over technology. By SCott Rousseau , he rumors w ere run ning ram pan t an d a little bit too close to . the time that the Har ley-Davidso n Mo tor Company in vited some 100 memb ers of the U.s. and foreign motorcycl ing press to its Milwaukee, Wiscon sin, headquarters to introdu ce its 1998 m otorcycle line a t th e famous Cap itol Drive engine plant. "H arley- David son is going to celebrate its 95th birthday by offering a liquid-coo led V-twi n.. " one rumo rmo nger quipped. . "The VR is going to be wearing street clothing, and it w ill be called the VR2," said another. And so on. Far-fetched as they may seem, those rumors ma y be close to fact. Consider this: The wildly su ccessful Evolution vtwin that powered Harley-Davidson to its greatest popularity ever is already a bit long in the tooth when the compa ny 's history is taken into account. Intr oduced in 1984, the Blockhead has enjoyed a 14year production run - nearly as long as its street-go ing pred ece sso rs the Flathead (1929-1952, except for the three-wheeled Servi-Car, which lasted to 1974!), Knucklehead (1936-1947), Panhead (1948-1965) and Shovelhead (1966-1984). Successful as it has been, however, even Harley-Davidson has known that, for the sake of emissions, the next step in the de ve lopment process will ultimately have to come in the form of a new po werplant, likely with some form of liquid-cooling (if for no othe r reason than to mask mech an ical noise). Some of the motor press who had ga the re d at th e th eater at th e Capitol Drive engine plant thou ght that the time may be at hand, but in the end, America's ol dest s urviv ing motorcy cle company chose Evolution over revolu tion for 1998. "There ha ve been several rum o rs regarding the direction of Harley-David son product-d evelopment plans with regard to new models and new technology:' president and CEO Jeff Bleustein sa id at th e even t, a n d then a d d ed , tongue-in-cheek, "We w ant to confirm that, yes, there are rumors. "But wh ere there is smo ke there is fire." Bleustein said. .,And we are in the midst of the most extensive new product- -' a broad selection of items from H-D Genuine Parts and Accessories. The new seat accepts a ride r ba ckrest, and the moto rcycle it self is also p re w ired to allo w easy upgrades for cruise con trol, rear speakers and a CB radio / intercom. , As w ith the other Harley-David son touring motorcycles, the Road Glide features a new nine-plate clutch w hi ch makes for a 20-pcrCC'nt reduction in lever e ffort. A new hydro-formed exha ust, inco r pora ti ng a h ighl y -pressuriz ed w ater -and -me tal manufacturing proCC'ss, provid es a more uniform wa ll thieleness of the pipes and consistent shape. There arc fewer weld s to succum b to ru st and cracks. The Road Glide is offered in the following solid col ors: a new La zer Red Pearl, new Sinister Blue Pearl, Violet Pearl and Vivid Black - and the 95th Anniver- , sary model , availab le only with electronic fuel injection, features a special two-tone Midni ght Red and Champagne Pearl comb ination complete with Champ agne I Pearl painted cast wheels. Cast wheels are standard on the Road Glide, but laced wheels are available as an option on the ' solid -colored model s. The Road Glide 's base retail for the black-hued, carbureted version is $14,850, The same model set up I for California is $15,095. The 1998 FLTR(carbureted) and FLTRI (electro nic fuel injected) Road Glide are available only in North America. FLHRCI ROAD KING CLASSIC developmen t program in the company's history . The prod ucts will start com ing ou t over the next severa l years, and they will be comin g at a rapid rate as we go forward." While the changes ma y be com ing as pa rt of the traditional tric kle of change th at ha s encompassed the m ore th an nine decades of Harley-Davidson' s existence, the recent warn ing shots fired by some o f the com pan y's cruiser-market compe titors, two of them America n, is reason eno ugh. "We are very aware of the competition, " Bleustein said . "We have a lo t of wo rthwhile com pe titors out there, and we take them very serious ly." Bu t the 21st cen tury h as no t quite arr ive d ye t, an d in st e ad the H arl eyDa vidson s tyl ing tea m of W illie G . David son, Bill Davidson and Louie Netz ushered in The Mot or Compan y's 95th a n n ive rsury by un v eiling o ne new mod el. one classically revamped mod el. and a Sportster with even more "sport." FLTR ROAD GLIDE Headlining the 1998 famil y was the H arley-David son FLTR Road Glide, a "cus tom tour ing" cousin to the Road King, and an extension of the 1340c'J'vopow ered FL family of Big Twins. 