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/128335
and Vivid Black. Additionally, the frame , frame inserts , and swingarm are all colormatched. But the paint is only part of the picture. Accenting the paint is a clear-coated metal grind effect, which looks awe some and is created by hand-grinding the metal , pinstriping it and then protecting it with t he clear coat. As for accessories, a new collection deb uts on the cva Fat Boy wh ich includes t he mirrors, rear brake leve r, shifter linkage, shift lever, stru t cove rs and de rby cove rs. The wh eels may look similar to the solid w hee ls found on the stock bike , but they are in fact polishe d spun aluminum whee ls manufactured to Harley-Davidson's specifications by Centerline. There are so many chrome bolt-on goodies and accessories that it would be impossible to go into them all here. Let's just say that very little has been left stock. Adding to the Fat Boy's image is the lowered rear suspe nsion, w hich makes the bike loo k very stylish but limits the corner ing clearance. an the drag strip the Fat Boy was a real handful. The Fat Boy's low RPM torque , combin ed with t he fact that we we re running stock tire pre ssures and a touc hy hydra ulic clutch, made launching the bike a real chore . I tried to launch the bike at 3000 -4000 rpm on ly for t he rear tire to erupt into a smo ke show. I finally resorted to launching the bike at 1500 rpm and still smoked the tire to the 60 foot mark a couple of times - bad for e lapsed times but great for self entertainment. The Fat Boy can't come close to matching the V-Rod's level of overall engine performan ce, but in the rea l world of free ways and stoplight- to-stop light riding, this bike is a blast. T he Fat Boy's roll-o n performa nce is aweso me , wit h exce llent thrott le response and an instant kick in the pants from that torque. a n a twisty road care has to be taken because of the limited ground clearance. The floor boards are easy to drag, and as I discovered a cou ple of times, the next thing to hit down is a hard part that tr ies to pry the rear tire off the ground. In my opinion t he cva Fat Boy is the best looking of the t hree bikes , and it definite ly has the best com bination of comfort and perform ance and is sure to catch the eye of t he traditionalists out there. The c v a Fat Boy will set you back $27,995 ($28,095 in California). SCREAMIN ' EAGLE E LE CT R A GLIDE Why should the touring rider be penalized with a lack of power? For t he second year in a row, Harley-Davidson is making a cva Electra Glide, and if there ever was a model that could benefit from the added horsepowe r, this is it. The Elect ra Glide is no li htweight at almost 800 pounds, so the g added perfor mance is a we lcom e add ition. The eva Elect ra Glide is fitted with the same 103 cubic-inch Stroker Twin Cam that is found in t he eva Fat Boy, with big-bore cylinders and a stroke r flywheel and rod assembly, to increase displacement from 3.75 x 4 inches (95.25 x 101 .6mm) to 3.87 x 4.37 inches (98.26 x 110.99mm). The com pression ratio has been increased from 8.9:1 to 9.0:1, giving this moto r over 100 foot-p ounds of torque, a 20-perc ent increase over a stock Twin Cam 88 mill. The clutch is a beefed up hydraulic unit, w hile an oil coo ler has been added to help cool the motor with the added power out put. The chassisfeatures chrome Thunderstar wheels and chro me floating brake rotors , while the suspension has bee n lowered both front and rear. The passenger and rider footboard inserts, handgrips, brake pedal pad and the shifter pegs are all from HarleyDavidson's Stealth collect ion. The gauges all have spun-aluminum faces . The custo m leather seats are fitted with a backrest for the rider and the passenger for those long days in the saddle. So you don't get bored out in the middle of nowhere, the eva Electra Glide is equ ipped with a premium sound system with an integrated amplifier, high-performance spea kers, a security system and an integrated garage door open er for when you finally get back home. When it comes to styling, the cva Electra Glide is loaded with goodies. There are three paint schemes, including Sunrise Yellow Pearl and Stingray Silver, two-tone Candy Cher ry, and tw o-tone Candy Teal. If it can be chromed , re placed with billet aluminum, or replaced by something from the accessory catalog, it's been done on this bike; the list of modifications is exte nsive. aut on the road t he Elect ra Glide do es everyt hing that you would expect a full sized touring bike to do , like give you and your passenger t he perfect place to sit for long hours in the saddle. To top it off, the bike now has the power to please even the most disce rning horsepowe r junkies. Roll but on th is bike it isn't as big a deal, but you will be scraping floorbo ards on a regular basis. The cva Elect ra Glide was n't left parked at Irwinda le Speedway; the big touring bikes got their fair share of blasts down the dragstrip. Yeah, it's pretty funny to watch a full dresser going down the str ip, but the bike actually has the best clutch action of the three bikes in terms of fee l and engagement, making nailinga good rea ction time pretty easy. The eva Electra Glide is the most expensive of the three eva models, but then again it has a lot more accessories and chrome thrown at it than the others; the retail price is $29,995 ($30,1 85 in California). All three of the cva Harley-D avidsons are impre ssive, and they cover t he gamut of H-D buyers. The cva bikes are a great deal for t hose buyers wh o are go ing to modify the hell out of t he ir bikes anyway. The bikes here not only pack an impressive punch and look awesome , but t hey com e wit h a factory warranty. The cva line is made in limited numb ers , wh ich sell out every year, so if you want to get you r hands on on e, get do wn to you r dealer now and plop a depos it down, because these won't be collecting dust on the showroom floo r. eN on perfo rm ance is impressive, not as impressive as the much lighte r Fat Boy, but e nough to make pulli ng ou t and passing a line of cars a no-brainer at any time. Like t he Fat Boy the low ered suspension sacrifices ground clearance for the custom look, www.cyclenews.com CYC LE N EWS • AUGUST 4,2004 49