VOLUME 59 ISSUE 10 MARCH 8, 2022 P103
team with brothers Kyle Wyman
and later Travis Wyman. Travis
finished fifth overall as a mid-
season replacement, while Kyle
earned himself the number-one
plate with a championship-
winning season. He also earned
himself a place in H-D history, as
The Motor Company is about to
put Kyle's bike in their museum.
But first, they gave Cycle News
the opportunity to ride it. No
pressure, right?
Both Wyman brothers were in
attendance to teach us about the
changes Harley-Davidson made
to convert a Road Glide from a
"Grand American Tourer" into a
racer. As Kyle put it, "we're de-
veloping superbikes, just starting
with a much different platform."
H-D was very forthcoming about
some of the specs, and coy
about others. What they weren't
coy about was the importance of
this bike—there were a few less-
than-subtle reminders to take it
easy as the KOTB was destined
to go to Harley's Museum in
Milwaukee immediately after we
were done with it.
Their attitude seems appropri-
ate as there is simply nothing sub-
tle about this bike. This is evident
from the moment you swing your
leg over the 36.4-inch tall seat—
good luck trying to flat-foot it. I'm
6'3" and still appreciated having
a handler at the back of the bike
before I took off. Part of the dif-
ficulty is that you must splay your
right leg well wide of the exhaust,
otherwise you're guaranteed to
melt your leathers on the gigantic
Screamin' Eagle pipe. Heat is
the biggest enemy with large-
displacement V-twins, and Harley
is fighting back with extended
fins for more surface area and an
additional oil cooler that's tucked
>
(Top left) One of the first things Harley's engineers did was to
pull the horn and horn cover off. But they found that the stock
horn cover disrupts air flow in a way that increases cooling of the
rear cylinder. So, while the horn is obviously gone, there's a modified
version of the horn cover in place for cooling purposes. (Top middle)
Brembo will be supplying the calipers for the 2022 bike, which we
were given a sneak preview of. (Top right) The bodywork (and the
bags, which are zip-tied to keep them shut) is made of carbon fiber.