11iough arguably a parts-bin-engin eered Hog, the Road Glid e does offer a welcom e twi st w i th th e re introduct i on o f H arl e y 's frame-mounted fairing. The Road Glide boa st s a res ty le d vers io n o f the unit, which first app eared on the company's Tour Glide highway machine in 1980. Wh ile so me of it s s tyling cues are shared wi th the pop ular FLHR Road King, the new FLTR Road Glide has its own loo k and custom-inspired features, nut the le ast of wh ich is minim ali st styling by Harley-David son sta nda rd s. Willie G. an d co. opted to d el ete th e large, rear-mounted Tour- Pak, saddlebag g u ard rail s, front and re ar fend er bumpers, and fender name bad ges found on other FLs in favor of developing the cleanest lines possible on the Road Glid e. Beginni ng at the front, lookin g from the bottom up, is a completely stri pped fron t fender with no chro me, skirts o r s tr iping to alter its lines. The "sh arknosed" fairing features new du al-reflective optic head lights and a low-p ro file windshield , which offers consi dera ble wind protection while allowing the rider to still catch the breeze on the open road. The cockpit is home to a new sound sys tem, which occupies the cent er portion of the inn er fairing. The speedometer and tachometer are mounted on the forks. Fue l. ambient air temperature, volta ge and o il pressure-are all monitored by gauges arranged aroun d the perime ter of the inner fairin g, which also features two handy storage com partments just below the handlebar grips. . The Road Glide's fuel tank sports single-line striping with low -contrast, silkscreened graphics, and the tank conso le panel also carries new graphics. A new seat and pillion is branded with a special heat-sealed "H-D" insignia . Of course, Harley-Davidson designed the Road Glide with the ability to accept Introduced in 1994, H arl ey-Da vidson' s FLH R Road King has bee n quite well receiv ed by the haw g crowd. Its: sim ple, straightforward approach - wi th ! features like a chromed headlight nacelle, d eta ch ab le w in d sh ield, and tw o-up,' rem ovable passenger pillion - placed the: Road King firmly on top of the "custom' tou ring" category . But for 1998, Harley-' David son has given the pop u lar King a n ost al gic fa ce lift in th e form o f th e FLHRCI Road King Classic. ' The machine b lends romantic ves teryear styling with the modem techn ology of th e fu el -injected 1340cc Evolution engine while incorporating ma ny of the pop ular characteristics of its Road King cousin . In add it ion to th e chrom e d nacelle and detachable windshield found on the sta nda rd Road King, the Roa d King Classic features a new two-up seal with an embossed leather valance th ateasily accepts a rider backrest. Mat chin g the embossed va lance are , capa cious, rigid leather sadd lebags. The new bags maintain their cons istent shape due to a special process whi ch forms and stitches the leather to a blow-m olded resin. Quick-di sconnect "bu ckle" strap clos ures make opening and closin g the saddlebags a snap . To ad d to the "old school" touches, the Road King Classi c in clu des lace d wheels, wid e whitewall tires, and slantcut mufflers (for the U.s. market on ly) which are de signed to accentuat e th e angled appearance of the saddlebags. Differentiating it even further is a new 3-D tank lo go w h ich is a lso ca rrie d through on the seatvalance, sad dlebags and the new front- and rear-fend er trim. As with the o the r member s of the tourin g famil y of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, the Road King Classic fea-

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